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LIBRARY 


This   book    is    due    two    weeks    from    the    last    date 
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MM'i6^}  ' 

1 

1 
i. 

1 

ANCIENT  CHRISTIANITY 

EXEMPLIFIED 


PRIVATE,  DOMESTIC,  SOCIAL,  AND  CIVIL  LIFE 


lltiraitiiiE  ©[iristianx, 


AND    IN    THE    ORiaiNAL 


INSTITUTIONS,  OFFICES,  OEDINANCES,  AND 
RITES  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


By   LYMAN    COLEMAN. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

LIPPINCOTT,   GRAMBO  &  CO. 

1853. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1852,  by 
LYMAN   COLEMAN, 
in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylyania. 


STEREOTYPED  BY  L.  JOHNSON  &  CO. 
PHILADELPHIA. 


n 


J 


\J 


PEEFACB. 


Several  years  have  elapsed  since  the  author  of  this 
manual  published  his  Antiquities  of  the  Christian  Church, 
as  a  translation  and  compilation  from  August!  and  other 
fcjources.  Certain  circumstances  incidental  to  that  publica- 
tion, which  need  not  be  detailed  in  this  place,  directed  the 
writer  to  new  and  more  extensive  investigations  upon  the 
whole  subject  of  the  constitution,  discipline,  worship,  and 
rites  of  the  ancient  church.  The  results  of  these  inquiries 
have  been,  in  part,  given  to  the  public  in  another  form.* 

The  interest  thus  incidentally  awakened  in  this  branch 
of  ecclesiastical  history  directed  the  writer  to  continue  with 
renewed  diligence  the  study  of  the  archaeology  of  the  church. 
In  the  course  of  these  studies,  the  original  compilation  on 
the  antiquities  of  the  church  has  been  entirely  remodelled, 
to  a  great  extent  rewritten,  and  rejoeatedly  revised,  with 
additions  and  omissions,  until  it  has  assumed  the  character 
of  an  independent  work,  rather  than  the  form  of  a  ref)rint 
of  the  former  edition. 

The  archaeology  of  the  church  is  introduced  by  a  brief 
view  of  the  religious  character  of  the  primitive  Christians 

*  The  Apostolical  and  Primitive  Church,  Popular  in  its  Government  and  Simple 
in  its  Worship.  ; 


^  —-  ii    k^  *J  ij 


PREFACE. 


in  private,  and  in  their  domestic,  social,  and  civil  relations : 
their  religious  character  being  a  just  exponent  of  their 
ecclesiastical  institutions,  customs,  and  rites.  The  works 
of  Arnold,  Cave,  Fleury,  Bingham,  and  many  other  writers, 
together  with  the  Denkwiirdigkeiten,  the  Monographs,  and 
the  History  of  Neander,  afford  ample  materials  for  such  a 
sketch;  but  to  select  and  group  in  distinct  outlines  and  just 
proportions  is  a  task  of  peculiar  difficulty.  Without  at- 
tempting a  full  portraiture,  we  have  sought  to  trace  a  few 
original  lineaments,  leaving  the  reader  to  fill  out  the 
picture  by  the  light  and  shade  which  his  own  reading  may 
supply. 

Several  subjects  which  are  discussed  at  length  in  the 
Primitive  CImrcJi  are  treated  more  briefly  in  this  volume, 
and  dismissed  with  references  to  that  work,  that  more  space 
might  be  reserved  for  other  topics. 

The  most  important  sources  from  which  this  compilation 
has  been  made  have  been  indicated  in  the  introduction; 
besides  these,  reference  has  been  had  to  many  other  works, 
ancient  and  modern,  which  cannot  be  conveniently  enu- 
merated. But  among  these  the  Bihliotlieca  Scicra,  published 
at  Andover,  deserves  a  distinct  acknowledgment,  which  in 
its  rich  and  varied  range  of  articles,  original  and  select, 
has  not  omitted  the  subject  of  Christian  archaeology.  The 
author's  task  has  been  chiefly  to  select,  arrange,  translate, 
combine,  and  compress  within  suitable  limits  his  materials, 
from  whatever  source  derived. 

A  distinction  of  dates  has  been  observed  throughout  as 
far  as  possible,  and  the  successive  stages  of  the  transition 
from  the  primitive  to  the  prelatical  organization  of  the 
church  have  been  carefully  noted,  Avitli  the  causes  which 
occasioned  this  early  and  disastrous  transition.    Such  data 


PREFACE. 


have  been  frequently  recorded,  at  the  hazard  of  occasional 
repetitions.  At  the  same  time,  such  expressions  as  "the 
apostolical,"  "the  early,"  "the  ancient  church,"  "primitive 
Christians,"  &c.,  have  been  unavoidably  used,  chiefly  with 
reference  to  the  first  three  centuries  of  the  early  Christian 
era.  When  not  formally  stated,  the  dates  are  frequently 
indicated  by  the  references  made  to  authors  and  councils ; 
among  which  constant  care  has  been  used  to  refer  to  the 
earliest  and  most  authentic,  in  support  and  explanation  of 
the  facts  and  conclusions  adduced.  To  make  this  kind  of 
reference  the  more  available,  an  alphabetical  table  of  an- 
cient councils  and  a  chronological  index  are  appended  to 
this  manual. 

The  Plan  of  Churches  and  the  Chronological  Index  are 
from  Rheinwald.  The  reader  will  find  in  the  latter  a  valu- 
able compend  of  the  historical  events  connected  with  the 
antiquities  of  the  church,  in  which  the  successive  stages  of 
departure  from  the  simplicity  and  purity  of  primitive  wor- 
ship are  distinctly  stated  in  connection  with  the  contempo- 
rary authors  and  rulers  in  church  and  state,  who  were  instru- 
mental either  in  introducing  or  opposing  these  innovations. 

The  account  of  the  religious  rites  of  the  Armenian  church, 
from  Rev.  H.  G.  0.  Dwight,  missionary  at  Constantinople, 
cannot  fail  to  interest  the  Christian  reader,  while  it  reveals 
to  him,  through  the  dimness  of  a  high  antiquity,  the  cus- 
toms of  the  primitive  church. 

For  the  same  reasons,  the  sketch  of  the  Nestorian  church 
is  invested  with  a  similar  interest.  This  is  from  the  hands 
of  the  Rev.  J.  Perkins,  a  missionary  of  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M. 
to  the  Nestorians,  and  author  of  Residence  in  Persia  among 
the  Nestorians. 

The  chapter  on  the  Sacred  Seasons  of  the  Puritans  sup- 


PEEFACE. 


plies  an  obvious  deficiency  in  the  history  of  our  forefathers, 
and  will,  no  doubt,  be  received  as  a  valuable  addition  to 
this  work,  and  an  important  contribution  from  a  distin- 
guished antiquary  to  our  own  ecclesiastical  history. 

This  work  was  undertaken  in  the  hope  that  it  would,  in 
some  measure,  supply  a  great  deficiency  in  our  ecclesiastical 
literature,  and  serve  to  direct  the  attention  of  the  public 
to  this  neglected  branch  of  study.  Many  topics  of  great 
interest,  relating  to  the  rites,  institutions,  and  authority  of 
the  ancient  church,  are  now  the  subject  of  earnest  contro- 
versy in  England  and  of  eager  inquiry  in  this  country. 
Ancient  Christianity  is  destined,  in  both  countries,  to  be 
severely  scrutinized  anew,  and  its  merits  sharply  contested. 
This  consideration  presents  one  reason  among  many  for 
offering  this  publication,  at  the  present  time,  to  the  service 
of  the  public. 

The  views  of  an  ancient  edifice  vary  with  every  change 
of  position  on  the  part  of  the  observer.  Each  point  of 
observation  brings  out  on  the  foreground,  in  bold  relief,  one 
pinnacle,  and  sinks  and  shades  another:  so  an  author's 
point  of  observation  shades  and  groups  his  portraiture  of 
the  ancient  church.  Our  stand-point  is  that  of  a  decided 
dissenter  from  the  dogmas  and  doctrines  of  episcopacy  and 
prelacy  respecting  the  government,  worship,  discipline,  and 
usages  of  the  apostolical  and  primitive  churches.  It  is 
essentially  that  of  Planck,  of  Augusti,  of  Neander,  of  Boh- 
mer,  and  generally  of  the  German  archaeologists,  from  whose 
works  this  manual  has  been  chiefly  compiled.  Bingham's 
great  work,  invaluable  as  an  auxiliary,  has  been  freely  con- 
sulted; but  his  point  of  observation  directly  reverses  the 
foreground  of  the  picture  sketched  by  those  great  masters 
which  we  have  sought  to  transfer  to  these  pages. 


PREFACE. 


Conscious  of  having  laboured  diligently  to  prepare  a  corn- 
pen  d  of  this  interesting  branch  of  the  history  of  the  church, 
that  shall  be  at  once  acceptable  and  useful  in  disclosing  the 
sources  from  which  the  venerable  institutions  of  our  religion 
are  derived,  and  in  delineating  the  virtues  of  those  holy 
men  from  whom  they  have  been  transmitted  to  us,  we 
now  commit  it  again,  with  all  its  deficiencies,  to  the  chari- 
table consideration  of  the  public,  and  await  in  submission 
the  result  of  their  decision. 

Philadelphia,  August,  1852. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION ^^ 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE   EARLIEST   AOTHENTIC   KOTICES    OF   THE   PEIMITIVE   CHEISTIANS. 

gl.  Accounts  of  Jewish  and  profane  authors 33 

2.  Christian  authors 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE    EEUGIOUS    LIFE    OF    THE    PRIMITIVE   CHRISTLA.NS. 

a  1.  The  inward  piety  of  the  primitive  Christians  the  principal  means  of  pro- 
pagating their  religion 

2.  Their  elevated  faith  and  superiority  to  suffering o6 

3.  Their  patience  Tinder  injuries ^* 

4.  Their  reliance  upon  the  sustaining  power  of  God o6 

5.  Their  reverence  for  the  word  of  God ^ 

6.  Their  prayerfulness 

7.  Steadfast  profession  of  their  religion '^U 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE   PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANS    IN    THE    FAMILY. 

§1.  Their  marriage  relations 

2.  Religious  education  of  their  children 

3.  Of  the  devotional  exercises  of  the  family 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANS    IN    SOCIAL   LIFE. 

ai.  Of  the  hospitality  of  the  primitive  Christians 68 

2.  Of  the  unity,  peace,  and  love  of  the  primitive  Christians  toward  each 
other '■ 


10  CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

§3.  Of  the  benevolence  of  the  primitive  Christians 72 

4.  Of  their  efforts  for  the  propagation  of  Christianity 77 

5.  Of  the  amusements  of  the  primitive  Christians 78 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANS    IN    THEIR   RELATIONS    TO    THE    GOVBRNMENT. 

^  1.  Of  their  intercourse  with  society 81 

2.  Of  their  loyalty  to  government 82 

3.  Of  their  military  service 83 

4.  Of  their  honesty  and  integrity  as  good  citizens 84 

6.  Of  unlawful  occupations 85 

6.  Of  therefusal  of  military  duties 87 

7.  Of  undesigned  encomiums  from  enemies 89 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    CONSTITUTION    OF    THE    CHURCH   AND    THE    PECULIARITIES    OF   THE    CHRISTIAN 

SYSTEM. 

^  1.  Of  the  priesthood  of  the  primitive  Christians 91 

2.  Of  the  origin  of  the  Christian  church 94 

3.  Of  one  church  only  in  each  city 95 

4.  Of  the  independence  of  the  churches 95 

5.  Of  Presbyters,  Elders,  Bishops 95 

6.  Of  Deacons 96 

7.  Changes  in  the  constitution  of  the  Christian  church  after  the  age  of 

the  Apostles 97 

8.  Doctrinal  peculiarities  of  the  Christian  church 99 


CHAPTER  VII. 

NAMES    AND    CLASSES    OF   CHRISTIANS. 

1.  Of  the  appellations  and  names  assumed  by  Christians 101 

2.  Of  the  names  of  reproach  and  derision  conferred  on  Christians  by  their 

enemies 105 

3.  Of  the  distinction  between  the  clergy  and  the  laity 107 

4.  Of  the  baptized 109 

5.  Of  Ascetics,  Coenobites,  Monks,  Fraternities 113 

6.  Of  Penitents 117 

7.  Of  Catechumens 117 

8    Of  Energumens,  or  Demoniacs 124 


CHAPTER  Vm. 

OF   THE    SUPERIOR    ORDERS    OF    THE   CLERGY. 

1.  Preliminary  remarks 126 

2.  Of  Bishops ISO 


CONTENTS.  11 


PAGE 

g  3.  Of  the  inferioi'  Bishops 139 

4.  Of  the  superior  Bishops 142 

5.  Of  the  Papal  system 146 

6.  Of  Presbyters,  or  Elders 148 

7.  Of  Ruling  Elders 161 

8.  Of  Deacons 163 

9.  Of  Deaconesses 171 

10.  Of  Archdeacons 174 

11.  Of  Subdeacons 177 


CHAPTER  IX. 

OF    THE    INFERIOR    ORDERS    OF    THE    CLERGY,    SUBORDINATE    SERVANTS,    AND    EX- 
TRAORDINARY   OFFICERS    OF    THE    CHURCH. 

§  1.  Of  Readers 179 

2.  Of  Precentors,  or  Singers 182 

3.  Of  Acolyths,  Acolythists,  or  Acolytes 184 

4.  Of  Ostarii,  or  Doorkeepers 185 

5.  Of  the  subordinate  servants  of  the  church  and  of  the  clergy 186 

6.  Of  officers  of  the  church  not  belonging  to  the  clergy 187 

7.  Of  occasional  officers  of  the  church 190 


CHAPTER  X. 

OF   ELECTIONS    TO    ECCLESIASTICAL    OFFICES. 

^  1.  Of  election  by  lot 195 

2.  Of  elections  by  vote  of  the  church 195 

3.  Of  restrictions  of  the  elections 199 

4.  Of  certain  unusual  forms  of  election 201 

5.  Of  church  patronage 202 


CHAPTER  XI. 

OF    ORDINATION. 

1.  Of  the  origin  of  the  rite 205 

2.  Of  disqualifications  and  qualifications  for  ordination 206 

3.  Of  the  administration  of  the  rite 211 


CHAPTER  XII. 

OF    CLERICAL    PREROGATIVES. 

§  1.  Of  the  rank  of  the  clergy 215 

2.  Of  the  immunities,  prerogatives,  and  privileges  of  the  priesthood 217 

3.  Of  clerical  letters 220 

4.  Of  clerical  costumes 221 


12  CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

2  5.  Of  the  I'evenue  of  the  clergy 225 

6.  Of  the  independence  and  the  degeneracy  of  the  Bishop 229 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

OF    CHURCHES    AND    SACRED    PLACES. 

I  1.  Of  the  history  of  churches 232 

2.  Of  the  form,  site,  and  position 236 

3.  Of  the  arrangement  and  constituent  parts 237 

4.  Ofthebema,  or  sanctuary 238 

5.  Of  the  altar 239 

6.  Of  the  nave 242 

7.  Of  the  narthex,  or  ante-temple 250 

8.  Of  the  outer  buildings,  or  exedrse 251 

9.  Of  church  towers,  bells,  and  organs 254 

10.  Of  the  doors  of  the  church 258 

11.  Of  the  pavement  and  walls  of  the  church 259 

12.  Of  the  windows  of  the  church 260 

13.  Of  the  ornaments  of  the  church 260 

14.  Of  images 262 

15.  Of  the  veneration  for  sacred  places,  and  the  privileges  attached  to 

them 265 

16.  Of  the  church  as  the  place  of  refuge 267 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

OF   RELIGIOUS    WORSHIP. 

^  1-.  Of  primitive  worship 270 

2.  Of  the  secret  discipline  of  the  ancient  church 276 

3.  Of  liturgies 284 

4.  Of  ancient  creeds 291 

5.  Of  catechetical  instructions 302 


CHAPTER  XV. 

OF    THE    PRATERS    OF   THE    ANCIENT   CHURCH. 

I  1.  Of  extempore  prayer 305 

2.  Of  the  unity  and  trinity  of  the  Godhead  implied  in  the  devotions  of 

the  primitive  church 311 

3.  Of  divine  worship  paid  to  Christ 314 

4.  Of  the  filial  and  confiding  spirit  of  the  prayers  of  the  church 315 

5.  Of  the  simplicity  and  brevity  of  the  devotions  of  the  primitive  church.  316 

6.  Of  the  catholic  spirit  of  their  devotions 316 

7.  Of  audible  and  silent  prayer 317 

8.  Of  the  Lord's  prayer 318 

9.  Of  the  responses — amen,  hallelujah,  hosanna,  etc 320 

10.  Of  the  attitude  and  gesture  in  singing  and  in  prayer 324 


CONTENTS.  13 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

OF   THE    PSALMODY    OF    THE    CHURCH. 

PASS 

1.  Of  original  authorities 327 

2.  Of  the  material  and  subject  of  Christian  psalmody 329 

3.  Of  the  mode  of  singing 329 

4.  Of  the  power  of  sacred  music 331 

5.  Of  ancient  hymns 333 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

OF   THE    USE    OF    THE   HOLY    SCRIPTURES    IN    RELIGIOUS    WORSHIP. 

I  1.  Preliminary  remarks 338 

2.  Of  the  order  in  which  the  Scriptures  were  read 340 

3.  Of  the  mode  of  designating  the  divisions  and  lessons 342 

4.  Of  the  manner  in  which  the  Scriptures  were  read,  and  of  other  exer- 

cises in  connection 342 

5.  Of  the  Psalter 346 

6.  Of  the  Pericopae 346 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

OF    HOMILIES. 

I  1.  General  remarks,  names,  etc 348 

2.  Of  those  by  whom  the  homilies  were  delivered 350 

3.  Of  the  frequency  of  sermons 352 

4.  Of  the  length  of  time  allotted  for  the  delivery  of  the  sermon 353 

5.  Of  the  position  of  the  speaker 353 

6.  Of  the  attitude  of  the  speaker,  mode  of  delivery,  deportment  of  the 

audience 354 

7.  Of  the  construction  of  the  sermon 356 

8.  Of  the  subjects  of  discourse  by  the  fathers 358 

9.  Of  the  homilies  in  the  Eastern  and  Western  churches 358 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

OF    BAPTISM. 

§  1.  Historical  sketch 362 

2.  Of  the  proselyte  baptism  of  the  Jews 365 

3.  John's  baptism  not  Christian  baptism 365 

4.  Of  unscriptural  formalities  and  doctrines  relating  to  baptism 367 

5.  Of  the  names  by  which  the  ordinance  is  designated 373 

6.  Of  infant  baptism 374 

7.  Of  limitations  and  exceptions 887 

8.  Of  ministers  of  baptism 390 

9.  Of  the  times  of  baptism 392 

10.  Of  the  place  of  baptism 893 

11.  Of  the  element  of  baptism 395 


14  CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

1 12.  Of  the  mode  and  form  of  baptism 395 

13.  Of  the  rites  connected  with  baptism i 399 

14.  Of  sponsors 403 

15.  Of  thenames  given  at  baptism 406 

CHAPTER  XX. 

OF    CONFIRMATION. 

§1.  Of  the  orign  of  the  rite 408 

2.  Of  ministers  of  confirmation  and  the  attending  rites 410 

3.  Of  the  administration  of  the  rite  of  confirmation 410 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

OF    THE    IORD's    SUPPER. 

§  1.  Of  the  names  or  appellations  of  this  sacrament 412 

2.  Of  the  scriptural  account  of  the  Lord's  supper 418 

3.  Of  the  testimony  of  pagan  writers 420 

4.  Of  the  testimony  of  the  apostolical  fathers 420 

5.  Of  the  times  of  celebration 424 

6.  Of  the  place  of  celebration 426 

7.  Of  the  ministers  of  the  Lord's  supper 427 

8.  Of  the  communicants 430 

9.  Of  the  elements 435 

10.  Of  the  consecration  of  the  elements 438 

11.  Of  the  distribution  of  the  elements 439 

12.  Of  the  accompanying  rites 441 

13.  Of  the  agapse,  or  feasts  of  charity 443 

14.  Of  sacramental  utensils 448 

CHAPTER  XXIL 

OF    CHURCH    DISCIPLINE    AND   PENANCE. 

§1.  Of  the  discipline  of  the  primitive  church 451 

2.  Of  penance 460 

3.  Of  the  subjects  of  penance,  or  the  offences  for  which  it  was  imposed...  461 

4.  Of  the  different  classes  of  penitents 462 

5.  Of  the  duties  of  penitents,  and  the  discipline  imposed  npon  them ;  or, 

the  different  kinds  or  degrees  of  penance 464 

6.  Of  the  readmission  of  penitents  into  the  church 465 

7.  Of  private  penance 468 

8.  Of  absolution 471 

9.  Of  the  discipline  of  the  clergy  and  the  punishment  of  delinquents 472 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

OF    COUNCILS. 

§1.  Of  the  origin  of  councils 475 

2.  Of  the  extent  of  their  jurisdiction 479 


CONTENTS.  15 


PAGE 

§  3.  Of  the  president  of  the  councils 481 

4.  Of  the  constituent  members  of  the  councils 482 

6.  Of  the  councils  under  the  emperors 488 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

OF    MARRIAGE. 

g  1,  Of  Christian  marriage 493 

2.  Of  divorce 495 

8.  Of  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy 495 

4.  Of  marriage  rites  and  ceremonies 496 

5.  Remarks   upon  the  marriage  rites  and   ceremonies  of   the    ancient 

church 500 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

OF  FUNERAL  RITES  AND  CEREMONIES. 

§  1.  Of  the  treatment  of  the  dead 504 

2.  Of  afifection  for  the  dying 507 

8.  Of  funeral  solemnities 508 

4.  Of  mourners 510 

5.  Of  the  prayers  for  the  dead 513 

6.  Of  the  origin  of  the  doctrine  of  purgatory 620 

7.  Of  the  worship  of  martyrs,  saints,  and  angels 520 

8.  Recapitulation,  cemeteries,  catacombs 523 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

OF   THE    FESTIVALS    OF    THE    CHURCH. 

2  1.  Preliminary  remarks 526 

2.  Of  the  Christian  Sabbath 527 

3.  Of  the  sacred  seasons  of  the  ancient  church 536 

4.  Of  the  corrupt  origin  and  influence  of  the  festivals 542 

5.  Of  the  chronology  of  the  calendar 543 

6.  Of  specific  festivals  and  fasts  of  the  church 545 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

OF   THE    ARMENIAN    CHURCH. 

§  1.  Of  the  origin  and  progress  of  the  Armenian  church 555 

2.  Church  officers  and  government 557 

3.  Doctrines 559 

4.  Forms  of  worship,  festivals,  etc 561 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

OP    THE    NESTORIAN   CHURCH. 

g  1.  Of  the  history  of  the  Nestorian  church 564 

2.  Location  and  climate 566 


16  CONTENTS. 


FAQE 

§3.  Number  of  the  Nestorians 567 

4.  Language  and  literature 568 

5.  Versions  of  the  Scriptures  used  by  the  Nestorians 569 

6.  Ecclesiastical  organization 570 

7.  Doctrinal  belief. 571 

8.  Religious  observances 572 

9.  The  sacraments 574 

10.  Baptism  and  confirmation 574 

11.  The  Lord's  supper 575 

12.  Marriage 576 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

OF   THE    SACRED    SEASONS    OF    THE   PUKITAMS. 

§  1.  Fasts  and  thanksgivings  in  New  England 580 

2.  Observance  by  other  States 596 


INDEX  OF  AUTHORITIES 599 

INDEX  OF  COUNCILS 616 

CHRONOLOGICAL  INDEX 618 

GENERAL  INDEX 633 


INTRODUCTION 


A  FAITHFUL  record  of  the  doctrines,  the  institutions  and  rituals 
of  the  Church,  is  its  true  history.  These,  and  not  merely  or  chiefly 
its  conflicts,  its  trials,  and  its  triumphs,  disclose  the  true  genius 
and  spirit  of  Christianity.  But  the  study  of  these  two  great 
branches  of  Christian  Archoeology,  the  history  of  its  ceremonials 
and  of  its  doctrines,  indispensable  to  all  who  would  rightly  read 
the  history  of  the  ancient  church,  has  been  almost  totally  neglected 
in  this  country.  Neither  of  them,  we  believe,  is  made  a  separate 
and  distinct  subject  of  study  in  any  of  our  theological  seminaries; 
nor  has  a  single  course  of  lectures  on  either  of  these  topics,  so  far 
as  the  writer  is  informed,  ever  been  delivered  by  any  public  lec- 
turer or  professor  of  ecclesiastical  history  in  our  land. 

This  neglect  presents  our  course  of  theological  study  in  humi- 
liating contrast  with  that  of  the  European  nations,  particularly  the 
Germans.  In  their  universities,  no  course  of  theological  instruc- 
tion is  complete  without  an  independent  and  extended  series  of 
lectures  on  the  history  both  of  the  doctrines,  and  of  the  polity  and 
rites  of  the  ancient  church. 

Neander  has  evinced  his  sense  of  the  importance  of  these  studies 
by  the  space  devoted  to  them  in  his  immortal  work.  But  in  con- 
nection with  his  public  lectures  on  ecclesiastical  history,  he  was 
accustomed  uniformly  to  deliver  a  parallel  course,  equally  full  and 
extensive,  on  the  Antiquities  of  the  Church.  Both  were,  in  his 
estimation,  equally  important,  as  essential  and  independent  parts 
of  the  History  of  the  Church.  Moreover,  the  rapidity  with  which 
works  of  this  character  are  thrown  off  from  the  German  press,  the 
wide  and  extensive  range  of  topics  which  they  comprehend,  indi- 
cate the  importance  which  this  branch  of  ecclesiastical  history,  by 
us  so  generally  neglected,  has  assumed  in  that  country. 

And  yet  the  rites  and  forms  of  the  ancient  church  have,  to  the 
American  churches,  an  interest  and  importance  unknown  to  those 
to  whom  we  are  chiefly  indebted  for  information  respecting  the 
early  institutions  of   the    Christian   church.      However  discord- 

2  17 


18  '  INTRODUCTION. 


ant  in  sentiment  tlio  Lutheran  churches  may  be,  they  are  har- 
monious in  their  government  and  rites  of  worship.  The  learned 
of  their  communion  carefully  scrutinize  the  ancient  church,  not  to 
justify  or  defend  their  own  ecclesiastical  usages,  about  which  they 
have  no  controversy,  but  as  the  means  of  discerning  the  real  cha- 
racter of  primitive  Christianity.  The  moral  habits  of  a  man  are  a 
practical  exemplification  of  his  religious  principles ;  so  the  social 
habits  of  a  church,  its  government,  and  ritual,  are  a  living  expres- 
sion of  the  religious  spirit  of  the  age.  A  knowledge  of  these  is 
indispensable  for  a  right  understanding  of  church  history  ;  but  to 
the  American  churches  it  has  an  importance  far  greater,  with  refer- 
ence to  the  great  controversy  in  which  they  are  engaged  respecting 
rites  and  forms.  In  this  controversy,  Formalism  and  Puritanism 
are  the  great  antagonistic  principles;  the  one  striving  for  a  sensu- 
ous, the  other  for  a  spiritual  religion.  In  the  former,  as  in  the  Old 
Testament,  religion  is  estimated  by  outward  forms,  and  piety  pro- 
moted by  external  forms ;  in  the  latter,  as  in  the  New  Testament, 
every  thing  is  made  to  depend  upon  what  is  internal  and  spiritual. 
The  one  found  its  just  expression  in  the  freedom,  simplicity,  and 
spirituality  of  the  apostolic  and  primitive  churches ;  the  other  was 
embodied  in  the  ancient  hierarchy  which  early  supplanted  the 
foundations  laid  by  the  apostles  and  their  immediate  successors, 
and  still  discovers  itself  in  the  ceremonies  and  assumptions  of  high 
church  prelacy,  Puseyism,  and  Popery. 

These  two  opposite  schemes  of  religion  the  Tractarians  of  Ox- 
ford denominate  the  Genevan  and  the  Catholic.  They  boldly  avow 
that  these  schemes  are  now,  probably  for  the  last  time,  struggling 
together,  and  that  on  this  struggle  hangs  the  destiny  of  the  Church 
of  England.  But  the  conflict  is  not  confined  to  the  Church  of 
England.  It  has  passed  over  to  our  American  churches.  It  sum- 
mons them  to  begin  anew  the  great  controversy  of  the  Reformation. 
This  was,  at  the  beginning  as  now,  a  controversy  not  so  much  re- 
specting doctrines  as  ahout  forms  and  traditions.  Melancthon  and 
the  reformers  earnestly  maintained  that  their  controversy  was  not 
"respecting  the  doctrines  of  the  church,  but  concerning  certain 
abuses  which,  without  due  authority,  had  crept  in."  The  Augs- 
burg Confession  renews  the  afiirmation  "that  the  division  and  the 
strife  was  respecting  certain  traditions  and  abuses;"  and  to  the 
same  effect  is  the  Helvetian  Confession,  and  that  of  Smalcald. 

With  this  controversy  in  the  Reformation  began  the  study  of  the 
Antiquities  of  the  Church  as  an  independent  branch  of  church 
history.     The  contending  parties  both  appealed  to  the  authority 


INTRODUCTION.  19 


of  the  fathers,  and  the  usages  of  the  primitive  and  apostolical 
churches.  This  appeal  led  each  to  renew  his  researches  in  the 
records  of  the  past ;  to  arrange,  digest,  and  construct  his  authori- 
ties in  defence  of  his  position.  From  the  scattered  materials  -which 
were  collected,  the  historians  of  the  church,  on  either  side,  soon 
began  to  construct  their  antagonist  histories  of  the  church — of  its 
doctrines,  its  polity,  and  its  worship.  The  chaotic  elements  of  the 
ancient  fathers,  apologists,  and  historians  of  the  church,  rudis  in- 
digestaque  ?noles,  began  now  to  be  arranged,  compared,  and  con- 
structed into  opposing  systems,  deduced  from  opposite  views  of  the 
primitive  formation. 

A  brief  historical  sketch  of  the  rise  and  progress  of  this  depart- 
ment of  Ecclesiastical  History  may  therefore  serve  as  an  appropriate 
Introduction  to  the  following  work ;  in  preparing  which  the  author, 
by  permission,  has  availed  himself  chiefly  of  an  article  originally 
prepared  for  another  place.* 

The  Magdeburg  Centuriators,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  led  the 
way  in  this  new  science  of  ecclesiastical  history,  from  which  that 
of  Christian  Antiquities  has  since  become  a  distinct  department. 
These  illustrious  and  laborious  compilers  published,  from  1550  to 
1574,  thirteen  folio  volumes,  each  comprising  a  century.  Their 
object  was  to  show  that  the  Protestant  doctrine  respecting  the 
church  was  the  doctriae  of  the  ancient  Catholic  church,  as  might 
appear  from  its  history,  recorded  and  traditional;  and  that  the 


*  The  Biblical  Repertory  and  Princeton  Review,  Jan.,  1852,  No.  I.  Article  I. 
Antiquities  of  the  Christian  Church. 

1.  Denkwiirdigkeiten  aus  der  Christlichen  Archseologie.  Bde.  I. -XII.  8vo. 
Leipzig,  1817-31.     Von  D.  Johann  Christian  Wilhelm  Augusti. 

2.  K.  Schone's  Geschichtsforschungen  iiber  die  Kirchlichen  Gebrliuche  und  Ein- 
richtungen  den  Christen,  ihren  Ausbildung  und  Veranderungen.  Th.  I.-III. 
Berlin,  1821-22. 

3.  Die  Kirchliche  Archaeologie.  Dargestellt  von  F.  H.  Rheinwald.  8vo.  S.  569. 
Berlin,  1830. 

4.  Handbuch  der  Christlichen  Archasologie.  Bde.  I.-III.  Leipzig,  1836-7. 
Von  D.  Johann  Christian  Wilhelm  Augusti. 

5.  Handbuch  der  Christlich-kirchlichen  Alterthiimer  in  alphabetisher  ordnung 
mit  steter  Beziehung  auf  das,  was  davon  noch  jetzt  im  christlichen  Cultus  iibrig 
geblieben  ist.  Von  M.  Carl  Christian  Friedrich  Siegel.  Bde.  I.-IV.  Leipzig, 
1835-38. 

6.  Lehrbuch  der  Christlich-kirchlichen  Archaeologie.  Verfasst  von  Dr.  Job. 
JJep.  Locherer.  8vo.  S.  194.  Frankfort  am  Main,  1832. 

7.  Die  Christlich-kirchliche  Alterthumswissenschaft,  theologischcritisch  bear- 
beitet.     Von  Dr.  Wilhelm  Bohmer.     Bde  I.-II.     8vo.     Breslau,  1836-9. 

8.  Lehrbuch  der  Christlich-kirchlichen  Archaeologie.  Von  Heinrich  Ernst  Fer- 
dinand Guericke.  8vo.  S.  345.  Leipzig,  1847. 


20  INTRODUCTION. 


doctrine  of  the  modern  Catholic  church  was  the  result  of  traditional 
errors  and  corruptions  which  had  crept  into  that  communion  bj 
degrees,  until  it  had  grossly  departed  from  the  primitive  standard, 
in  faith  and  practice.  With  this  intent  they  treated  largely  of 
rites  and  ceremonies,  the  constitution  and  government  of  the 
church,  devoting  two  chapters  in  each  century  to  these  topics. 

In  opposition,  to  the  Magdeburg  Centuriators,  thirty  years  later, 
Cassar  Baronius,  subsequently  Cardinal  at  Rome,  published  his 
Ecclesiastical  Annals,  in  twelve  folio  volumes,  exhibiting  the  Ro- 
mish doctrine  on  the  same  subjects.  So  largely  did  Baronius  treat 
of  the  rites  and  government  of  the  church,  that  Schulting,  one  of 
his  epitomists,  describes  his  work  as  containing  a  thesaurus  of 
sacred  antiquities. 

The  example  of  these  illustrious  predecessors  was  followed  by 
subsequent  historians  and  polemics,  through  the  sixteenth  and  the 
seventeenth  centuries.  Controverted  topics  controlled  both  their 
investigations  and  their  narrations  of  the  results  of  them.  The 
whole  history  of  the  church,  and  especially  that  of  the  usages  and 
rites  of  the  church,  was  examined  and  re-examined,  collated  and 
discussed,  to  make  it  speak  in  favour  of  the  Protestant  or  Catholic 
confession,  according  to  the  faith  of  the  writers  respectively.  For  a 
century  and  a  half  the  parties  continually  pitched  over  against  each 
other,  like  two  hostile  encampments,  intrenched,  on  the  one  hand, 
behind  the  bulwark  of  the  Magdeburg  Centuries ;  on  the  other,  be- 
hind the  Annals  of  Baronius.  Both  claimed  to  be  orthodox,  both 
defended  themselves  on  the  authority  of  history,  both  repaired  to  it 
as  their  common  armory  from  which  to  draw  the  weapons  of  their 
warfare  in  defence  of  their  respective  confessions.  The  period  now 
under  consideration  is  the  age  of  those  enormous  folios  which  crowd 
the  shelves  of  our  public  libraries,  and  in  the  production  of  which, 
Protestants  of  Germany,  France,  and  England  vied  with  the  Bene- 
dictine monks  in  publishing,  illustrating,  and  commenting  upon  the 
works  of  the  fathers,  and  the  synodical  decrees  and  councils  of 
the  church.  Among  the  former  may  be  named  Blondell,  Salma- 
sius.  Usher,  Cave,  Dodwell,  Arnold,  Basnage,  Mosheim,  Lardner, 
"Walch,  Yenema,  Schrockh,  &c.  Of  the  latter  were  Tillemont, 
Mabillon,  Du  Pin,  Natalis  Alexander,  Montfaucon,  &c. 

But  it  was  reserved  for  Mosheim,  the  renoAvned  historian  of 
Gottingen,  to  free  Church  History  from  the  partialities  and  preju- 
dices of  partisan  zeal,  and  elevate  it  to  the  rank  of  an  independent 
science.  Orthodox  himself,  and  profoundly  learned,  he  had  the 
magnanimity,  how  rare !  to  be  just  to  opposite  systems  of  religious 


INTRODUCTION.  21 


faitli — to  combine,  and  group,  and  throw  upon  the  canvas  the  living 
forms  of  everj  faith,  in  their  just  proportion  and  natural  linea- 
ments. He  gathered  his  materials  from  the  widest  range  of  re- 
search, and  yet  presided  as  a  master  over  the  vast  incongruous 
mass  which  he  had  collected.  Like  a  skilful  naturalist,  with  con- 
summate ability  he  reduced  the  crude  elements,  conformable  and 
nonconformable,  into  an  organic,  consistent  whole.  Thus  from 
authentic  records  he  wrote  out  the  true  history  of  the  church,  as 
the  modern  geologist  from  the  book  of  Nature  gives  us  the  history 
of  the  earth,  with  the  order  and  relative  age  of  the  several  strata, 
from  the  earliest  to  the  latest  formation ;  with  the  causes  that  pro- 
duced them,  age  after  age.  These  powers  of  research,  of  combi- 
nation, of  generalization,  coupled  Avith  religious  earnestness,  a  keen 
insight  into  the  characters  of  men,  precision  and  fluency  of  style, 
have  won  for  Mosheim  the  honoured  title  of  the  Father  of  modern 
Church  History — the  founder  at  once  of  the  science  of  ecclesiasti- 
cal history,  and  the  art  of  composing  it. 

One  of  Mosheim's  most  valuable  works  was  his  Historical  Com- 
mentaries on  the  state  of  Christianity  during  the  first  320  years 
from  the  Christian  era ;  of  which  a  translation  has  recently  bcQn  pub- 
lished by  Dr.  Murdoch,  translator  of  Mosheim's  Ecclesiastical  His- 
tory. These  Commentaries  treat  of  the  organization  and  govern- 
ment of  the  primitive  church;  the  change  from  the  popular  to  the 
prelatical  form,  and  many  of  the  topics  which  appropriately  belong 
to  the  department  of  Christian  Antiquities.  In  this  way  they  had 
an  important  influence  in  enriching  this  department  of  ecclesi- 
astical research.  Previous  to  this  period,  several  imperfect  and 
partial  treatises  had  been  published  on  the  continent,  by  both 
Protestant  and  Roman  Catholic  writers,  who  wrote,  in  the  spirit  of 
the  age,  for  partisan  purposes.  These  works,  however,  were  limited 
in  their  plan,  and  greatly  deficient  in  their  execution,  detailing 
chiefly  the  rites  and  usages  of  the  Christian  church.  The  most 
of  these  soon  passed  into  deserved  neglect,  and  now  are  found  only 
in  the  accumulated  rubbish  of  the  public  libraries  of  Europe. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  English  language  has  produced  but 
two  authors  of  any  celebrity  on  this  subject;  though  the  contro- 
versy respecting  the  original  organization  of  the  church  and  the 
ritual  of  its  worship  has  been  longer  continued,  and  perhaps  more 
firmly  contested,  in  this  language  than  in  any  other.  Dr.  William 
Cave,  in  1673,  published  his  Primitive  Christianity,  or  the  Religion 
of  the  Ancient  Church  in  the  first  Ages  of  the  Gospel.  This  was 
soon  followed  by  his  Apostolical  Antiquities,  and  History  of  the 


22  INTRODUCTION. 


Primitive  Fathers.  The  first  mentioned  was  translated  into  the 
French  language,  and  has  passed  through  many  editions,  of  which 
the  latest  was  published  in  1840,  at  Oxford.  In  this,  as  in  all  his 
works,  it  is  his  endeavour  to  exhibit  the  religious  character  of  the 
primitive  churches  for  the  imitation  of  his  readers.  In  doing  this, 
he  indirectly  describes  many  of  the  rites  and  customs  of  the  primi- 
tive Christians,  but  omits,  as  foreign  to  his  purpose,  much  more 
which  appropriately  belongs  to  the  department  of  antiquities.  He 
writes  with  an  indulgent  charity,  which  forms  a  flattering  estimate 
of  primitive  piety,  and  fails  to  notice  any  visible  decline  until  the 
third  or  fourth  century. 

The  only  great  work  which  has  been  produced  in  our  language 
on  Christian  Antiquities,  is  that  of  Joseph  Bingham,  published 
between  1708  and  1722.  Opus  viginti  annorum,  monumentum 
acre  perennius  of  the  vast  research  and  tireless  industry  of  the 
author.  This  work  has  been  several  times  abridged,  and  the  early 
abridgments  liave  been  translated  into  different  languages.  The 
original  has  gone  through  many  editions;  the  latest  in  London, 
1850.  It  is  a  standard  work  with  the  advocates  of  prelacy;  and 
to  all,,  a  vast  and  valuable  repository  of  argument  and  authorities 
on  a  wide  range  of  topics  connected  with  the  usages  and  ecclesias- 
tical polity  of  the  ancient  church.  But  with  all  its  merits,  it  has 
great  deficiencies.  It  lacks  clearness,  and  it  omits  altogether  several 
important  topics  of  discussion.  The  author  is  not  master  of  his 
materials.  He  has  accumulated  them  by  indefatigable  research, 
until  they  have  become  a  vast,  unwieldy  mass,  thrown  together 
without  due  discrimination  or  order.  He  seldom  chronologizes  his 
authorities ;  so  that  what  one  may  have  gathered  from  him  as  au- 
thentic and  of  high  antiquity,  for  some  ancient  usage,  may  on 
examination  prove  to  be  only  the  spurious  production  of  a  later 
age,  and  accordingly  of  no  value. 

Above  all,  the  work  lacks  candour  and  impartiality.  The  author 
is  a  ze,alous  advocate  of  high-church  principles,  which,  to  a  great 
extent,  he  discovers  in  the  primitive  church,  and  which  he  asserts 
and  defends  from  its  history.  Other  foundation  for  the  Church  of 
Christ  he  finds  not,  either  in  its  ancient  history,  or  in  the  authority 
of  the  apostles.  Of  a  form  of  government,  earlier,  more  simple, 
and  more  popular  than  prelacy,  he  knows  nothing.  In  the 
essential  characteristics  of  the  order  and  worship  of  the  church  he 
discovers  no  material  change  in  the  whole  course  of  its  history,  save 
the  more  modern  corruptions  of  Romanism,  Avhich  he  sometimes 
detects  and  exposes  with  great  earnestness.     But  the  true  theory 


INTRODUCTION.  23 


of  the  apostolical  clmrclies — of  that  primeval  and  normal  form  of 
the  church,  given  by  the  apostles  and  their  immediate  successors, 
in  the  judgment  even  of  moderate  Churchmen,  and  much  more,  in 
that  of  Presbyterians  and  Independents,  as  a  model  3f  the  church 
in  all  ages — is  not  to  be  learned  from  Bingham.  In  place  of  it,  he 
has  substituted  the  distortions  and  perversions  of  the  hierarchy  as 
the  primitive  forms  of  Christianity. 

In  the  defence  of  the  true  theory  of  a  free  popular  church 
government,  we  are  compelled  to  turn  for  aid  from  the  land  of  en- 
lightened freedom,  to  the  more  learned,  liberal,  and  enlightened 
scholars,  reared  under  the  despotisms  of  Germany,  To  that  country, 
where  the  storm  of  strife  is  laid — where  the  controversy  between 
the  two  opposing  systems,  Protestant  and  Catholic,  has  settled 
down  into  a  dissent  without  discord ;  to  the  ecclesiastical  literature 
of  that  country  chiefly  must  the  dissenting  churches  of  England 
and  America  repair  for  armour,  in  defence  of  the  principles  of  the 
Reformation,  to  which  they  are  again  summoned  by  the  assump- 
tions and  aggressions  of  high  church  prelacy.  In  our  churches, 
the  great  controversy  of  the  age — under  a  modified  form,  the  same 
as  that  of  the  Reformation — is  with  the  spirit  of  formalism.  For- 
malism was  then,  as  now,  the  great  antagonist  principle  in  the 
warfare ;  and  still  the  learned  men  of  the  country  where  the  Refor- 
mation began,  though  now  retired  from  the  conflict,  are  our  chief 
reliance  for  aid  and  counsel,  and  for  armour. 

Foremost  among  modern  writers  on  this  branch  of  ecclesiastical 
polity,  stands  the  honoured  name  of  Planck  of  Gottingen,  who  has 
written  at  length,  and  with  great  ability,  upon  one  of  the  most  diffi- 
cult subjects  connected  with  that  of  the  antiquities  of  the  church. 
He  writes  with  a  firm  belief  in  the  miraculous  nature  of  true  reli- 
gion, and  a  profound  veneration  for  Christianity.  His  services  in 
this  department  of  Church  History  are  clearly  expressed  by  one 
of  the  most  competent  writers  of  Germany,  Dr.  Hagenbach : 

"It  had  become  necessary  to  connect  the  past  with  the  present, 
to  illuminate  the  facts  of  history  with  the  torch  of  philosophy,  or 
rather  with  the  opinions  in  vogue  among  the  majority  of  educated 
people.  It  was  no  longer  enough  to  know  what  had  come  to  pass 
in  earlier  times;  even  the  critical  separation  of  what  was  duly 
attested  from  what  belonged  to  the  region  of  myths  and  conjec- 
ture, appeared  to  be  only  a  preliminary  work.  Men  wished  now 
also  to  know  how  things  had  come  to  pass,  and  why  they  had  come 
thus  and  not  otherwise.  As  at  the  same  epoch  the  investigations 
in  the  sphere  of  nature  were  prosecuted  teleologically,  inquiring 


24  INTRODUCTION. 


after  the  cause,  and  effect,  and  final  causes,  so  In  the  sphere  of 
moral  freedom  in  which  history  moves,  similar  connections  and 
relations  of  events  were  sought  out.  But  this  could  not  be  done 
without  applying  to  the  events  some  moral  standard,  and  inquiring 
after  the  internal  motives  from  which,  in  given  relations,  the  actions 
had  proceeded.  They  also  endeavoured  to  understand  what  had 
occurred,  partly  as  a  result  of  human  impulse  or  calculation,  and 
partly  from  the  concatenation  of  wonderfully  coincident  circum- 
stances. This  is  the  pragmatic  treatment  of  history,  as  the  Eng- 
lish Gibbon,  Hume,  and  Robertson  had  written  it,  before  the  Ger- 
mans made  it  theirs.  Planck  applied  it  to  Church  History ;  and 
there  are  especially  two  works  of  his  in  which  this  historical  method 
is  carried  out  in  a  masterly  manner.  The  one,  "The  History  of 
the  Origin  and  Formation  of  the  Christian  Ecclesiastical  Constitu- 
tions," had  for  its  object  to  describe  that  most  difficult  point,  the 
history  of  the  external  organization  of  the  Christian  church.  The 
earlier  orthodox  Protestantism  had  been  accustomed  to  regard  the 
huge  edifice  of  the  medieval  hierarchy  with  the  greatest  abhor- 
rence, as  the  cast-down  bulwark  of  Antichrist ;  but  the  time  had 
now  come  in  which  the  human  mind  felt  itself  challenged  to  draw 
near  to  the  ruins  of  this  overgroAvn  greatness,  and  ask  how  and  by 
v/hat  means  did  it  become  what  it  was ;  how  could  such  a  gigantic 
edifice  grow  up  from  its  slight  and  unnoticeable  beginnings?  It 
was  just  this  question  which  Planck  sought  to  answer ;  although 
he  starts  with  assumptions  about  the  nature  of  the  church,  which 
are  rather  derived  from  the  external  circumstances  of  its  origin 
than  from  that  spiritual  might  hidden  within  it,  which  not  only 
waits  upon,  but  is  superior  to  its  external  manifestation."* 

Neander's  Memorabilia,  with  his  monographs  of  Chrysostom  and 
Tertullian,  to  say  nothing  of  that  of  Julian,  compiled  from  ancient 
records  of  Christians  and  of  Christian  life,  afford  us  important  aid 
in  this  department  of  archseological  investigations.  Pictures  of 
Christian  men  and  women,  fresh  and  warm  with  life,  with  pictorial 
scenes  of  their  religious  character,  of  the  state  of  society  in  which 
they  lived,  and  of  the  religious  constitutions  which  were  established 
or  modified  by  them,  are  sketched  in  these  works  in  the  bold  and 
truthful  outline  of  a  master. 

In  connection  with  this  work  stands  Neander's  History  of  the 
Eirst  Planting  of  the  Christian  Church.  From  the  life  and  times 
of  the  primitive  saints,  and  their  influence  in  modifying  the  insti- 

*  Translated  by  Prof.  H.  B.  Smith,  Bib.  Sac.  Oct.,  1851. 


INTRODUCTION.  25 


tutlons  of  the  church,  he  here  ascends  to  the  original  authors  of 
these  institutions,  and  gives  us  a  living  knowledge  of  the  very  soul 
of  Peter,  of  John,  of  James,  and,  above  all,  of  the  grand  peculiari- 
ties of  Paul,  together  with  a  vivid  sketch  of  that  primitive,  normal 
pattern  which  they  gave  of  the  organization  of  the  chui-ch,  for  the 
imitation  of  believers  in  all  coming  time. 

In  the  same  connection  should  also  be  mentioned  Rothe's  Ele- 
ments of  the  Christian  Church,  a  work  of  the  same  general  design, 
the  production  of  an  independent,  original  mind,  and  of  a  rare 
scholar.  Taking  his  departure  from  a  different  point  of  observa- 
tion, the  author  seeks  to  trace  from  the  apostles  the  genetic  de- 
velopment of  the  church.  Though  himself  a  devout  man,  his 
writings  are  deeply  tinged  with  the  bold,  fanciful  theories  of  a 
different  school. 

We  have  dwelt  so  long  upon  these  preliminary  works  and  col- 
lateral aids  to  the  study  of  Christian  Antiquities,  that  we  must  dis- 
miss, with  a  brief  notice,  the  several  independent,  modern  writers  on 
this  subject,  whose  works  have  appeared  within  the  last  thirty  years. 

First  in  the  order  of  time  and  in  magnitude,  if  not  in  import- 
ance, stands  Augusti's  Memorabilia  from  Christian  ArchiEology, 
published  at  Leipsic,  in  twelve  volumes,  between  the  years  1817 
and  1831.  The  title  is  ill  chosen,  and  poorly  indicates  the  nature 
and  extent  of  the  author's  labours.  At  the  distance  of  a  hundred 
years  from  Bingham,  he  takes  up  anew  the  work  of  this  compiler, 
and  collects  from  original  sources  an  immense  mass  of  authorities 
on  almost  all  the  wide  range  that  belongs  to  the  department  of 
Christian  Archaeology.  These  he  incorporates  in  his  pages,  instead 
of  inserting  them,  like  Bingham,  in  foot  notes  at  the  bottom ;  and 
he  usually  contents  himself  with  the  original  without  translation, 
connecting  them  together  into  a  continuous  treatise,  by  his  own 
course  of  remarks.  He  is  calm,  dispassionate,  and  free  from  par- 
tisan zeal,  even  to  indifference  in  his  discussions,  which  are  often 
prolix,  crude,  and  im methodical.  Like  Bingham,  Augusti  is 
chargeable  with  unpardonable  negligence  in  omitting  almost  all 
chronological  data.  The  work,  however,  is,  with  all  its  defects, 
one  of  great  value.  It  is  a  vast  storehouse  of  authorities,  collected 
with  great  industry  and  extensive  research,  from  the  whole  range 
of  ancient  historians,  apologists,  and  councils,  relating  to  almost 
every  branch  of  Christian  Antiquities.  To  one  who  has  not  op- 
portunities and  time  for  equal  original  research,  as  few  have  in  any 
country,  and  none  in  this,  the  Memorabilia  of  Augusti  are  invalua- 
ble, offering  at  hand  materials  for  use  in  argument  and  illustration. 


26  INTKODUCTION. 


In  tlie  years  of  1836  and  1837,  August!  published  an  abridg- 
ment of  his  original  work  in  three  volumes,  averaging  more  than 
seven  hundred  pages  each,  under  the  title  of  a  Hand-book  of  Chris- 
tian Archfeologj.  In  this,  his  materials  are  better  wrought ;  the 
plan  and  order  are  entirely  changed.  The  authorities  are  carefully 
sifted ;  needless  redundances  are  pruned  off,  and  every  part  of  the 
work  bears  evidence  of  a  thorough  revision.  The  whole  has  a 
fairer  symmetry  and  a  higher  finish,  and  is,  for  all  ordinary  use, 
much  more  valuable  than  the  original  work.  August!  was  Profes- 
sor, first  of  Oriental  Literature,  then  of  Theology,  and  was  con- 
nected successively  with  the  Universities  at  Breslau,  Jena,  and 
Bonn ;  and  toward  the  close  of  life,  was  Counsellor  and  Director 
of  the  Consistory  at  Coblentz.  He  was  the  honoured  associate  of 
De  Wette  in  the  translation  of  the  Bible,  and  the  author  of  many 
works  on  literary,  historical,  and  theological  subjects. 

The  works  of  August!  were  followed  in  quick  succession  by  others 
in  the  same  department,  of  various  interest  and  importance,  and 
more  or  less  extensive  in  volume  and  in  the  range  of  their  inquiries. 
K.  Schone  published  at  Berlin,  1821,  '22,  in  three  volumes,  his 
Historical  Researches  in  the  Ecclesiastical  Usages  and  Institutions 
of  Christians,  their  Increase,  Improvement,  and  Changes.  Though 
neither  original  nor  profound,  it  is  a  useful  treatise  on  the  rituals 
of  the  church.  On  these  topics  he  gives  a  large  induction  of  au- 
thorities in  a  translation,  without  the  original,  and  omitting  in 
many  instances  all  reference  to  them. 

Rheinwald's  Ecclesiastical  Archaeology  is  the  next  in  order. 
This,  though  compressed  into  a  single  octavo,  is  far  more  compre- 
hensive than  the  former  in  its  plan,  and  is  a  production  of  a  higher 
order.  It  is  written  with  studied  brevity,  and  exhibits  a  wonderful 
power  of  compression,  scarcely  surpassed  by  De  Wette's  Exegeti- 
cal  Hand-book,  or  Gieseler's  Text  Book  of  Church  History.  It  is 
constructed  on  the  plan  of  the  latter,  in  which  the  author  makes 
his  own  statement  a  mere  thread  on  which  to  hang  the  choicest 
gems  which  boundless  research  has  gathered  from  the  hidden  re- 
cesses of  antiquity,  to  enrich  the  literature  of  his  subject.  The 
choice  extracts  which  adorn  his  pages,  selected,  wrought,  and 
arranged  with  the  skill  of  a  master,  conduct  us  directly  to  the  most 
valuable,  original  authors,  and  introduce  them  to  speak  for  them- 
selves. As  Gieseler's  admirable  work  remains  still  unrivalled  in 
ecclesiastical  history,  so  does  Rheinwald's  as  a  hand-book  in  eccle- 
siastical archaeology. 

Siegel's  Hand-book  of  Christian  Ecclesiastical  History  soon  fol 


INTRODUCTION.  27 


lowed  Rheinwald's.  The  writer  is  a  preacher  in  the  Cathedral 
Church  of  St.  Thomas,  in  Leipsic,  and  lecturer  in  the  University 
in  that  city.  He  proj^oses  to  himself  the  task,  not  of  an  original 
investigator,  but  of  a  compiler,  to  collect  together  the  materials 
which  are  scattered  through  many  volumes  of  different  authors ;  to 
combine  and  reconstruct  a  complete  treatise  on  each  of  the  several 
topics  of  the  antiquities  of  the  Christian  Church,  with  constant 
reference  to  the  modified  forms  in  which  ancient  usages  and  insti- 
tutions are  still  retained  in  different  communions  of  the  Christian 
Church.  These  treatises  are  arranged  in  alphabetical  order  for 
convenient  reference.  The  expediency  of  this  arrangement,  how- 
ever, is  questionable.  It  sunders  that  quoddam  commune  vinculum 
which  pertains  to  kindred  topics  of  the  same  general  subject,  and 
fails  to  give  the  reader  a  connected  symmetrical  view  of  the  whole. 
This  inconvenience  the  author  attempts  to  remedy  by  a  synoptical 
view,  or  summary  of  a  connected  treatise,  with  references  to  the 
articles  which  would  thus  stand  connected  in  a  synthetical  arrange- 
ment. A  copious  and  valuable  register  of  technical  terms,  both 
Greek  and  Latin,  occurring  in  ancient  authors  and  archaeological 
works  of  this  nature,  is  also  appended. 

The  author  appropriates  to  his  use  very  freely  the  labours  of  his 
learned  predecessors,  frequently  incorporating  at  length  into  his 
work  their  authorities  and  discussions,  either  with  or  without 
abridgment,  at  his  pleasure,  and  generally  without  any  just  acknow- 
ledgment. The  book  contains  a  large  amount  of  information  con- 
cerning the  rites,  ceremonies,  and  constitution  of  the  church,  both 
ancient  and  modern,  and  much  that  is  of  great  interest  to  the  clas- 
sical student.  But  the  tone  and  manner  in  which  he  treats  many 
important  passages  of  sacred  history  indicates  a  rationalistic  tend- 
ency, against  which  the  reader  should  be  duly  guarded. 

The  little  work  of  Locherer  next  claims  a  passing  notice,  as  a 
concise  and  candid  statement  of  the  Roman  Catholic  view  of  the 
archseology  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Professor  Bohmer,  of  the  University  at  Breslau,  presents  us  with 
a  work  of  a  far  higher  order  than  either  of  the  foregoing.  It  is 
the  production  of  an  original  and  independent  mind,  enriched  with 
the  learning,  literary  and  historical,  requisite  for  his  task.  His 
learning  is  chastened  by  a  devout,  religious  spirit,  and  his  re- 
searches are  ever  guided  by  a  profound  sense  of  the  divine  origin 
of  the  Christian  religion.  Bohmer  belongs  to  the  school  of  Planck 
and  Neander,  the  latter  of  whom  was  accustomed  to  speak  of  him 
in  conversation  with  the  writer,  in  terms  of  the  highest  respect. 


28  INTRODUCTION. 


It  is  truly  to  be  regretted  that  a  work  of  such  merit  is  not  presented 
in  a  style  more  clear  and  attractive,  a  defect  of  which  Neander 
made  severe  complaint,  and  of  which  a  foreigner  must  be  more 
keenly  sensible.  But  whatever  deficiencies  the  work  may  have,  it 
is  undoubtedly,  in  many  respects,  the  ablest,  the  most  reliable,  and 
the  best  extant  on  the  archaeology  of  the  Christian  church. 

After  the  illustrious  examples  of  Planck  and  Neander,  Bohmer 
applies  throughout  the  pragmatic  mode  of  historical  research  to  the 
elucidation  of  his  subject;  always  bearing  in  mind  that  an  earnest 
religious  spirit  imparted  from  on  high,  first  fashioned  the  outward 
organization  of  the  church,  and  that  no  historical  investigations 
of  his  subject  can  be  safe  or  satisfactory  which  overlook  the  reli- 
gious spirit  of  the  age,  and  the  internal  causes  Avhich  affect  the  out- 
ward ordinances  and  institutions  of  the  church.  With  this  religious, 
pragmatic  view  of  the  subject,  which  Augusti  and  Siegel  disregard, 
and  RheinAvald  avowedly  despises  as  worthy  only  of  a  "literary 
charlatan,"  Bohmer  often  subjects  the  writings  of  his  predecessors 
to  a  searching  and  severe  criticism,  and  establishes  a  separate  in- 
dependent judgment.  His  work  is,  indeed,  to  a  great  extent,  a 
learned  and  severe  critique  on  preceding  works  in  the  same  de- 
partment. It  might  with  propriety  be  denominated  a  pragmatic 
review  of  modern  German  authors  on  Christian  Archaeology.* 

He  announces,  as  his  subject,  the  Science  of  Christian  Ecclesias- 
tical Antiquities,  theologically  and  critically  discussed.  This 
mode  of  discussion  and  the  qualifications  requisite  for  it  are  set 
forth  in  the  following  extract  from  the  preface  of  his  first  volume : 
"The  researches  of  one,  however  learned,  who  contemplates  the 
Christian  church  only  from  without,  and  deduces  its  institutions 
and  rites  from  external  relations  and  circumstances,  and  other 
forms  of  religion,  are  wholly  unsatisfactory.  Such  a  one  over- 
looks the  fact  that  the  Divine  Spirit  which  the  exalted  Founder  of 
the  Christian  church  possessed  in  all  its  fulness,  and  which  was 
shed  forth  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  was  also  infused  more  or  less 
into  the  institutions,  ceremonies,  rites,  and  customs  of  the  church ; 
and  that  though  these  were  elsewhere  derived,  they  still  retain  the 
imprint  of  his  own  character ;  nay,  more,  that  this  Spirit  originated 
not  a  few  institutions  and  usages  of  the  church,  and  manifested 

*  Ou  the  title-page  of  his  first  volume  he  has  inscribed  the  following  sentiment 
from  Cyprian — "  Triticum  non  rapit  ventus,  nee  arborem  solida  radice  fundatam 
procella  subvertit.  Inanes  paleas  tempestate  jactantur,  invalidae  arbores  tiirbinis 
iucursione  evertuntur," — which  sufiBciently  indicates  the  spirit  and  character  of 
bis  criticisms. 


INTRODUCTION.   •  29 


itself  in  them.  This  is  at  once  the  most  interesting  and  the  most 
important  element  of  Christian  antiquities ;  so  that  a  true  and  just 
investigation  must  take  into  consideration,  not  only  the  outward 
circumstances,  but  the  inward  spirit  of  the  ancient  church,  and 
must  keep  steadily  in  view  the  forming  influence  of  the  Divine 
Spirit.  It  must  keep  before  the  mind  the  combined  influence  of 
these  two  different  agencies,  the  visible  and  the  invisible.  For  the 
understanding  of  these  outward  agencies,  the  intellect,  conversant 
only  with  sensible  and  earthly  things,  is  fully  competent;  but  is 
wholly  incompetent  to  investigate  the  internal  agencies,  while  all 
that  is  supernatural  and  divine  lies  wholly  without  the  range  of  its 
vision.  If  brought  to  the  investigation  of  such  divine  agency,  it  is 
to  be  feared  that  the  understanding  Avill  proceed  only  so  far  as 
altogether  to  deny  the  existence  of  this  agency.  An  enlightened 
religious  consciousness  is  an  indispensable  qualification  for  the  in- 
vestigation of  that  divine  influence  which  was  the  original  source 
of  the  ordinances  and  institutions  of  the  church." 

Guericke  of  Halle,  the  enlightened  Christian  scholar,  and  the 
accomplished  historian  of  the  church,  has  also  applied  his  own 
skilful  hand  to  the  task  of  providing  the  public  with  a  suitable 
manual  on  the  Antiquities  of  the  Christian  Church.  Though  sym- 
pathizing with  Bohmer  in  his  religious  views,  he  objects  to  his  work 
as  too  learned  and  recondite;  then,  as  in  his  history,  he  has  pur- 
sued a  middle  course  between  Neander  and  Gieseler,  so  in  his 
archaeology  he  proposes  to  himself  the  same  auream  medioeritatem 
between  the  plethoric  fulness  of  Augusti  and  the  naked  skeleton 
of  Rheinwald.  The  result  is  an  admirable  Manual  in  the  fair  pro- 
portions, the  grace  and  finish  which  characterize  all  the  works 
of  Guericke. 

In  1839,  a  Manual  of  Christian  Antiquities  was  published  in 
London,  compiled  from  much  the  same  sources  as  the  following,  by 
the  Rev.  J.  E.  Riddle,  an  accomplished  scholar  of  Oxford.  The 
author  is  an  earnest  dissenter  from  the  Tractarian  and  high-church 
party,  but  a  decided  Episcopalian,  a  zealous  and  candid  advocate 
for  "episcopacy,  charity,  and  peace."  We  acknowledge  ourselves 
under  many  obligations  to  this  author,  though  occupying  a  stand- 
point quite  opposite  to  his — that  of  a  dissenter  from  episcopacy 
and  prelacy  in  any  form,  and  taking  our  departure  from  him,  in  a 
multitude  of  instances,  under  a  firm  conviction  that  episcopacy 
and  prelacy  have  no  authority  either  in  the  teachings  of  Christ 
and  his  apostles,  or  in  the  examples  and  traditions  of  the  apostoli- 
cal churches. 


30  INTRODUCTION. 


Why,  in  view  of  all  the  labours  of  the  learned,  age  after  age,  to 
elucidate  and  enrich  this  branch  of  ecclesiastical  history,  why  is  it, 
in  this  country,  so  neglected  ?  Who  can  intelligently  read  the 
history  of  the  Christian  Church  without  attention  to  its  institutions, 
offices,  rites,  and  ceremonies  ?  The  history  of  these  is  the  history 
of  the  Church.  To  follow  out  the  sufferings  and  trials  of  the  early 
Christians,  their  patience  and  fortitude  under  persecution,  and  the 
cruelty  of  their  persecutors,  is  but  to  write  a  single  chapter  of  their 
history,  and  that  of  least  importance.  It  reveals  their  patient  en- 
durance of  a  great  fight  of  afflictions,  but  this  is  only  a  single  trait 
of  their  character.  Many  other  characteristics  of  equal  interest — 
the  spirit  of  the  age  in  which  they  lived,  with  all  the  varied  in- 
fluences which  formed  or  modified  their  religious  sentiments,  their 
institutions,  and  their  ritual  of  worship — these  all  remain  unrecor- 
ded, unknown.  No  individual  who  is  desirous  of  viewing  the 
character  of  Christianity  and  the  conduct  of  its  professors  under 
all  circumstances,  and  particularly  of  contemplating  the  human 
mind  under  extraordinary  moral  influences, — of  watching  the 
various  experiments  of  Christianity  when  combined  in  a  social  sys- 
tem with  other  elements,  can  consent  to  be  excluded  from  such  a 
source  of  instruction  as  is  found  in  the  antiquities  of  the  Christian 
church. 

Christian  antiquities  are  indispensable  as  a  key  to  many  parts  of 
ecclesiastical  history.  The  very  same  circumstance  which  renders 
Greek  and  Roman  antiquities  important  to  the  classical  student, 
and  Jewish  antiquities  to  the  biblical  student,  renders  Christian 
antiquities  important  to  the  ecclesiastical  historian.  He  who 
supposes  that  he  can  find  all  he  needs  on  this  subject  in  certain 
chapters  in  general  works  on  church  history  has  only  to  make  the 
trialj  and  then  take  up  some  work  on  this  subject,  and  compare 
the  results,  and  the  difference  will  be  sufficiently  perceptible. 
Church  history  itself  has  gained  no  less  by  making  this  a  distinct 
branch  of  study  than  by  making  the  history  of  Christian  doctrines 
a  distinct  branch;  both  have  contributed  immeasurably  to  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  historical  branch  of  theology  within  a  few  years 
past.  How  much  broader  and  clearer  the  light  which  now  shines 
on  this  whole  department  of  study  than  at  the  close  of  the  last 
century ! 

Above  all  archaeological  investigations,  those  that  relate  to  the 
Christian  church  possess  a  lively  interest,  important  and  peculiar. 
The  Hebrew  commonwealth,  the  Roman  and  the  Grecian  republics 
have  passed  away.    We  are  neither  HebreAVS,  Greeks,  nor  Romans ; 


INTRODUCTION.  31 


and  jet  endless  research  is  lavished  on  their  antiquities.  But  we 
are  Christians,  and  the  church  continues  to  this  present  time,  with 
its  sacred  ordinances,  its  constitutions,  its  discipline,  its  offices, 
and  its  solemn  rites  of  worship.  Why,  then,  is  not  a  knowledge  of 
its  antiquities  to  us,  Christians,  an  object  of  surpassing  interest, 
above  those  of  pagan  Greece  and  Rome?  Why  do  not  the  anti- 
quities of  the  Christian  church  exceed  in  importance  those  even 
of  the  Jewish  church,  as  f^ir  as  the  Christian  excels  the  Jewish  re- 
ligion? Hebrjeorum  respublica  cum  veteri  lege  tumulo  pridem 
illata  est.  Grsecia  sub  mausoleis  et  pyramidibus  suis  sepulta  jacet. 
Romana  gloria  atque  potentia  inter  triumphos  suos  consenuit. 
....  Modo  Hebrfei  non  sumus,  neque  Graeci,  neque  Romani  .... 
neque  amplius  harum  gentium  moribus  vivimus.  Quid  ergo  nos  juvat, 
illarum  antiqua  tempora,  mores  et  monumenta,  tanto  studio  a  ruderi- 
bus  suis  ac  tenebris  in  lucem  protrahere,  dum  interea  obliti  vivimus 
eorum,  qure  domestica  nobis  sunt  et  esse  deberunt?  Dixi,  non 
sumus  Hebragi,  non  Grseci,  non  Romani — attamen  Christian os  nos 
omnes  esse  profitemur  in  hodiernam  usque  diem.  Horum  itaque 
quorum  nomine,  disciplina,  et  religione  insigniti  etiamnum  vivimus, 
horum,  inquam,  antiquitates  cognoscere  prse  omnibus  cseteris,  rem 
summi  momenti,  summae  utilitatis,  ac  glorias,  futuram  esse  judicavi.* 
But  the  polemic  importance  of  this  branch  of  ecclesiastical  his- 
tory, at  present,  outweighs  all  others,  with  reference  to  the  extra- 
ordinary assumptions  and  encroachments  of  prelacy.  For  all  these 
a  venerable  antiquity  is  claimed,  and  continually  reiterated,  as 
though  the  apostolical  succession,  diocesan  government,  episcopal 
ordination,  the  grace  of  the  sacraments  canonically  administered, 
liturgical  worship,  with  all  the  distinctive  peculiarities  of  the  pre- 
latical  system,  Avere  the  pillars  of  the  Church  of  Christ;  parts  of 
that  temple  which  was  reared  by  him  and  his  apostles  to  stand 
forever,  for  the  admiration  and  imitation  of  their  followers.  These 
pretensions  and  claims  are  entirely  disowned  by  the  whole  body  of 
dissenters.  They  maintain  that  there  is,  underlying  all  the  ancient 
forms  of  prelacy,  another  system  still  more  ancient,  more  simple, 
and  deeper  laid ;  which  itself,  after  the  vast  incongruous  structures 
which  prelacy  and  papacy  have  thrown  up  around  and  over  it  are 
cleared  away,  stands  forth  in  sublime  simplicity  and  symmetry,  a 
divine  pattern  for  the  imitation  of  the  church  of  Christ  in  every 
age.  The  defence  of  those  opposing  views  respecting  the  primitive 
church  is  the  great  controversy  of  the  age ;  it  is  a  renewal  of  the 

*  Mannhart,  cited  by  Riddle. 


32  INTRODUCTION. 


controversy  of  the  Reformation.  It  is  sustained  on  either  side  by 
an  appeal  to  history,  after  the  research  of  three  hundred  years 
by  the  learned  of  every  communion  in  Christendom.  In  these 
polemics  every  theological  student,  every  pastor,  every  Christian 
scholar  is  an  unavoidable  combatant,  and  must  provide  himself 
with  historical  armour  for  the  conflict. 

Neither  should  the  liberalizing  influence  of  this  study  be  forgot- 
ten. Like  foreign  travel,  it  inspires  a  Christian  Catholicism  supe- 
rior to  the  bigotry  and  intolerance  of  sect  and  party.  One  who 
has  travelled  far,  and  observed  the  practical  fruits  of  religion  in 
different  communities,  however  diversified  their  national  peculiari- 
ties and  ecclesiastical  institutions,  learns  to  judge  charitably  of  all; 
so,  after  a  wide  range  of  historical  research,  which  exhibits  the 
spirit  of  practical  Christianity,  the  same,  age  after  age,  under  all 
the  shifting  forms  of  church  government  and  worship  in  which  it 
appears,  he  exchanges  the  prejudices  of  partizan  zeal  for  the  ca- 
tholic and  Christian  sentiment:  "In  things  essential,  unity ;  in 
things  not  essential,  liberty ;  in  all  things,  charity" 


ANCIENT    CHRISTIANITY. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  EARLIEST  AUTHENTIC  NOTICES  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHRISTIANS. 

The  work  on  which  we  here  enter  requires  us  to  study  both 
the  private  life  and  the  public  institutions  of  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians. They  exemplified  their  true  character  in  the  sanctities 
of  their  religion  and  in  the  charities  of  life ;  by  stern  inward 
piety,  and  amid  the  scenes  of  the  family  and  of  social  life ;  by 
their  deeds  of  charity  towards  the  persecuted,  the  destitute,  the 
dying,  and  the  dead ;  and  in  their  various  relations  to  the  autho- 
rities of  the  state.  A  due  attention  to  these  several  particulars  in 
their  religious  life  will  prepare  us  to  enter  more  intelligently  upon 
the  examination  of  their  several  religious  rites,  and  their  various 
offices  and  institutions  relating  to  the  organization  and  government 
of  the  church.  The  religious  life  of  the  primitive  Christians  may 
be  favourably  introduced  to  our  notice  by  several  citations  of  the 
earliest  and  most  authentic  records  of  their  manners  and  their 
morals,  of  their  faith  and  piety,  as  unconsciously  certified  by  their 
enemies  and  directly  attested  and  exemplified  by  themselves. 

§  1.    ACCOUNTS   OF   JEWISH   AND    PROFANE   AUTHORS. 

To  one  who  would  study  the  early  history  of  the  primitive 
church,  or  critically  examine  its  polity,  the  testimony  of  contem- 
porary writers  of  another  faith  is  peculiarly  important.  But  such 
writers,  both  Jewish  and  profane,  of  the  first  three  centuries  of  the 
Christian  era,  unfortunately  afibrd  us  very  imperfect  information 
on  these  points.  The  Jews,  from  whom  we  might  expect  the  fullest 
information,  offer  us  none  of  any  value.     The  celebrated  passage 

3  33 


34  THE    PRIMITIVE   CHlifSTIANS.  [CHAP.  I. 

in  Josephus,  which  has  Keen  so  bt'ten  c6rit'rover'te'd,even  if  genuine, 
only  proves  that  he  had  knowledge  of  the  Author  of  the  Christian 
religion  and  som'e  faint  apprehensions  of  his  exalted  character ; 
hut  it  gives  us  no  knowledge  of  the  religion  which  he  taught. 
iSTor  does  Philo,  his  contemporary,  offer  any  essential  aid  to  our 
inquiries. 

Greek  and  Roman  authors,  especially  the  latter,  take  but  little 
notice  of  the  early  Christians.  They  regarded  the  Christians  as 
only  an  heretical  body  of  Jews,  or  as  a  detestable  and  dangerous 
sect.  Accordingly,  the  passages  in  which  Suetonius,^  Tacitus,^ 
Arrian,  Antoninus,  Dion  Cassius,  and  other  writers  speak  of  Chris- 
tians, throw  little  or  no  light  on  their  manners  and  customs. 

The  most  important  notices  of  this  kind  occur  in  the  letters  of 
Pliny  the  younger,  who,  according  to  the  most  approved  chrono- 
logy, Avas  governor  of  Bithynia  in  the  years  A.  D.  103,  104,  and 
in  the  writings  of  Lucian  of  Samosata,  an  opponent  of  Christianity, 
who  also  lived  in  the  second  century.  Pliny  had  been  instructed 
by  the  emperor  Trajan  to  keep  a  strict  guard  against  all  secret 
societies,  hetasrias,  and,  tinder  this  commission,  proceeded  to  severe 
measures  against  the  assemblies  of  Christians.  In  reporting  his 
proceedings  to  the  emperor,  he  takes  occasion  to  explain  the  cha- 
racter of  these  Christians,  and  the  nature  of  their  assemblies.  In 
this  manner  he  unconsciously  passes  a  high  encomium  upon  these 
primitive  Christians.  The  letter  itself  was  written  but  about  forty 
years  after  the  death  of  St.  Paul,  and,  together  with  Trajan's  reply, 
constitutes  the  most  important  record  extant  of  the  times  imme- 
diately succeeding  the  apostles.  They  are  accordingly  given  en- 
tire, in  a  translation  by  Melmoth. 

Pliny  to  the  Emperor  Trajan. 

"It  is  a  rule,  sir,  which  I  inviolably  observe,  to  refer  myself  to 
you  in  all  my  doubts ;  for  who  is  more  capable  of  removing  my 
scruples  or  informing  my  ignorance  ?  Having  never  been  present 
at  any  trials  concerning  those  who  profess  Christianity,  I  am  unac- 
quainted, not  only  with  the  nature  of  their  crimes,  or  the  measure 
of  their  punishment,  but  how  far  it  is  proper  to  enter  into  an  exa- 
mination concerning  them.  Whether,  therefore,  any  difference  is 
usually  made  with  respect  to  the  ages  of  the  guilty,  or  no  distinc- 
tion is  to  be  observed  between  the  young  and  the  adult ;  whether 
repentance  entitles  them  to  a  pardon  ;  or,  if  a  man  has  once  been 
a  Christian,  it  avails  nothing  to  desist  from  his  error ;  whether  the 


SEC.  I.]  JEWISH   AND    PROFANE   AUTHORS.  35 


very  profession  of  Christianity,  unattended  with  any  criminal  act, 
or  only  the  crimes  themselves  inherent  in  the  profession,  are 
punishable :  in  all  these  points  I  am  greatly  doubtful.  In  the 
mean  while,  the  method  I  have  observed  towards  those  who  have 
been  brought  before  me  as  Christians,  is  this  : — I  interrogated  them 
whether  they  were  Christians ;  if  they  confessed,  I  repeated  the 
question  twice  again,  adding  threats  at  the  same  time ;  when,  if 
they  still  persevered,  I  ordered  them  to  be  immediately  punished ; 
for  I  was  persuaded,  whatever  the  nature  of  their  opinions  might 
be,  that  a  contumacious  and  inflexible  obstinacy  certainly  deserved 
correction.  There  were  others  also  brought  before  me,  possessed 
with  the  same  infatuation,  but  being  citizens  of  Rome*  I  directed 
them  to  be  carried  thither.  But  this  crime  spreading,  (as  is  usually 
the  case,)  while  it  was  actually  under  prosecution,  several  instances 
of  the  same  nature  occurred.  An  information  was  presented  to 
me,  without  any  name  prescribed,  containing  a  charge  against 
several  persons  who,  upon  examination,  denied  they  were  Chris- 
tians, or  had  ever  been  so.  They  repeated  after  me  an  invocation 
to  the  gods,  and  offered  religious  rites  Avith  wine  and  frankincense 
before  your  statue,  (which  for  this  purpose  I  had  ordered  to  be 
brought,  together  with  those  of  the  gods,)  and  even  reviled  the 
name  of  Christ :  whereas  there  is  no  forcing,  it  is  said,  those  who 
are  really  Christians  into  a  compliance  with  any  of  these  articles. 
I  thought  proper,  therefore,  to  discharge  them.  Some  of  those 
who  were  accused  by  a  witness  in  person,  at  first  confessed  them- 
selves Christians,  but  immediately  after  denied  it ;  while  the  rest 
owned,  indeed,  that  they  had  been  of  that  number  formerly,  but 
had  now  (some  above  three,  others  more,  and  a  few  above  twenty 
years  ago)  forsaken  that  error.  They  all  worshipped  your  statue 
and  the  images  of  the  gods,  throwing  out  imprecations  also  at  the 
same  time  against  the  name  of  Christ.  They  affirmed  that  the 
whole  of  their  guilt  or  error  was,  that  they  met  on  a  certain  stated 
day,  before  it  was  light,  and  addressed  themselves  in  a  form  of 
prayer  to  Christ,  as  to  some  god,  binding  themselves  by  a  solemn 
oath,  not  for  the  purposes  of  any  wicked  design,  but  never  to 
commit  any  fraud,  theft,  or  adultery ;  never  to  falsify  their  word, 


*  It  was  one  of  the  privileges  of  a  Roman  citizen,  secured  by  the  Sempronian 
law,  that  he  could  not  be  capitally  convicted  but  by  the  suffrage  of  the  people ; 
which  seems  to  have  been  still  so  far  in  force  as  to  make  it  necessary  to  send 
the  persons  here  mentioned  to  Rome. — Melmoth. 


36  THE    PKIMITIVE    CHRISTIANS.  [CHAP.  I. 

nor  deny  a  trust  when  they  should  be  called  upon  to  deliver  it  up ; 
after  which  it  was  their  custom  to  separate,  and  then  reassemble 
to  eat  in  common  a  harmless  meal.  From  this  custom,  however, 
they  desisted  after  the  publication  of  my  edict,  by  which,  according 
to  your  orders,  I  forbade  the  meeting  of  any  assemblies.  After 
receiving  this  account,  I  judged  it  so  much  the  more  necessary  to 
endeavour  to  extort  the  real  truth  by  putting  two  female  slaves  to 
the  torture  who  were  said  to  administer  in  their  religious  func- 
tions :*  but  I  could  discover  nothing  more  than  an  absurd  and 
excessive  superstition.  I  thought  proper,  therefore,  to  adjourn  all 
further  proceedings  in  this  affair,  in  order  to  consult  with  you. 
For  it  appears  to  be  a  matter  highly  deserving  your  consideration, 
more  especially  as  great  numbers  must  be  involved  in  the  danger 
of  these  persecutions,  this  inquiry  having  already  extended,  and 
being  still  likely  to  extend,  to  persons  of  all  ranks  and  ages,  and 
even  of  both  sexes.  For  this  contagious  superstition  is  not  con- 
fined to  the  cities  only,  but  has  spread  its  infection  among  the' 
country  villages.  Nevertheless,  it  still  seems  possible  to  remedy  this 
evil  and  restrain  its  progress.  The  temples,  at  least,  which  were 
almost  deserted,  begin  now  to  be  frequented ;  and  the  sacred 
solemnities,  after  a  long  intermission,  are  again  revived  ;  while 
there  is  a  general  demand  for  the  victims  which,  for  some  time 
past,  have  met  with  but  few  purchasers.  From  hence  it  is  easy  to 
imagine  what  numbers  might  be  reclaimed  from  this  error,  if  a 
pardon  were  granted  to  those  who  shall  repent." 

Trajan  to  Pliny. 

"  The  method  you  have  pursued,  my  dear  Pliny,  in  the  proceed- 
ings against  those  Christians  which  were  brought  before  you,  is 
extremely  proper ;  as  it  is  not  possible  to  lay  down  any  fixed  plan 
by  which  to  act  in  all  cases  of  this  nature.  But  I  would  not  have 
you  officiously  enter  into  any  inquiries  concerning  them.  If,  in- 
deed, they  should  be  brought  before  you,  and  the  crime  is  proved, 
they  must  be  punished ;  with  this  restriction,  however,  that  when 
the  party  denies  himself  to  be  a  Christian,  and  shall  make  it  evi- 
dent that  he  is  not,  by  invoking  our  gods,  let  him  (notwithstanding 
any  former  suspicion)  be  pardoned  upon  his  repentance.  Informa- 
tions without  the  accuser's  name  subscribed  ought  not  to  be  re- 
ceived in  prosecutions  of  any  sort ;   as  it  is  introducing  a  very 

*  Deaconesses. 


SEC.  I.]  JEWISH   AND    PROFANE   AUTHORS.  37 


dangerous  precedent,  and  by  no  means  agreeable  to  the  equity  of 
my  government." 

From  tliis  record  of  antiquity,  we  learn  several  important  parti- 
culars respecting  the  early  Christians  : 

1.  That  they  Avere  accustomed  to  meet  on  a  certain  stated  day 
for  religious  worship — whether  on  the  first  or  last  day  of  the  week 
does  not  appear. 

2.  Their  meetings  were  held  in  the  morning,  before  daylight. 
Tertullian  styles  them  conventus  antelucanos,  assemblies  convened 
before  the  dawn.  It  was  a  general  custom  for  the  Christians  to 
meet  at  this  early  hour ;  doubtless,  that  they  might  the  better 
avoid  the  notice  of  their  enemies. 

3.  They  appear  not  to  have  had,  at  this  time,  any  stated  place 
of  worship. 

4.  They  worshipped  Christ  as  God.  The  phrase  carmen  Christo 
quasi  Deo  dicere  secum  invicem  may  imply  any  short  ascription  of 
praise  to  Christ — a  doxology,  a  prayer,  a  psalm  or  hymn  in  prose 
or  verse,  though  the  latter  is  most  probable.  The  phrase  quasi 
Christo  has  been  rendered  "as  to  some  God,"  as  the  language  of 
Pliny ;  but  this  does  not  materially  affect  the  argument :  whatever 
may  have  been  his  views,  he  asserts  that,  to  the  Christians,  Christ 
was  the  object  of  worship  to  whom  they  offered  this  doxology  or 
prayer,  rehearsing  it  alternately  or  in  responses. 

It  appears  fi-om  this  passage,  that  these  Christians  not  only  be- 
lieved the  doctrine  of  the  divinity  of  Christ,  but  manifested  great 
boldness  in  asserting  it. 

5.  They  celebrated  their  love-feasts  in  these  assemblies,  and 
bound  themselves  by  a  mutual  covenant  to  live  a  godly  life.  In 
the  evening,  they  came  together  again  to  celebrate  the  Lord's 
supper.  This  is  implied  in  their  eating  together  "a  harmless 
meal." 

The  reading,  exposition,  and  application  of  the  Scriptures  in 
these  assemblies  appears  to  be  distinctly  implied,  though  not  ex- 
pressly asserted. 

6.  This  epistle  bears  honourable  testimony  to  unflinching  stead- 
fastness of  faith  in  these  Christians,  which  Pliny  styles  an  absurd 
and  excessive  superstition. 

7.  This  epistle  affords  a  striking  proof  of  the  early  and  exten- 
sive propagation  of  Christianity,  and  of  its  tendency  to  overthrow 
idolatry.     It  also  confirms  the  statements  of  the  early  apologists 


THE   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANS.  [CHAP.  I. 


respecting  the  same  points ;  while  it  establishes  our  confidence  in 
their  statements  where  we  have  not,  as  in  this  case,  the  testimony 
of  contemporary  writers. 

Lucian,  of  Samosata. 

One  of  the  earliest  and  most  interesting  accounts  of  the  primi- 
tive Christians  is  left  on  record  also  by  Lucian,  an  infidel,  a  scofi"er 
of  all  religion  and  a  universal  skeptic.  He  lived,  probably,  a  little 
later  than  Pliny  and  Trajan,  and  almost  Avithin  a  hundred  years  of 
the  great  Author  of  Christianity.  In  sketching  the  life  of  Pere- 
grinus,  a  mountebank  impostor,  who  had  the  address  to  gain  the 
confidence  of  the  Christians  and  to  exercise  the  office  of  a  pres- 
byter and  teacher  among  them  for  some  time,  until  his  real  cha- 
racter became  known  and  he  was  expelled  by  them  from  their 
communion,  Lucian  gives  an  account  of  these  Christians  of  Pales- 
tine themselves.  A  native  of  Syria,  and  a  shrewd  observer  of 
men,  by  extensive  travels  in  Greece,  Italy,  Gaul,  and  Egypt,  he 
enjoyed  the  best  advantages  for  becoming  acquainted  with  the  real 
character  of  these  primitive  Christians. 

"  At  this  time  he  (Peregrinus)  came  into  possession  of  the  wonder- 
ful wisdom,  Go^iav,  of  the  Christians.  And  to  what  purpose  ? 
Why,  in  a  short  time,  he  proved  them  but  children,  himself  becom- 
ing their  prophet  and  sacrificer,  their  leader  in  the  synagogue  and 
every  thing  else.  Some  also  of  their  books  he  brought  forth  and 
di\Tilged :  he  also  composed  many,  and  they  reckoned  him  as  a 
god  and  followed  him  as  a  lawgiver,  and  declared  him  their  chief. 
They  were,  at  that  time,  and  still  are  doing  reverence  to  Him,  that 
great  man  who  was  crucified  in  Palestine,  because  he  brought  that 
new  doctrine  [teXetTfv,  end  or  object)  into  life." 

"  For  this  also  was  Proteus,  alias  Peregrinus,  apprehended  and 
cast  into  prison.  This  imprisonment  he  reckoned  no  small  sub- 
ject of  boasting,  in  conformity  with  the  usual  turn  of  his  life, 
with  his  fondness  for  exciting  wonder,  and  his  vain-glory  of  which 
he  was  enamoured.  But  when  he  had  been  bound,  the  Christians, 
thinking  it  a  common  misfortune,  made  every  effort  for  his  deliver- 
ance. When  this  was  found  impossible,  they  rendered  him  every 
assistance  in  their  power,  not  with  indifference,  but  with  zeal. 
From  early  morning  were  to  be  seen  old  women,  widows,  and 
orphans  wandering  about  the  prison.  And  some  of  his  friends,  in 
fulfilment  of  what  they  considered  their  duty,  slept  with  him  in 
prison,  having  corrupted  the  guards.     Moreover,  various  dishes 


SEC.  I.]  JEWISH   AND    PROFANE   AUTHORS.  39 


were  carried  in ;  their  divine  narratives  were  read,  and  tliis  excel- 
lent Peregrinus  (for  so  thej  regarded  him  as  jet)  was  accounted  a 
new  Socrates  by  them. 

"  Christians  came  also  from  the  cities  of  Asia,  sent  at  common 
expense,  in  order  to  assist  and  carry  on  the  synagogue  with  them 
and  give  consolation  to  the  man.  It  is  wonderful  what  alertness 
is  displayed  when  any  such  calamity  happens.  For,  upon  the 
shortest  notice,  they  lavish  out  every  thing  in  profusion.  At  this 
time,  no  small  contributions  were  made  for  Peregrinus  because 
he  was  in  bonds.  The  miserable  devotees  persuade  themselves 
that  they  are  immortal  and  shall  live  for  ever.  For  this  reason 
they  also  despise  death,  and  many  willingly  give  themselves  up  to 
martyrdom.  Moreover,  their  lawgiver,  the  first,  enjoined  them  to 
be  brethren ;  that,  having  once  professed  the  new  religion,  they 
should  deny  the  Grecian  gods  and  worship  that  sophist  of  theirs 
who  was  crucified,  and  live  according  to  his  laws.  They  therefore 
despise  all  others  alike,  whoever  they  may  be,  and  consider  every 
thing  common  among  themselves,  each  freely  receiving  without 
making  any  pledge.  If,  therefore,  there  came  among  them  any 
mountebank  or  diviner,  he  in  a  short  time  became  rich,  making 
drafts  upon  private  men  who  were  considered  as  brothers." 

After  stating  that  Peregrinus  was  released  by  the  governor  of 
Syria,  Lucian  proceeds  with  his  narrative.  "He  then  went  forth 
to  wander  about  the  second  time,  calling  upon  Christians  to  pay 
his  fare ;  by  means  of  whom  he  also  lived  in  abundance.  In  this 
manner  he  lived  some  time.  But  afterwards,  having  broken  some 
Jaw  that  prevailed  among  them,  (I  think  he  was  caught  eating 
something  forbidden  by  them,)  reduced  to  want,  because  they  no 
longer  received  and  admitted  him,  he  made  another  attempt  to 
get  possession  of  his  paternal  estate." 

From  this  account  of  the  primitive  Christians,  we  may  gather 
the  following  particulars : 

1.  Lucian  distinctly  speaks  of  them  by  their  own  name,  though 
with  the  utmost  contempt. 

2.  Of  the  crucified  Redeemer  as  a  person  well  known  in  his 
time.  Our  Saviour  is  Him  crucified ;  sufficiently  known  to  all, 
about  whom  there  is^  no  doubt  or  uncertainty.  The  whole  narra- 
tive proceeds  on  the  supposition  that  the  Author  of  this  new 
religion  was  a  remarkable  personage,  who  lived  some  little  time 
})revious  in  Palestine,  and  was  there  crucified.     He  probably  re- 


40  THE   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANS.  [CHAP.  I. 


garded  this  "great  man,  this  lawgiver,"  as  one  of  the  magi,  or 
wise  men  of  the  East. 

3.  This  religion  which  he  taught  is  new  and  peculiar,  distinct 
from  other  forms  of  religion ;  it  is  the  wonderful  wisdom  or  so- 
phistry, tr\v  ^avfiacftYiv  Go^iav,  and  accords  very  well  with  the 
prava  et  immodica  superstitio  of  Pliny  and  Tacitus. 

4.  Lucian  is  witness  to  the  sobriety,  prayerfulness,  and  godliness 
of  these  Christians ;  as  is  implied  in  the  feigned  life  whicK  this  dis- 
sembler and  impostor  was  required  to  live,  in  order  to  gain  their 
confidence.  Had  the  character  of  Christians  not  diflFered  from 
that  of  other  men,  such  a  pretended  conversion  would  have  been 
quite  needless  on  the  part  of  Peregrinus. 

5.  Their  wonderful  charity,  benevolence,  and  mutual  sympathy 
with  their  afflicted  and  persecuted  brethren  is  distinctly  affirmed 
of  these  Christians. 

6.  Their  patience  under  sufferings,  arising  from  their  hopes  of 
a  future  life,  is  worthy  of  consideration. 

7.  Their  unity  and  fellowship  as  brethren  and  their  strictness 
of  discipline  are  particularly  noticeable.  Peregrinus  was  received 
and  cherished  as  a  brother  beloved  by  them  until  his  character 
became  known,  when  he  was  excommunicated  and  treated  accord- 
ing to  his  deserts  as  a  heathen  man  and  a  base  impostor. 

8.  Lucian  records  the  readiness  of  Christians  to  relieve  and  sup- 
port those  who  were  sick  or  in  prison. 

9.  lie  mentions  their  ^ELTiva  TioixiXa,  their  manifold  meals,  re- 
ferring obviously  to  their  agapce  and  sacramental  suppers,  possibly 
to  abuses  similar  to  those  which  are  reproved  by  the  apostle  Paul, 
1  Cor.  xi.  20-22. 

10.  It  is  observable  also  that  Lucian  makes  mention  of  the 
sacred  books  of  the  Christians ;  and  also, 

11.  Of  their  community  of  goods,  as  is  described  Acts  iv.  32-37 ; 
and, 

12.  Of  certain  prohibited  articles,  as  specified  also  by  the  church 
at  Jerusalem,  Acts  xv.  20  ;  xxi.  25  ; — all  which  evinces  their  piety 
and  benevolence  and  diligence  in  the  Christian  life. 

Finally,  these  Christians  not  only  worshipped  Christ  as  the 
divine  Author  of  their  religion,  but  as  one  of  the  persons  in  the 
sacred  Trinity.  The  terms  employed  by  Lucian,  6Tt  oiliovOi, 
7tpo(yxvva}<yi,  indicate  religious  worship,  reverence  to  Christ  as  to  a 
god.  Moreover,  the  Philopatris,  usually  ascribed  to  Lucian,  though 
its  authenticity  is  denied  by  many,  distinctly  recognises  the  doc- 


SEC.  II  ]  CHRISTIAN   AUTHORS.  41 


trine  of  the  Trinity,  consisting  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost,  one  in  three  and  three  in  one,  as  expressed  by  Criton, 
kv  Tp/'a,  and  Tp/a  '^v.  The  words  of  the  Philopatris  are  given  below. 

'T^l/i^sSovra  Ssov,  fieyav,  d[.i[3porov,  ovpavudva, 
'Tlov  Ilarpog,  Tlvev(ia  ix  IlaTpog  kxTto^evoiiEVOVy 
"Ej^  ex  TptGji^,  xat  f^  'Erog  Tp/a' 
TaiiTa  vo^i^e  Tinva,  rov  h'  nyov  Qeov, 

§  2,    CHRISTIAN   AUTHORS. 

The  Epistle  to  Diognetus. 

The  epistle  to  Diognetus  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  and 
valuable  remains  of  Christian  antiquity.  Nothing  is  known  of  the 
author ;  but  it  is  the  production  of  a  man  of  deep  thought  and  of 
a  devout  spirit.  The  picture  which  he  gives  of  the  excellence  of 
the  Christian  life  is  beyond  measure  captivating,  and  forms  a  fit 
introduction  to  the  following  delineation  of  the  domestic,  social, 
and  religious  life  of  the  primitive  Christians. 

The  precise  date  of  this  epistle  is  as  uncertain  as  its  authorship, 
though  all  authorities  concur  in  giving  it  a  high  antiquity.  Some 
refer  it  to  the  age  of  the  apostles ;  others,  like  Neander,  to  that 
immediately  succeeding ;  and  almost  all  concur  in  assigning  to  it  an 
antiquity  as  remote  as  the  middle  of  the  second  century.  At  some 
time  between  this  early  period  and  that  of  the  apostles  lived  the 
unknown  author  of  this  authentic  picture  of  primitive  piety,  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  which  is  submitted  to  the  perusal  of  the  reader 
in  the  following  translation  : 

"I  observe,  most  excellent  Diognetus,  that  you  are  very  curious 
to  become  acquainted  with  the  religion  of  the  Christians ;  and  par- 
ticularly careful  to  ascertain  what  God  they  worship,  and  what  may 
be  their  forms  of  worship ;  for  while  they  seem  to  look  forward  to 
something  beyond  this  life,  fearless  of  death,  they  deny  the  gods  of 
the  Greek  and  disregard  the  religion  of  the  Jew ;  but  manifest  an  ex- 
traordinary affection  one  towards  another.  What,  then,  is  this  new 
institution  or  form  of  religion  ?  Why  has  it  made  its  appearance 
noio,  and  not  before  ?  To  this  inquiry  it  shall  be  my  happiness  to 
reply,  in  prayerful  reliance  upon  the  blessing  of  God  so  to  direct 
that  I  may  have  the  happiness  to  hear  that  you  have  become  a  better 
man ;  and  that  you  may  never  have  occasion  to  regret  the  instruc- 
tions received. 


42  THE    PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANS.  [CHAP.  I. 

Christian  Paradoxes. — Christians  are  not  distinguished  by  their 
place  of  residence,  their  language,  or  their  manners ;  but  they  inhabit 
the  same  cities,  .use  the  same  forms  of  speech,  and  engage  in  the  same 
pursuits  as  other  men.  They  neither  have  any  skill  in  hidden  mys- 
teries above  other  men,  nor  do  they  defend  any  doctrines  of  men. 
Dwelling  in  cities  of  Greeks  and  barbarians,  each  where  his  lot  is 
cast,  in  clothing,  food,  and  manner  of  life,  they  follow  the  customs 
of  their  country,  and  yet  they  exhibit  a  life  and  conversation  of 
wonderful  paradoxes.  They  inhabit  their  own  native  land,  but  only 
as  foreigners  and  strangers ;  as  citizens,  they  take  a  part  in  every 
thing,  but  endure  all  things  as-  strangers ;  every  foreign  land  is 
to  them  their  native  country ;  and  their  native  country,  a  foreign 
land.  They  marry  and  rear  up  their  families  unlike  those  who, 
without  natural  affection,  expose  their  children  to  death ;  they  live 
in  common,  but  in  chaste  observance  of  their  marriage-vows.  They 
live  in  the  flesh,  but  not  after  the  flesh ;  they  dwell  on  the  earth, 
but  have  their  mansions  in  heaven ;  they  obey  the  existing  laws, 
but  in  their  lives  are  superior  to  all  law ;  loving  all  men,  they  are 
persecuted  by  all;  living  unknown,  they  are  condemned  to  death; 
they  are  slain,  and  behold  they  live ;  though  poor,  they  make 
many  rich  ;  in  want  of  every  thing,  they  have  abundance  ;  in  dis- 
honour, they  are  but  esteemed  the  more  ;  when  defamed,  they  are 
vindicated ;  when  reviled,  they  bless  ;  for  insolence,  they  return 
honour ;  for  well-doing,  they  are  punished  as  evil-doers,  and  yet 
rejoice  in  their  punishments  as  being  made  alive.  Rejected  by 
the  Jews  as  aliens,  they  are  persecuted  by  the  Greeks ;  and  though 
hated  of  all  men,  none  can  show  cause  of  enmity  against  them. 

In  a  word.  Christians  are  in  the  world  what  the  body  is  to  the 
soul.  As  the  soul  is  diffused  through  all  the  members,  so  are  these 
Christians  dispersed  throughout  all  the  cities  in  the  world.  The 
soul  is*  in  the  body,  though  not  of  the  body ;  they,  though  in  the 
world,  are  not  of  the  world.  The  soul  dwells  unseen  in  the  body; 
so  the  Christians  are  known  to  be  in  the  world,  and  yet  their  piety 
is  unseen,  unknown.  The  flesh,  without  cause,  wars  against  the 
spirit,  because  this  is  opposed  to  the  indulgence  of  sinful  pleasures ; 
so  the  world  unjustly  hates  these  Christians,  because  they  oppose 
the  pleasures  of  the  world.  As  the  soul  loveth  its  own  flesh  and 
the  members  that  war  against  it,  so  Christians  love  those  that  hate 
them ;  the  soul  upholds  the  body  in  which  it  is  detained,  so  the 
Christians  preserve  the  world  in  which  they  are  imprisoned.  The 
soul,  itself  immortal,  inhabits  this  perishable  tabernacle  of  the 


SEC.  II.]  CHRISTIAN   AUTHORS.  43 


flesh,  so  they  inhabit  these  dying  bodies,  confidently  expecting  this 
corruptible  to  put  on  incorruption.  The  soul,  debased,  impaired 
by  sense,  only  triumphs  the  more;  so  the  Christians,  the  more  they 
are  reduced  by  persecution,  only  increase  the  more. 

The  3Iission  of  Christ  our  Lord. — God  has  imposed  upon  the 
Christian  responsibilities  which  he  can  neither  disown  nor  reject ; 
not,  indeed,  of  an  earthly  or  perishable  character,  nor  pertaining 
to  human  institutions,  but  resulting  from  his  truth,  his  holy  word, 
he  has  mysteriously  implanted  in  their  hearts.  Not,  again,  as 
though  he  had  sent  any  subordinate  minister  of  his,  as  an  angel 
or  potentate,  intrusted  either  with  divine  or  earthly  power;  but 
he  has  sent  Him  who  is  the  Creator  and  Governor  of  all  thing-s  : 
"who  setteth  bounds  to  the  sea  that  it  cannot  pass,  and  directeth 
the  stars  of  heaven  in  their  courses ;  whom  the  sun  and  moon 
obey  in  their  appointed  place,  and  to  whom  all  things  are  subject; 
the  heavens  above  and  all  that  are  therein ;  the  earth,  the  sea,  and 
all  that  in  them  is,  and  the  world  beneath  them.  Has  God,  then, 
done  all  this  that  he  might  reign  in  terror  as  a  tyrant  ?  Far  from 
it ;  but  to  rule  in  meekness  and  gentleness.  As  a  sovereign,  God 
has  sent  his  Son  to  execute  the  office  of  a  King ;  as  God,  to  be 
the  Saviour  of  man ;  and  as  a  servant,  to  learn  obedience  and  do 
no  violence ;  for  violence  belongs  not  to  God.  In  mercy,  he  has 
sent  him  to  fulfil  the  kind  offices  of  invitation  and  of  love,  not  to 
sit  in  judgment ;  but  he  will  yet  commission  him  to  go  forth  in 
judgment,  and  who  then  shall  be  able  to  abide  his  coming  ?  See 
you  not  that  those  who  are  delivered  up  to  wild  beasts,  because 
they  will  not  deny  their  God,  are  not  overcome,  but  only  increase 
the  more,  the  more  they  are  persecuted  ?  This  is  not  the  work  of 
man,  but  of  God,  and  an  evident  token  of  his  coming. 

How  miserable  was  the  condition  of  men  before  the  coming  of 
Him  that  was  sent  ?  What  knowledge  had  they  of  God  ?  Fire, 
water,  the  elements,  or  some  created  thing  undistinguished  from 
other  works  of  creation,  they  acknowledged  as  their  god.  Of  God 
himself  no  man  knew  any  thing ;  but  he  revealed  himself  through 
faith,  by  which  alone  God  is  seen.  For  the  Supreme  Ruler  and 
Governor  of  all  things  ever  was,  and  is,  and  will  be  merciful  and 
gracious,  true  and  faithful,  and  longsufi"ering.  Fulfilling  his  holy 
will  in  mysterious  darkness,  he  seemed  not  to  regard  the  affairs  of 
men.  But  when,  through  his  beloved  Son,  he  began  to  reveal  the 
things  he  had  from  the  beginning  prepared  for  us,  he  freely  gave 
us  all  things  and  made  us  partakers  of  his  benefits. 


44  THE    PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANS.  [CHAP.  1. 


God,  in  former  times,  had  left  us  to  walk  after  our  own  lusts ; 
not,  indeed,  himself  having  pleasure  in  our  sins,  but  that  he  might 
awaken  the  consciousness  of  guilt  and  cause  us  to  see  how  unworthy 
we  were  of  life,  and  thus  be  prepared  to  receive  his  grace.  Hav- 
ing in  this  manner  manifested  our  unworthiness  of  the  kingdom  of 
God,  we  are  made  partakers  of  it  by  his  power.  When  the  mea- 
sure of  our  iniquities  was  full,  and  it  was  made  apparent  that  the 
wages  thereof  was  death ;  when  the  fulness  of  time,  appointed  of 
God  for  revealing  his  powerful  grace,  had  come,  then,  of  his  tran- 
scendent love,  neither  exercising  his  displeasure  towards  us,  nor 
casting  us  oflF,  nor  remembering  our  transgressions  against  us,  but 
in  his  long-suffering  bearing  with  us,  he  took  upon  himself  our  sins. 
He  gave  his  only  Son  to  be  a  ransom  for  us — the  righteous,  for  the 
unrighteous ;  the  holy,  for  the  unholy ;  the  just,  for  the  unjust ; 
the  mortal,  for  the  immortal.  What  but  his  righteousness  can 
hide  our  sins  ?  Or,  by  whom  can  we,  in  our  impiety  and  trans- 
gression, be  justified,  save  by  the  only-begotten  Son  of  God.  De- 
lightful change  !  What  unsearchable  wisdom  !  what  unspeakable 
blessings !  that  one  righteous  person  should  put  away  the  sins  of 
many  and  justify  them  by  his  own  righteousness.  Having  first 
shown  the  impossibility  of  obtaining  salvation  ourselves,  and  then 
offered  a  Saviour  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost,  he  now  challenges 
our  faith  in  him  as  our  Creator  and  Preserver,  our  Counsellor  and 
great  Physician,  as  our  wisdom,  honour,  glory,  strength,  and  sal- 
vation, that  we  should  be  careful  for  nothing  pertaining  to  this 
life. 

The  Happiness  of  Religion. — Would  you,  Diognetus,  but  re- 
ceive this  faith,  then  you  should  know  the  grace  of  God.  For 
God,  who  has  indeed  loved  us,  for  whom  he  made  the  world,  sub- 
jecting all  that  is  therein  unto  us,  whom  alone  he  has  created  in 
his  own  image  and  endowed  with  intelligence  to  know  him,  and  to 
whom  he  has  sent  his  only-begotten  Son,  will  surely  grant  his  hea- 
venly kingdom  to  all  that  love  him.  Did  you  but  know  him,  with 
what  joy  would  you  be  filled !  How  would  you  love  him  who  first 
loved  you,  and  pattern  after  his  benevolence  !  Marvel  not  that 
man  should  be  conformed  to  God.  For  it  is  not  by  authority  over 
others,  not  by  wealth  or  power,  that  you  find  happiness,  or  become 
assimilated  to  God,  but  by  bearing  the  burdens  of  your  neighbour, 
by  condescension  and  kindness  to  inferiors,  and  by  imparting  to 
the  needy  according  as  God  in  his  good  providence  has  given  to 
you :  by  so  doing  may  you  become  godlike  in  the  Christian  virtues. 


SEC,  ri.]  CHRISTIAN   AUTHORS.  45 


Then,  while  yet  on  the  earth,  you  shall  see  him  that  reigns  in  hea- 
ven. Then  shall  you  begin  to  speak  forth  the  mysteries  of  God. 
Then  shall  you  admire  and  love  those  who  are  persecuted  for  their 
fidelity  to  God.  Then  shall  you  rebuke  the  deeeitfulness  of  the 
world,  when  you  have  your  conversation  in  heaven,  when,  regard- 
less of  that  which  only  seems  to  be  death,  you  shall  fear  that  dread- 
ful death  which  will  consign  to  everlasting  fire,  and  punish  to  the 
end  those  that  may  be  delivered  sp  to  it." 

In  these  extracts  we  observe  the  devout  spirit  of  one  who  has 
communed  familiarly  with  Christ  and  his  apostles.  They  set  forth 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  the  Saviour  of  lost  men,  as  the  corner- 
stone of  the  Christian  system.  They  teach  for  doctrine  the  end- 
less misery  of  the  wicked,  and  many  of  the  cardinal  principles  of 
the  Christian  religion ;  while  they  exhibit  the  transforming  power 
of  grace,  and  the  amiable  influence  of  this  religion  upon  the  per- 
sonal character  of  the  Christian  in  all  the  relations  of  life. 

It  is  deeply  interesting  and  instructive  to  observe  how  thoroughly 
these  early  Christians  were  possessed  of  the  spirit  of  their  Master, 
who  was  "  holy,  harmless,  undefiled,  and  separate  from  sinners ;"  and 
who  said  to  his  disciples,  "Ye  are  not  of  this  world,  even  as  I  am 
not  of  this  world."  In  simplicity  and  godly  sincerity,  they  gave 
themselves  up  to  the  teaching  of  the  Divine  word,  following  the 
Lamb  whithersoever  he  goeth.  By  the  mighty  power  of  personal 
piety,  fearlessly  and  beautifully  exemplified  in  defiance  of  all  oppo- 
sition, at  all  times,  and  in  every  relation  of  life,  they  pressed  on 
to  higher  conquests  than  Christianity  since  has  ever  won.  By  the 
simple  power  of  faith,  manifested  in  a  holy  life,  "they  subdued 
kingdoms,  wrought  righteousness,  obtained  promises,  stopped  the 
mouths  of  lions,  quenched  the  violence  of  fire,  escaped  the  edge 
of  the  sword,  out  of  weakness  were  made  strong,  waxed  valiant  in 
fight,  turned  to  flight  the  armies  of  the  aliens."  In  the  midst  of 
the  most  fiery  persecutions,  the  church,  though  burned  with  fire, 
like  the  burning  bush,  was  not  consumed,  but  only  flourished  and 
spread  the  more.  "Torment,  rack,  condemn,  crush  us,"  says  Ter- 
tullian,  "  the  most  exquisite  cruelty  which  ye  can  devise  avails  you 
nothing ;  but  rather  induces  the  more  to  become  Christians.  As 
often  as  we  are  cut  down  by  persecutions,  we  spring  up  the  more 
abundantly.     The   blood  of  Christians   is  the  seed  of  thf. 

CHURCH." 


46  THE    PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANS.  [CHAP.  I. 

Propagation  of  Christianity. 

Before  the  apostles  ceased  from  their  mission,  the  day-spring 
from  on  high  had  shed  its  illuminations  over  the  wide  realms  of 
darkness  which  stretched  from  the  Euphrates  to  the  coasts  of  Spain 
and  Britain.  If  had  visited  Arabia  and  Egypt,  and  gilded  with  its 
heavenly  radiance  even  the  Mediterranean  coasts  of  benighted 
Africa.  Within  fourscore  year^  after  the  death  of  Christ,  Pliny 
affii'ms  that  the  temples  were  almost  deserted ;  that  the  sacred  vie- " 
tims  devoted  to  the  altar  scarcely  found  any  purchasers ;  that  the 
superstition  had  not  only  infected  the  cities,  but  had  even  spread 
itself  into  the  villages  and  the  open  country  of  Pontus  and  Bithy- 
nia.  At  the  distance  of  another  century,  Tertullian  represents  the 
enemies  of  Christianity  as  complaining  that  the  whole  state  is 
overrun  with  it.  "  They  lament  it  as  a  great  calamity,  that  Chris- 
tians are  found  in  countries,  in  cities,  in  the  islands,  that  persons 
of  each  sex,  and  of  all  ages  and  station  and  dignity,  come  over  to 
that  name."  "We  are  but  of  yesterday,"  he  continues  in  another 
place,  "and  have  already  filled  all  your  empire,  your  towns,  islands, 
forts,  boroughs,  councils,  your  very  camp,  every  tribe  and  quarter 
of  the  city,  the  palace,  the  senate,  the  forum.  We  leave  you  no- 
thing but  your  temples.  Calculate  the  number  of  your  armies, 
and  the  Christians  of  a  single  province  would  exceed  it.^  In  other 
passages,  he  speaks  of  Christians  as  forming  almost  a  majority  in 
every  place  ;  and  refers  to  the  diffusion  of  Christianity  in  Car- 
thage and  other  provinces  of  Africa  ;  in  Spain,  Gaul,  and  Britain ; 
in  Germany  and  Scythia,  and  many  other  obscure  nations,  provinces, 
and  islands  too  numerous  to  be  mentioned."^ 

After  making  all  reasonable  allowance  for  rhetorical  exaggera- 
tion in  Tertullian,  it  must  stand  confessed,  to  the  immortal  honour 
of  the  earliest  missionaries  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  that,  in  a  short 
space  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  years,  they  had  published  its  glad 
tidings  to  all  the  principal  nations  of  the  earth ;  to  men  of  every 
colour,  clime,  and  condition.  They  had  gained  their  conquests  in 
the  Roman  legion,  in  the  camp,  the  cabinet,  and  the  court ;  and 
carried  them  up  even  to  the  throne  of  the  Coesars :  all  which  was 
but  the  gracious  fruit  of  their  fervent  charity,  and  their  faith  and 
patience  in  the  service  of  their  Lord  and  Master. 


SEC.  II.]  CHRISTIAN   AUTHORS.  47 


The  Works  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers. 

Under  this  title  are  included  the  epistles  of  Clement,  Barnabas, 
Polycarp,  and  Ignatius ;  together  with  the  Shepherd  of  Hermas. 
Of  these  venerable  remnants  of  antiquity,  the  most  important  is 
the  Epistle  of  Clement  of  Rome  to  the  church  at  Corinth.  He 
writes  not  by  his  own  authority,  but  in  the  name  of  his  church ; 
and  addresses,  not  the  bishops,  but  the  church  itself  at  Corinth. 
He  recognises  no  distinction  between  bishop  and  presbyter ;  but 
uses  these  terms  (c.  42,  44)  as  synonymous,  and  gives  several  im- 
portant hints  respecting  the  earliest  constitution  of  the  Christian 
church. 

This  epistle  is  disfigured  by  interpolations ;  one  of  which  (c.  40) 
transfers  to  the  church  the  whole  system  of  the  Jewish  priesthood, 
which  was  a  corruption  of  the  third  century,  to  exalt  the  episcopal 
hierarchy,  of  which  the  apostles  and  their  immediate  successors 
knew  nothing. 

Clement  is  supposed,  by  some,  to  be  the  same  person  whom  Paul 
commends  to  the  Philippians,  chap.  vi.  3  ;  and  this  opinion  is  sup- 
ported by  several  ancient  authorities.^ 

The  date  of  this  epistle  is,  by  some  writers,  assigned  to  the 
period,  A.  d.  68-77 ;  by  others,  to  a.  d.  91  or  92. 

The  Epistle  of  Barnabas,  bearing  the  honoured  name  of  the 
companion  of  Paul  in  his  missionary  labours,  is  evidently  spurious. 
It  abounds  in  fabulous  narratives,  mystic  allegorical  interpretations 
of  the  Old  Testament,  and  fanciful  conceits ;  and  is  generally 
agreed  by  the  learned  to  be  of  no  authority.  Neander  supposes 
it  to  have  originated  in  the  Alexandrian  school ;  but  at  what  parti- 
cular time  he  does  not  define. 

Polycarp  of  Smyrna,  the  venerable  disciple  of  John,  the  last 
survivor  of  the  apostolic  age,  sufi"ered  martyrdom  in  the  year  167. 
He  left  an  epistle  to  the  Philippians,  which  is  generally  received  as 
genuine.  It  is  chiefly  occupied  with  pious  exhortations ;  and, 
though  of  great  interest,  gives  little  information  respecting  the 
ecclesiastical  polity  of  the  apostolical  churches. 

Ignatius  of  Antioch,  was  contemporary  with  John,  and,  perhaps, 
of  other  apostles.  His  martyrdom  at  Rome  is  assigned,  by  some, 
to  a  period  as  early  as  106  or  107  ;  by  others,  as  late  as  115  or 
116.  Some  passages  in  his  letters  indicate  a  high  antiquity ;  but 
many  others  are  evidently  the  production  of  a  later  age.  They 
generally  recognise  a  wide  and  settled  distinction  between  bishops 


48  THE    PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANS.  [CHAP.  I. 

and  presbyters,  and  claim  for  them  an  authority  wholly  unknown 
in  the  primitive  church.  We  are  told,  that  Christians  ought  to 
look  up  to  the  bishop  as  to  the  Lord  himself  ;^  that  they  ought  to 
follow  the  bishops  as  Jesus  Christ  complied  with  the  wall  of  the 
Father,  and  to  submit  themselves  to  the  presbyters  as  to  the  apos- 
tles f  and  that  he  who  should  do  any  thing  without  the  consent  of 
his  bishop,  would  be  a  servant  of  the  devil. ^  None  can  fail  to  see 
in  those  passages  the  corruptions  of  an  age  remote  from  that  of 
the  apostles.  Certain  it  is  that  these  epistles,  if  not  an  entire 
forgery,  are  so  filled  with  interpolations  and  forgeries  as  to  be  of 
no  historical  value  with  reference  to  the  primitive  Christians  and 
the  apostolic  churches. 

The  Shepherd  of  Hermas  is  the  production  of  a  weak  and  vision- 
ary mind ;  well  suited  to  form  a  wild,  disordered  fanatic.  It 
personates  an  angel,  in  the  form  and  garb  of  a  shepherd,  giving 
instructions  by  visions,  precepts,  and  parables,  so  filled  with  folly 
and  superstition,  with  ridiculous  associations  and  ingenious  non- 
sense, though  blended  with  good  intentions,  that  it  is  unworthy  of 
the  least  credit  as  an  authentic  record  of  history. 

Constitutions  and  Canons  of  the  Apostles. 

The  learned  have  been  greatly  divided  in  opinion  respecting  the 
origin  and  date  of  these  constitutions.  They  are,  confessedly,  a 
forgery ;  and  of  no  authority  as  an  expression  of  the  teaching  of 
the  apostles ;  but  highly  important  for  their  antiquity,  and  as  an 
exponent  of  the  views  prevalent  at  the  time  of  their  publication 
respecting  the  prerogatives  of  the  bishop  and  the  duties  of  the 
subordinate  officers  and  members  of  the  church.  The  Constitutions 
consist  of  eight  books ;  of  which  the  first  seven  appear  to  be  the 
production  of  the  same  age,  the  latter  part  of  the  third  century 
and  the  beginning  of  the  fourth.  The  eighth  book  is  supposed  to 
be  the  work  of  other  hands,  about  a  century  later. 

The  design  of  the  authors  of  this  pious  fraud  evidently  was  to 
set  up  an  authoritative  standard  for  all  the  members  of  the  church, 
both  of  the  laity  and  the  clergy ;  to  determine  more  closely  their 
mutual  relations  and  respective  duties ;  to  settle  more  exactly  the 
usages  of  the  church,  to  explain  their  meaning,  and  promote  their 
more  strict  observance ;  and  especially  to  establish  the  authority 
of  the  bishop.  The  first  book,  "concerning  the  laity,"  compre- 
hends various  moral  precepts  ;  the  second  book  treats  very  copiously 
respecting  the  position  and  the  duties  of  the  bishops  and  the  lower 


SEC.  II.]  CHRISTIAX   AUTHORS.  49 

clergy ;  the  third  determines  the  duties  of  widows,  who  then  made 
a  part  of  the  clerical  or  spiritual  community,  prescribes  their  eccle- 
siastical offices,  and  the  duties  of  some  of  the  lower  clergy ;  the 
fourth,  "  concerning  orphans,"  defines  their  relations  to  the  bishops, 
and  then  imparts  precepts  respecting  oblations  and  other  matters ; 
the  fifth  book,  "concerning  martyrs,"  enforces  various  precepts 
and  warnings  against  apostasy,  idolatry,  and  immoralities  connected 
with  them,  and  the  festivals  of  the  church;  the  sixth  book,  "con- 
cerning schisms,"  enlarges  on  the  multiplied  divisions  and  heresies 
of  the  church,  and  on  the  evils  thence  arising,  intermingling  many 
admonitions  against  heretics ;  the  seventh  book  embraces  a  multi- 
tude of  directions  relating  to  the  inner  ecclesiastical  life.  Through- 
out the  Avhole  work,  the  bishop  is  ever  foremost  in  honour  and  in 
authority ;  and  submission  to  him  is  inculcated  as  among  the 
first  Christian  graces.  Indeed,  he  is  profanely  set  up  as  an  earthly 
god.  "  The  bishop  is  the  minister  of  the  word,  the  keeper  of  know- 
ledge, the  mediator  between  God  and  you  in  the  several  parts  of 
your  Divine  worship.  He  is  the  teacher  of  piety ;  and,  next  after 
God,  he  is  your  father  who  hath  begotten  you  again  to  the  adop- 
tion of  sons  by  water  and  the  Spirit.  He  is  your  ruler  and  go- 
vernor ;  he  is  your  king  and  potentate ;  he  is,  next  after  God,  your 
earthly  god,  who  hath  a  right  to  be  honoured  by  you."''  To  secure 
this  unlimited  respect  and  authority  for  the  bishop,  the  author  is 
continually  sending  us  back  to  the  Old  Testament,  seeking  analo- 
gies between  the  clergy  and  the  Levitical  priesthood,  to  transfer 
this  priesthood  into  the  Christian  church,  with  the  bishop  as  its 
high-priest  and  supreme  head. 

The  eighth  book  is  chiefly  occupied  with  the  liturgical  services 
of  the  church,  and  sets  before  us  the  state  of  the  church  and  the 
liturgy  in  the  age  of  Chrysostom,  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  cen- 
tury. To  give  effect  to  these  designs,  the  author  puts  forth  his 
work  as  the  genuine  production  of  the  holy  apostles,  and  carefully 
warns  us  against  books  fabricated  in  their  name  by  the  ungodly.^ 

Neander  expresses  the  opinion  that  the  Constitutions  were 
"formed  gradually,  in  the  Eastern  church,  out  of  different  frag- 
ments, during  a  period  reaching  from  the  close  of  the  second  into 
the  fourth  century."^ 

The  Apostolic  Canons  are  of  the  same  general  character  and 
design  as  the  Constitutions.  Mosheim  supposes  them  to  have  ori- 
ginated with  one  and  the  same  author.  Krabbe  subjoins  to  his 
elaborate  Prize  Essay  on  the  Constitutions,  a  dissertation  on  the 

4 


50  THE    PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANS.  [CIIAP.  I. 


Canons ;  In  which  he  defends  the  position  that  these  different 
canons  originated  chiefly  in  the  course  of  the  second  and  tlm-d 
centuries.  The  result  of  his  investigations  he  sums  up  in  a  single 
sentence:  "After  having  diligently  examined  all  the  testimonies, 
I  would  now,  without  any  hesitancy,  contend  that  the  canons  arose 
one  after  another,  in  single  churches  of  the  first  centuries,  until, 
instead  of  being  dispersed  here  and  there,  they  were  brought  into 
one  collection. 

"In  the  early  church,  single  canons  were  circulated  under  the 
name  of  ancient  canons,  apostolical  canons,  ecclesiastical  regula- 
tions and  ancient  law.  Each  of  -these  canons,  although  made  and 
sanctioned  by  later  persons,  has  been  ascribed  to  the  apostles,  if  it 
has  seemed  to  accord  with  their  doctrine.  These  canons,  therefore, 
were  called  apostolical,  not  [at  first]  from  any  supposed  aposto- 
lical authorship,  but  from  the  nature  of  the  doctrine  inculcated  in 
them." 

The  Canons  relate  chiefly  to  various  particulars  of  ecclesiastical 
polity  and  Christian  worship ;  the  regulations  which  they  contain 
being  for  the  most  part  sanctioned  with  the  threatening  of  deposi- 
tion and  excommunication  against  offenders.  In  the  beginning  of 
the  sixth  century,  fifty  of  these  canons  were  translated  from  Greek 
to  Latin  by  the  Roman  abbot,  Dionysius  the  younger,  who  intro- 
duced our  mode  of  reckoning  time  from  the  birth  of  Christ ;  and 
about  the  same  time,  thirty-five  others  were  appended  to  them  in  a 
collection  made  by  John,  patriarch  of  Constantinople.  Since  that 
time  the  whole  number  (eighty-five)  have  been  regarded  as  genuine 
in  the  East ;  while  only  the  first  fifty  have  been  treated  with  equal 
respect  in  the  West. 

The  author  may  have  had  the  same  design  as  that  which  appears 
to  have  influenced  the  compiler  of  the  Apostolical  Constitutions. 
The  eighty-fifth  canon  speaks  of  the  Constitutions  as  sacred  books ; 
and,  from  a  comparison  of  the  two  works,  it  is  plain  that  they  are 
either  the  production  of  one  and  the  same  writer,  or  that,  at  least, 
the  two  authors  were  contemporary,  and  had  a  good  understanding 
with  each  other. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   RELiaiOUS   LIFE   OF   THE  PRIMITIVE  CHRISTIANS. 

In  these  sketches  of  primitive  Christianity,  we  go  back  to  the 
ages  immediatelj  succeeding  the  apostles,  to  commune  with  those 
ancient  professors  of  the  Christian  religion  in  the  trials  of  their 
faith,  in  their  inward  piety  towards  God,  and  in  their  various  do- 
mestic, social,  and  civil  relations  in  life. 

§1.    THE  INWARD  PIETY  OF  THE   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANS   THE   PRIN- 
CIPAL   MEANS    OP    PROPAGATING    THEIR    RELIGION. 

The  means  by  which  the  unbelieving  were  converted  to  Chris- 
tianity and  to  a  true  faith  in  Christ  were  then,  as  now,  various ; 
but  one  of  the  most  persuasive  was  the  blameless  life  of  the  con- 
verts to  the  Christian  faith.  Those  Christians,  who  once  freely 
indulged  in  all  the  vices  and  sins  of  the  corrupt  generation  among 
whom  they  had  their  conversation,  were  now,  in  the  midst  of  the 
same  abounding  corruptions,  examples  of  the  most  extraordinary 
purity.  Their  enemies  might  hate  the  change ;  but  they  must 
acknowledge  its  reality  and  transforming  power.  Every  Christian 
convert  was  thus  an  epistle  of  Christ,  seen  and  read  of  all  men. 
It 'was  an  argument  that  could  not  be  gainsaid  or  resisted.  No 
sophistry  could  set  it  aside.  It  wrought  mightily  upon  the  con- 
science, and  won  multitudes  to  the  acknowledgment  of  the  truth 
as  it  is  in  Jesus. 

The  early  apologists  understood  the  force  of  this  appeal,  and 
often  employed  it  against  their  adversaries.  "We,  who  once  de- 
lighted in  lewdness,"  says  Justin  Martyr,  A,  d.  148,  "now  embrace 
chastity ;  we,  who  once  embraced  magical  arts,  have  consecrated 
ourselves  to  the  good  and  unbegotten  God ;  we,  who  loved  above 
all  things  the  gain  of  mo'ney  and  possessions,  now  bring  all  that 
we  have  into  one  common  stock,  and  give  a  portion  to  every  one 
that  needs ;  we,  who  once  hated  and  killed  one  another,  now  pray 
for  our  enemies,  and  endeavour  to  persuade  those  who  unjustly 
hate  us.     Now,  whosoever  are  found  not  to  live  as  Christ  taught, 

51 


52  PIETY    or    THE    PRIMITIVE    CHPvISTIANS.  [CHAP.  II. 

let  it  be  publicly  known  that  they  are  not  Christians,  though  they 
should  profess  with  their  tongues  the  doctrines  of  Christ."^ 

Tertullian,  half  a  century  later,  makes  the  same  confident  ap- 
peal in  behalf  of  Christianity:  "But  of  so  great  a  number  of  cri- 
minals as  are  found  in  your  courts  of  justice,  each  mih  his  own 
accusation,  what  murderer  is  found  among  them  ?  what  thief,  what 
man  guilty  of  sacrilege  or  of  corrupting  youth,  what  pilferer  ia 
described  also  as  a  Christian  ?  Or,  when  any  Christians  are 
brought  before  you  to  answer  to  the  charge  of  being  such,  who 
among  them  is  found  to  be  like  so  many  of  your  own  criminals  ?  They 
are  men  of  your  own  party  who  fill  your  prisons.  Among  these 
no  Christian  is  found,  unless  the  name  of  Christian  be  his  only 
offence ;  or,  if  he  be  accused  of  any  other  crime,  he  has  already 
ceased  to  be  a  Christian."' 

Tatian,  A.  d.  170,  says,  "I  desire  not  to  reign ;  I  wish  not  to  be 
rich  ;  I  avoid  military  ofiice  :  I  abhor  licentiousness  ;  I  care  not  to 
go  out  on  long  voyages  at  sea,  through  the  insatiate  love  of  gain ; 
I  contend  not  at  games  to  win  a  crown ;  I  am  far  removed  from 
the  mad  love  of  glory  ;'  I  am  fearless  of  death ;  I  am  superior  to 
every  kind  of  disease ;  my  soul  is  not  consumed  with  grief.  If  a 
slave,  I  submit  to  my  servitude ;  if  free,  I  pride  not  myself  in 
birth ;  I  see  one  sun  common  to  all,  and  death  the  common  lot 
of  all,  whether  they  live  in  pleasure  or  in  want."  Such  men  were 
living  examples  of  the  transforming  power  of  the  Christian  reli-- 
gion,  observed  and  known  of  all  men.  Their  piety  was  deep  and 
earnest,  instinct  with  life  and  love  ;  their  faith  was  warm,  glowing 
with  its  first  fires,  a  light  to  enlighten  the  Gentiles,  a  heavenly 
flame  "at  which  descending  ages  might  light  their  exhausted 
lamps."  Their  religion  was  practical,  powerful,  elevating,  and 
wrought  with  transforming  power  upon  the  lives  of  others. 

This  preaching  of  the  gospel  by  a  holy  life  was  far  more  power- 
ful in  convincing  the  ungodly  and  unbelieving  than  the  actual 
preaching  of  the  word  of  God.  "Our  God  would  not  that  we 
should  oppose  force  to  force,  or  requite  evil  for  enl ;  but  that,  by 
meekness  and  patience,  we  should  withdraw  all  men  from  evil  lusts 
and  a  shameful  life :  which  also  we  can  show  in  many  who  have 
been  subdued  and  changed  from  violent  and  tyrannical  men,  either 
by  imitating  the  constancy  of  their  neighbours'  lives,  or  by  observ- 
ing the  unusual  patience  of  those  with  whom  they  travelled  when 
they  were  defrauded  on  the  way,  or  by  experiencing  the  faithful- 
ness of  those  with  whom  they  had  any  dealing."^ 


SEC.  II.]  SUPERIORITY  TO  SUFFERIXG.  53 


Origen  also,  against  Celsus,  makes  this  his  triumphant  argu- 
ment, to  which  he  constantly  appeals.  "  Inquire  into  their  lives, 
compare  their  former  with  their  present  course,  and  you  will  find  in 
what  filthiness  and  impurities  they  wallowed  before  they  embraced 
the  Christian  doctrine  :  but  now  how  gentle,  how  moderate,  how 
grave,  how  consistent  they  have  become ;  so  that  some,  influenced 
with  the  love  of  purity,  even  forbear  from  lawful  gratifications. 
How  largely  are  the  churdies  of  God,  founded  by  Jesus  Christ, 
spread  over  all  nations,  consisting  of  such  as  are  converted  from 
innumerable  evil  ways  to  a  better  mind."''  Athenagoras,  A.  D.  176, 
again  says,  "With  us  you  may  find  ignorant  people,  mechanics,  old 
women,  who,  though  unable  to  prove  with  word  the  saving  power 
of  their  religion,  yet  by  their  deed  prove  the  saving  influence  of 
the  disposition  Avhich  it  has  bestowed  upon  them  ;  for  they  do  not 
learn  words  by  rote,  but  they  exhibit  good  works :  when  struck, 
they  strike  not  again ;  when  robbed,  they  do  not  go  to  law ;  they 
give  to  those  that  ask  them,  and  love  their  neighbours  as  them- 
selves." 

§  2.    THEIR    ELEVATED    FAITH    AND    SUPERIORITY   TO    SUFFERING. 

Religion,  in  those  early  Christians,  was  not  a  silent,  inoperative 
assent  to  the  truth, — a  cold  profession ;  but  a  living,  life-giving 
principle,  which  formed  their  character  and  ruled  their  life.  Things 
spiritual  and  eternal  were  living  realities.  The  Scriptures  were 
to  them  living  oracles.  Heaven  was  their  all-sufficient  portion ;  in 
comparison  to  which,  all  else  was  to  them  of  no  account.  They 
lived  and  acted  under  a  deep  consciousness  that  the  Almighty, 
Omniscient  God,  Creator  of  heaven  and  earth,  was  their  God,  Sa- 
viour, and  Redeemer,  their  Sustainer,  Avenger,  and  final  Judge. 
Accordingly,  they  walked  with  God  in  all  the  varied  scenes  of  life. 
They  communed  with  their  God  and  Saviour  as  a  man  talketh  with 
a  friend,  realizing  in  their  own  consciousness  the  fulfilment  of  our 
Saviour's  promise,  "If  any  love  me  he  will  keep  my  word,  and  my 
Father  will  love  him,  and  we  will  come  unto  him  and  make  our 
abode  with  him." 

This  gave  an  intensity  and  earnestness  to  their  religious  cha- 
racter, as  of  men  who  were  truly  but  pilgrims  and  strangers  on 
earth,  and  whose  conversation  was  in  heaven.  "Inflamed  with  the 
desire  of  a  pure  and  an  eternal  life,  we  breathe  after  an  intimate 
converse  with  God,  the  great  Parent  and  Creator  of  the  world,  and 
make  haste  to  seal  our  confession  with  our  blood,  in  the  full  per- 


■    54  PIETY   OF    PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANS.  [CHAP.  II. 

suasion  that  tliej  will  attain  to  this  state  who,  by  their  actions, 
study  to  approve  themselves  to  God,  and  earnestly  long  to  converse 
with  him  in  that  world  where  no  evil  shall  have  a  place. "^ 

Basil,  A.  D.  372,  on  being  reminded  that  he  might  suffer  the  loss 
of  his  estate,  banishment,  torment,  or  death,  replies,  "  Threaten  us 
with  something  else,  if  you  can,  for  none  of  these  things  can  affect 
us.  Confiscation  cannot  injure  him  who  has  nothing  but  a  few 
books  and  his  cloak  to  lose  ;  nor  can  I  be  banished,  who  am  bound 
to  no  place.  Wherever  I  may  be,  that  is  my  country.  The  whole 
earth  is  God's,  in  which  I  am  but  a  pilgrim  and  a  stranger.  Death, 
which  is  accomplished  at  a  single  stroke,  I  fear  not.  It  will  be 
a  kindness  to  me.  It  will  sooner  bring  me  to  my  God,  for  whose 
sake  I  live,  and  towards  whom  I  have  long  been  hastening.  Won- 
der not  at  this  freedom  of  speech,  while  in  other  things  we  are 
meek  and  yielding.  Where  the  cause  of  God  and  religion  is  con- 
cerned, overlooking  all  other  things,  we  direct  our  attention  only 
unto  him ;  and  fire  and  sword,  wild  beasts  and  engines  of  torture 
are  not  a  terror,  but  a  joy  unto  us.  Reproach,  threaten,  and  exert 
your  power  to  the  utmost,  yet  let  the  emperor  know  that  you  will 
never  be  able  to  make  us  assent  to  your  wicked  doctrine ;  no, 
though  you  should  threaten  ten  thousand  times  worse  than  this."^ 
The  governor,  amazed  at  the  resolution  and  spirit  of  the  man, 
went  and  said  to  the  emperor,  "  One  poor  bishop  is  too  hard  for 
us  all." 

In  harmony  with  this  spirit,  Tertullian  exclaims,  "  Give  us  what 
names  you  please :  from  the  instruments  of  cruelty  you  torture 
us  by,  call  us  Sarmenticians  and  Semaxians,  because  you  fasten  us 
to  trunks  of  trees,  and  stick  us  about  with  fagots  to  set  us  on  fire ; 
yet,  let  me  tell  you,  when  w^e  are  thus  begirt  and  dressed  about 
with  fire,  we  are  then  in  our  most  illustrious  apparel.  These  are 
our  victorious  palms  and  robes  of  glory ;  and,  mounted  on  our  fune- 
ral pile,  we  look  upon  ourselves  in  our  triumphal  chariot.  No 
wonder,  then,  such  passive  heroes  please  not  those  they  vanquish 
with  such  conquering  sufferings." 

§  3.    THEIR    PATIENCE    UNDER    INJURIES. 

The  primitive  Christians  were  remarkable  for  that  full  and 
hearty  surrender  with  which  they  gave  themselves  up  to  the  guid- 
ance and  teaching  of  Christ,  not  only  as  their  God,  their  Saviour 
and  Redeemer,  but  as  their  pattern,  their  example.     Followers  of 


SEC.  III.]  THEIR   PATIENCE    UNDER   INJURIES.  55 


God  as  dear  children,  they  sought,  in  self-denial,  in  affliction  and 
persecution,  to  imitate  the  Son  of  God  in  all  the  trying  circum- 
stances of  his  benevolent  life.  "God  himself,"  says  Tertullian, 
"is  to  us  a  pattern  of  patience,  since  he  gives  the  dew  of  his  light 
and  all  the  gifts  of  nature  equally  to  the  whole  human  race,  both 
to  the  worthy  and  the  unworthy.  Our  blessed  Saviour  never  re- 
jected any  one  who  wished  to  come  to  him;  no  table,  no  family  did 
he  ever  despise ;  he  called  even  publicans  and  sinners.  He  indulged 
in  no  anger  against  the  city  which  refused  him  shelter  and  food, 
upon  which  his  disciples  would  call  down  fire  from  heaven  for  its 
shameful  treatment  of  him.  He  healed  the  ungrateful ;  he  glided 
away  from  those  who  lay  in  wait  for  him ;  and,  though  he  had  his 
betrayer  always  with  him,  he  never  upbraided  him  for  his  treach- 
erous dealings.  When  he  was  delivered  up,  he  went  like  a  lamb  to 
the  slaughter;  and  as  a  sheep  under  the  hand  of  her  shearer  is 
dumb,  so  he  opened  not  his  mouth.  He  who  with  one  word  could 
have  commanded  legions  of  angels  to  his  aid,  would  not  accept  the 
avenging  sword  of  a  disciple.  He  who  veiled  himself  in  human 
form,  could  not  consent  to  imitate  human  patience.  0  ye  Pha- 
risees !  herein  especially  ought  ye  to  have  recognised  your  Lord, 
for  such  patience  and  meekness  mere  human  nature  could  never 
have  exhibited." 

"Heavenly  patience!  She  fortifies  faith,  she  commands  peace, 
she  sustains  love,  she  lays  the  foundation  of  humility,  she  controls 
the  flesh,  she  guards  the  soul,  she  drives  away  offences,  she  perfects 
martyrdom,  she  comforts  the  poor,  she  gives  moderation  to  the 
rich,  she  drives  not  the  weak  beyond  their  strength,  she  wastes  not 
the  might  of  the  strong,  she  quickens  the  believer,  she  kindly 
allures  the  unbeliever,  she  gains  for  the  servant  the  approbation 
of  the  master,  for  the  master  the  approbation  of  God.  She  is 
lovely  in  the  child,  praiseworthy  in  the  youth,  venerable  in  the 
aged." 

"Would  we  make  a  picture  of  patience?  Gentle  quiet  rests 
upon  her  countenance ;  her  forehead  is  smooth  without  a  fold ; 
there  is  no  wrinkle  of  discontent  or  anger ;  her  brows  are  never 
knit  with  anxious  cares ;  her  eyes  are  never  cast  down  with  the 
feeling  of  misery.  A  white  robe  infolds  her  bosom ;  there  is  the 
throne  of  the  Spirit  Avith  the  still  small  voice  which  once  ap- 
peared to  Elijah.  Where  God  is,  there  is  his  daughter  Patience. 
When  the  Spirit  of  God  descends  to  the  earth.  Patience  accom- 
panies him ;  she  is  his  inseparable   companion.     Will,  then,   the 


S6  PIETY    OF    PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANS.  [CIIAP.  II. 


Spirit  of  God  dwell  long  with  us,  unless  we  receive  her  also  with 
him  ?  Without  her,  his  companion  and  servant,  he  must,  in  every- 
place and  at  all  times,  feel  himself  straitened ;  against  the  attacks 
of  the  adversary,  he  cannot  long  hold  out  alone  without  the  com- 
panionship of  patience.  Such  is  the  motive,  such  is  the  conduct, 
such  are  the  works  of  that  patience  which  is  genuine  and  heavenly, 
and  which  may  be  truly  called  spiritual.  This  is  quite  a  different 
thing  from  the  false  and  shameful  hardihood  of  the  world.  Let 
us  love  the  patience  of  God,  the  patience  of  Christ;  let  us  give 
that  again  to  him  which  he  has  given  for  us.  Let  us  who  believe 
in  the  resurrection  of  the  spirit  and  of  the  flesh,  let  us  offer  to  him 
the  patience  of  the  spirit  and  the  flesh.  Oh,  let  the  world  be  taken 
from  me,  if  I  can  only  gain  patience."^ 

This  heavenly  temper,  this  converse  with  God  and  with  things 
unseen,  is  exemplified  by  Cyprian.  "Among  us  flourishes  strength 
of  hope,  firmness  of  faith,  a  mind  erect  among  the  ruins  of  a  tot- 
tering age,  an  immovable  virtue,  a  patience  serene  and  cheerful, 
and  a  soul  always  secure,  certain  of  its  God.  What  are  w^ant  and 
danger  to  Christians,  the  servants  of  God,  whom  paradise  invites, 
and  for  whom  awaits  the  favour  and  fulness  of  the  heavenly  king- 
dom? They  are  always  joyful  in  God,  and  calmly  bear  the  evils 
and  miseries  of  this  life,  while  they  look  for  the  rewards  and  pros- 
perities of  another."^ 

§  4.    THEIR   RELIANCE    UPON   THE    SUSTAINING   POWER   OF    GOD. 

This  sense  of  the  Divine  presence  is  forcibly  expressed  by  The- 
ophilus  of  Antioch,  A,  D.  178,  in  reply  to  the  inquiry,  "Who  is 
this  God  whom  you  worship  in  secret,  without  ceremonies,  without 
images,  temples,  or  altars?"  "He  it  is  whose  breath  gives  life  to 
every  thing  which  exists :  should  he  withdraw  his  breath,  all  would 
sink  to  nothing.  You  cannot  speak  without  bearing  testimony  of 
him :  thy  very  breath  bears  testimony  of  him,  and  yet  ye  know 
him  not.  This  happens  through  the  blindness  of  your  soul,  the 
stupidity  of  your  heart.  God  might  be  seen  by  you,  if  the  eye 
of  your  soul  were  open.  All  have  eyes ;  but  the  eyes  of  some  are 
darkened,  that  they  cannot  see  the  light  of  the  sun :  but  it  follows 
not  thence  that  the  sun  shines  not.  The  blind  may  blame  them- 
selves and  their  own  eyes  only.  So,  0  man,  the  eyes  of  thy  soul 
are  darkened  by  sin.  The  man  must  have  his  soul  pure  like  a  clear 
mirror.    If  there  be  sin  in  man,  it  is  like  dust  on  a  mirror.     Such 


SEC.  v.]  REVERENCE   FOR   TPIE   WORD    OF   GOD.  57 


a  man  cannot  see  God.  But  whenever  thou  wilt,  thou  canst  be 
healed.  Give  thyself  to  the  Physician,  and  he  will  open  the  eyes 
of  thy  soul  and  heart.  Who  is  this  Physician  ?  God,  who  by  his 
word  heals  and  makes  alive. "^ 


§  5.    THEIR   REVERENCE   FOR   THE   WORD    OF   GOD. 

No  trait  of  the  primitive  Christians  was  more  remarkable  than 
their  profound  reverence  for  the  Scriptures,  and  their  diligent  study 
of  them.  The  word  of  God,  dwelling  in  them  richly  and  abound- 
ing, Avas  their  meditation  all  the  day  long.  Those  who  could  read 
never  went  abroad  without  taking  some  part  of  the  Bible  Avith  them. 
The  women,  in  their  household  labours,  wore  some  portion  of  the 
sacred  roll  hanging  about  their  necks ;  and  the  men  made  it  the 
companion  of  their  toils  in  the  field  and  the  workshop.  INIorning, 
noon,  and  night,  they  read  it  at  their  meals.  By  recitals  of  the 
narratives  of  sacred  history,  by  constant  reading,  by  paraphrase, 
by  commentary,  and  by  sacred  song,  they  taught  the  Scriptures 
diligently  unto  their  children ;  talking  of  these  heavenly  themes 
when  they  sat  in  their  house,  when  they  walked  by  the  way,  when 
they  laid  themselves  down,  and  when  they  rose  up. 

One  has  related,  with  great  delight,  that  he  never  sat  at  meat 
with  Origen,  A.  D.  225,  but  one  of  the  company  read  to  the  other. 
They  never  retired  to  rest  without  first  reading  in  the  Bible.  So 
diligent  were  they  in  this  divine  employment,  that  "prayer  suc- 
ceeded the  reading  of  the  word,  and  the  reading  of  the  word  to 
prayer." 

It  was  Augustin's  habit  also  always  to  have  the  Scriptures  read 
at  the  table.  "Let  our  conversation  be  of  heavenly  things,"  says 
Chrysostom;  "let  some  take  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and,  calling  to- 
gether all  who  may  be  at  home,  let  him  quicken  them  by  the  Divine 
word  ;  and  not  them  only,  but  also  his  own  heart. "^  Basil,  after 
devoting  himself  for  some  time  to  polite  literature,  abandoned  all 
such  pursuits  and  devoted  himself  for  thirteen  years  solely  to  the  dili- 
gent reading  and  study  of  God's  word.^  Theodosius  the  younger, 
A.  D.  450,  was  accustomed  to  rise  early  and,  in  company  with  his 
sisters,  to  sing  responsively  hymns  together  in  praise  to  God.  The 
Holy  Scriptures  he  could  readily  repeat  by  heart ;  and  used  to  dis> 
course  with  bishops  at  court  on  scriptural  subjects,  as  though  he 
were  himself  an  aged  bishop.^ 

Though  the  manuscripts  of  the  Scriptures  were  so  dear  as  to  be 


58  PIETY    OF    PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANS.  [CHAP.  II. 

bejond  the  reach  of  many,  and  when  multitudes  who  were  con- 
verted to  Christianity  were  unable  to  read,  even  under  these  incon- 
veniences, many  private  Christians  could  repeat  the  Holy  Scrip- 
ture by  heart.  Valens,  a  venerable  old  man,  deacon  of  the  church 
at  Jerusalem,  had  so  entirely  given  himself  up  to  the  study  of 
God's  word,  "that  he  did  not  require  to  read  them  if  he  undertook 
at  any  time  to  repeat  any  part  of  the  Scriptures."^  Another  of 
these  martyrs  of  Palestine,  though  unacquainted  with  letters,  had 
become  intimately  acquainted  with  the  sacred  oracles  by  inviting 
Christian  friends  to  his  house  to  read  to  him  the  word  of  God. 
Eusebius  also  relates  the  martyrdom  of  another,  who,  though  he 
had  some  time  before  been  deprived  of  his  eyes  by  his  tormentors, 
had  the  sacred  books  so  engraven  on  his  memory  that,  "whenever 
he  wished  to  produce  any  passage,  whether  from  the  law  or  the  pro- 
phets, or  the  apostles,  or  the  historical  parts,  or  the  gospels,  he 
could  repeat  and  produce  it,  as  from  a  treasury  of  learning,  when- 
ever he  pleased.  I  confess  that  I  myself  was  astonished  when  I 
saw  the  man  standing  in  the  midst  of  a  large  multitude  and  repeat- 
ing certain  parts  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  For,  as  far  as  I  had 
opportunity  only  to  hear  his  voice,  I  thought  that  he  was  reading, 
as  is  usual  in  the  congregations ;  but  when  I  came  near,  and  saw 
all  the  others  standing  around  with  sound  vision,  and  he  alone  with- 
out eyes,  raising  his  mind  and  pronouncing,  as  a  kind  of  prophet, 
the  sacred  Scriptures,  I  could  not  but  glorify  and  praise  God."^ 

§  6.    THEIR    PRAYERFULNESS. 

"Behold,  he  pi'ayeth !"  w^as  the  simple  exclamation  that  an- 
nounced the  conversion  of  the  great  apostle  of  the  Gentiles ;  and 
the  same  is  the  most  comprehensive  characteristic  of  the  primitive 
Christian.  The  men  of  that  age  were  pre-eminently  men  of  prayer. 
They  prayed  always  with  all  prayer  and  supplication.  Three  times, 
at  nine,  at  twelve,  and  three,  they  prayed.  This  hour  for  their 
stated  devotions  returned  according  to  the  Jewish  custom,  though 
they  acknowledged  no  prescribed  hour  of  prayer,  but  taught  that 
men  ought  to  pray  at  all  times  and  in  every  place.  Especially, 
they  began  and  ended  the  day  Avith  prayer.  "Early  in  the  morn- 
ing, as  we  arise  from  our  beds,"  says  Cyprian,  "will  we  by  our 
prayers  give  thanks  for  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  praying  that,  as 
the  day  has  returned  to  enlighten  the  earth,  so  Christ  would  return 
to  shine  into  our  hearts  by  his  grace." 


SEC.    VI.]  THEIR    PRAYERFULNESS.  59 


At  their  meals  thej  religiously  sought  the  blessing  of  God,  and 
gave  thanks  at  the  close  of  them  for  the  blessings  received.  At 
the  table  they  frequently  enlivened  the  repast  with  sacred  songs 
or  pertinent  passages  of  Scripture.  "  The  refreshment  and  suste- 
nance of  the  spirit,"  says  Tertullian,  "must  precede  that  of  the 
body — the  heavenly  before  the  earthly." 

The  primitive  Christians  were  also  accustomed  to  begin  and  end 
their  customary  occupations  with  prayer,  silent  or  audible.  The 
various  agricultural  pursuits,  sowing,  reaping,  harvesting,  were 
begun  and  ended  with  prayer :  so  on  laying  the  foundation  of  a 
house,  or  beginning  to  occupy  it ;  on  going  on  a  journey,  or  even 
to  a  bath ;  on  forming  a  new  relation,  or  parting  with  a  friend,  or 
addressing  to  him  a  letter,  they  indulged  in  prayer.  They  prayed 
indeed  always,  by  prayer  and  supplication  making  known  their 
requests  to  God,  with  thanksgiving  for  every  blessing  of  his  hand ; 
and  on  important  occasions  of  general  interest,  such  as  the  pre- 
servation of  some  valuable  life  or  deliverance  from  persecution, 
public  prayers  and  thanksgiving  were  offered  by  the  assembled 
church. 

Prayer  was  to  these  Christians  a  quickening  spirit  from  above, 
ever  drawing  forth  the  soul  in  heavenly  aspirations  after  God. 
"The  whole  life,"  says  Origen,  "should  be  sustained  by  continued 
prayer  unto  God ;  so  that  each  particular  prayer  should  be  only  a 
certain  portion  of  one  only  prayer  which  pervades  a  Christian's 
life."^  To  the  same  effect  is  the  language  of  Clement  of  Alexan- 
dria and  of  Tertullian,  f  218:  "Though  men  may  appoint  spe- 
cific seasons  for  prayer,  the  advanced  Christian,  all  his  life  long, 
strives  by  prayer  to  bind  himself  to  God."^  "We  weary  heaven 
Avith  the  importunity  of  our  prayers,  and  reach  the  ear  of  God."^ 
Such  habitual  intercourse  with  heaven  shed  a  sanctifying  influence 
over  their  whole  life,  and  fed,  like  a  perpetual  spring,  the  streams 
of  Christian  piety  and  activity  for  which  they  were  so  remarkable. 
Prayer  was  to  them  a  spiritual  sacrifice  from  the  altar  of  the  heart, 
which,  like  the  fire  on  the  Jewish  altar  kindled  from  on  high,  was 
to  be  kept  burning  there.  Thus  they  prayed  Avithout  ceasing. 
Clement  of  Alexandria  beautifully  expresses  this  ideal  of  a  devout 
Christian :  "  He  prays  in  every  place,  but  not  openly,  to  be  seen 
of  men.  He  prays  in  every  situation — in  his  walks  for  recreation, 
in  his  intercourse  with  others,  in  silence,  in  reading,  in  all  rational 
pursuits ;  and,  though  he  is  only  thinking  upon  God  in  the  little 


60  PIETY    OF    PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIAXS.  [CHAP.  II. 

chamber  of  the  soul,  and  calling  upon  his  Father  "with  silent  aspira- 
tions, God  is  near  him  and  with  him  while  he  is  yet  speaking." 


§  7.    STEADFAST    PROFESSION    OF    THEIR    RELIGION. 

By  such  a  profession  their  religious  principle  was  subjected  to  a 
severe  test.  Bonds,  imprisonment,  and  death,  in  every  form  that 
ingenuity  could  devise  or  malice  inflict,  not  only  everywhere  awaited 
them,  but  the  scorn  and  derision  of  men,  the  hatred  of  their  own 
kindred,  "the  world's  dread  laugh,"  and  the  sundering  of  the 
sacred  ties  of  friendship  were  often  a  trial  of  their  faith  more 
severe  than  the  rack,  the  cross,  the  stake,  or  the  lion's  den,  to  which 
they  were  exposed.  Despised  and  rejected  by  their  own  kindred, 
they  Avere  shut  out  from  the  sacred  charities  of  home,  to  suffer  the 
loss  of  all  things  for  Christ's  sake.  Defamed,  as  alike  debased  in 
principle  and  degraded  in  morals,  they  were  charged  with  every 
vice,  suspected  of  every  crime,  and  persecuted  unto  death  for  every 
imaginable  offence.  "  If  the  Tiber  arises  an;ainst  the  walls  of  the 
city,  or  the  Nile  does  not  overflo\^  its  banks ;  if  drought  or  rain 
occur,  earthquake,  or  famine,  or  pestilence,  the  cry  is  at  once,  'Away 
with  the  Christians  to  the  lions.'  "^  What  a  warfare  for  the  soldiers 
of  the  cross  of  Christ, — what  constancy,  what  firmness,  to  stand 
fast  without  wavering  against  such  assaults,  and  witness  a  good  pro- 
fession !  What  faith,  what  zeal,  what  fearlessness  of  death,  what 
holy  boldness,  to  endure  that  great  fight  of  afflictions  to  w^hich  the 
Christian's  profession  called  him !  But  his  feet  were  shod  with  th6 
preparation  of  the  gospel  of  peace.  He  had  put  on  the  whole 
armour  of  God,  and  thus  was  enabled  to  withstand  in  the  evil  day. 

The  earliest  Christian  apologists  unitedly  affirm  the  constancy 
of  the  Christians  in  their  profession  of  their  religion.  Justin 
Martyr,  in  reply  to  the  slanderous  imputations  of  Trypho  the  Jew, 
says,  "As  for  us  who  have  received  the  religion  of  the  Holy  Jesus, 
yourselves  know  very  well  that  there  is  none  throughout  the  world 
that  is  able  to  fright  us  out  of  our  profession.  Nay,  the  more 
these  things  happen  to  us,  the  faster  others  flock  over  to  the  name 
of  Jesus,  and  become  pious  and  devout  followers  of  Christ ;  it  being 
with  us,  in  this  case,  as  with  a  vine,  which,  pruned  and  trimmed 
and  having  its  excrescences  lopped  off,  puts  forth  more  fruitful  and 
flourishing  branches."  "But  of  our  great  love  of  an  eternal  and  pure 
life,  we  desire  to  converse  with  God,  the  Father  and  Creator  of  all 
things ;  and  hasten  to  confess,  inasmuch  as  we  believe  and  arc  sure 


SEC.  VII.]  THEIR    STEADFAST    PROFESSION".  61 

that  sucli  as  show  by  their  -works  that  they  follow  God  and  ear- 
nestly long  to  converse  with  him  in  that  world  where  no  evil  can 
assail  them,  shall  be  able  to  attain  these  blessings."^  "No  one  is 
ashamed,  none  is  sorry,  save  that  he  had  not  long  before  become  a 
Christian.  If  he  is  informed  against,  he  glories  in  the  charge  ;  if 
accused,  he  makes  no  defence ;  if  questioned,  he  confesses  even  of 
his  own  accord ;  if  condemned,  he  returns  thanks."^  Again : 
"  We  declare  and  openly  profess,  in  the  midst  of  all  your  tortures ; 
even  while  torn  and  bleeding,  we  proclaim  aloud  that  wc  Avorship 
God  through  Christ."^ 

These  Christians  had  learned  to  "stand  fast  in  one  spirit,  with 
one  mind  striving  together  for  the  faith  of  the  gospel ;  being  in 
nothing  terrified  by  their  adversaries."  Even  a  secret,  disguised 
faith  in  Christ  did  not  satisfy  their  obligations  to  him.  It  Avas  not 
witnessing  a  good  confession.  It  is  related  of  Victorinus,  a  rheto- 
rician of  Rome  in  the  fourth  century,  of  such  notoriety  as  to  have 
obtained  a  public  statue,  but  a  zealous  defender  of  paganism,  that, 
on  being  convinced  by  reading  the  Holy  Scriptures,  he  came  to 
Simplician,  and  privately  professed  himself  a  Christian.  This  pro- 
fession Simplician  refused  to  receive,  unless  he  would  publicly  avow 
it  in  the  church.  "What,"  says  Victorinus,  "do  the  walls,  then, 
make  Christians  ?"  Unwilling  to  disoblige  his  distinguished  friends, 
who  would  be  ofi"ended  with  him,  he  continually  returned  this  an- 
swer as  often  as  the  other  urged  a  public  profession,  until,  fearing 
that  he  should  be  denied  before  the  holy  angels  if  he  should  longer 
deny  Christ  before  men,  he  said,  "Let  us  go  to  the  church,  I  will 
now  be  a  Christian."  Here  it  was  proposed  to  him  to  make  a  pro- 
fession of  his  faith  and  receive  baptism  before  a  private  assembly, 
which  he  utterly  refused,  affirming  that  it  were  unreasonable  for 
him  to  be  ashamed  to  confess  his  hopes  of  salvation  publicly  before 
the  people,  while  he  publicly  professed  his  character  as  a  rhetorician 
daily  before  the  people.  This  act  occasioned  great  joy  to  the 
church,  while  it  caused  equal  surprise  and  wonder  in  Rome.^ 

The  firmness  of  the  venerable  Polycarp,  in  persecution  unto 
death,  is  known  to  all.  Urged  by  the  chief  ofiicer  to  pay  religious 
honours  to  the  emperor,  he  mildly  replies,  "  I  shall  not  do  as  you 
advise  me."  "Swear,  curse  Christ,  and  I  release  you."  "Sixty 
and  eight  years  have  I  served  him,  and  he  has  done  me  nothing 
but  good;  how,  then,  can  I  curse  him,  my  Lord  and  my  Savioui'." 
At  the  stake,  when  they  were  about  to  bind  him,  he  said,  "Leave 
me  as  I  am.    He  who  has  strengthened  me  to  encounter  the  flames 


62  PIETY    OF    PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANS.  [CHAP.  II. 


will  enable  me  to  stand  firm  at  the  stake."  Before  tlie  fire  was. 
lighted,  he  prayed,  "  Lord  God  Almighty,  Father  of  thy  beloved 
Son  Jesus  Christ,  through  whom  we  have  received  from  thee  the 
knowledge  of  thyself ;  God  of  angels  and  of  the  whole  creation ; 
of  the  human  race  and  of  the  just  that  live  in  thy  presence ;  I 
praise  thee  that  thou  hast  judged  me  worthy  of  this  day  and  of 
this  hour,  to  take  part  in  the  number  of  the  witnesses  in  the  cross 
of  thy  Christ." 

Volumes  have  been  written,  and  yet  the  half  has  not  been  told 
of  the  noble  army  of  martyrs,  who,  fearless  of  them  that  can  kill 
the  body  only,  calmly  braved  the  terrors  of  the  rack,  of  the  stake, 
of  the  cross,  of  savage  beasts  and  more  savage  men,  in  the  stead- 
fast profession  of  their  faith.  Holy  women  not  a  few,  in  attestation 
of  their  faith,  firmly  encountered  every  indignity,  more  terrible 
than  death,  which  ingenuity  could  devise  and  malice  inflict ;  and 
mothers  themselves  followed  their  own  children  to  the  stake,  to  encou- 
rage them,  in  these  fiery  trials  of  their  faith,  to  maintain  without 
wavering  the  integrity  of  their  profession.  "My  son,  my  son," 
exclaimed  a  Christian  mother,  as  they  were  leading  him  to  execu- 
tion, "  have  the  living  God  in  thy  heart, — be  steadfast.  There  is 
nothing  fearful  in  that  death  which  so  surely  conducts  thee  to  life. 
Let  thy  heart  be  above.  My  son,  look  up  to  Him  who  dwells  in 
heaven.  To-day,  thy  life  is  not  taken  from  thee,  but  transfigured 
to  a  better.  By  a  blessed  exchange,  my  son,  thou  art  this  day 
passing  to  the  life  of  heaven." 

The  father  of  Perpetua,  at  Carthage,  A.  D.  202,  threw  himself 
at  her  feet,  presenting  her  own  infant  son,  whom  she  loved  with 
more  than  a  mother's  fondness,  and,  frantic  with  grief,  implored 
her  to  desist  from  her  profession  which  would  bring  down  his  gray 
hairs  in  sorrow  to  the  grave  and  devote  her  first-born  to  an  un- 
timely death ;  but  she  firmly  withstood  the  impassioned  importu- 
nities of  parental  anguish,  and  the  mute,  but  more  persuasive 
pleadings  of  maternal  fondness  for  her  poor  babe,  declared  herself 
still  a  Christian,  and  calmly  braved  the  terrors  of  the  lion's  den. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  PRIMITIVE  CHRISTIANS  IN  THE  FAMILY. 
§  1.    THEIR    MARRIAGE    RELATIONS. 

The  primitive  Christians  observed  with  great  care  the  rule  of 
the  apostle  forbidding  unequal  marriages  with  unbelievers.  Ter- 
tullian  declares  such  marriages  to  be  an  offence  inconsistent  with 
the  Christian  profession,  the  punishment  of  which  should  be  ex- 
communication.^ Cyprian,  Augustine,  Ambrose,  and  Jerome  are 
almost  equally  severe  against  such  marriages.  They  were  also 
frequently  the  subject  of  censure  by  councils,  under  different  penal- 
ties of  suspension  or  excommunication. 

But  the  marriage  relation  between  believers  was  honoured  as  the 
means  of  mutual  edification  and  happiness.  "How  intimate,"  ex- 
claims Tertullian,  "  the  union  between  believers !  their  hopes,  their 
aspirations,  their  desires,  all  the  same.  They  are  one  in  faith  and 
in  the  service  of  their  Lord,  as  they  are  also  in  flesh  and  in  heart. 
In  mutual  concord  they  read  the  Scriptures,  and  fast  and  pray 
together,  aiding,  sustaining  each  other  by  mutual  instruction  and 
encouragement.  They  go  in  company  to  the  house  of  the  Lord, 
they  sit  together  at  his  table.  In  persecution  and  in  want  they 
bear  their  mutual  burdens,  and  participate  in  each  other's  joys. 
They  live  together  in  mutual  confidence  and  in  the  enjoyment  of 
each  other's  society.  In  the  freedom  of  mutual  confidence,  they 
administer  to  the  sick,  relieve  the  needy,  distribute  their  alms,  and 
each  freely  engages  in  all  his  religious  duties  without  concealment 
from  the  other.  Unitedly  they  ofi"er  their  prayers  to  God  and  sing 
his  praise,  knowing  no  rivalry  but  in  these  acts  of  devotion.  In 
such  scenes  of  domestic  bliss  Christ  rejoices  and  adds  his  peace.  To 
two  so  united  he  grants  his  presence ;  and  where  he  is  no  evil  can 
abide. "2 

Such  scenes  of  domestic  enjoyment  were  the  result  only  of 
Christian  union  and  fellowship,  unknown  to  pagan  families ;  neither 
could  such  purity,  peace,  and  joy  be  expected  to  result  from  the 
union  of  believers  with  unbelievers.     "  Who  that  is  yet  a  pagan 

63 


64  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANS    IN    THE    FxVMILY.       [CHAP.  III. 


would  accompany  his  wife  from  street  to  street  in  search  of  the 
brethren  in  the  house  of  strangers  and  in  the  humblest  abodes  of 
the  poor?  Who,  without  jealousy,  could  allow  her  to  frequent  the 
Lord's  supper,  a  mystery  to  him  unknown,  and  an  object  of  sus- 
picion ?  Who  would  allow  her  to  enter  secretly  into  the  prison  to 
kiss  the  martyr's  chains  ?  Or  where  would  a  brother  from  a  foreign 
city,  or  a  stranger  find  entertainment  ?  If  any  thing  is  to  be  given 
in  charity,  the  granary,  store,  and  cellar  of  the  house  are  closed."^ 
"What,"  he  exclaims  in  the  same  connection,  "what  shall  her  hus- 
band sing  to  her,  or  she  to  her  husband  ?  Would  she  wish  to  hear 
any  thing  from  the  theatre  or  the  tavern  ?  What  mention  is  there 
of  God,  what  invocation  of  Christ  ?  Where  is  the  nom'ishment 
for  faith  by  repeating  portions  of  Scripture  in  conversation  ?  Where 
the  refreshment  of  the  spirit;  where  the  Divine  blessing?" 


§  2.    RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION    OF    THEIR    CHILDREN. 

The  tender  solicitude  of  these  early  Christians  for  the  religious 
instruction  of  their  children  is  one  of  their  most  beautiful  character- 
istics. They  taught  them  even  at  the  earliest  dawn  of  intelli- 
gence, the  sacred  names  of  God  and  the  Saviom*.  They  sought  to 
lead  the  infant  minds  of  their  children  up  to  God,  by  familiar  nar- 
ratives from  Scripture,  of  Joseph,  of  young  Samuel,  of  Josiah,  and 
of  the  holy  child  Jesus.  The  history  of  the  patriarchs  and  pro- 
phets, apostles  and  holy  men,  whose  lives  are  narrated  in  the  sacred 
volume,  were  the  nursery  tales  with  which  they  sought  to  form  the 
tender  minds  of  their  children.  As  the  mind  of  the  child  ex- 
panded, the  parents  made  it  their  sacred  duty  and  delightful  task 
daily  to  exercise  him  in  the  recital  of  select  passages  of  Scripture 
relating  to  the  doctrines  and  duties  of  religion.  The  Bible  was  the 
entertainment  of  the  fireside.  It  was  the  first,  the  last,  the  only 
school-book  almost,  of  the  child ;  and  sacred  psalmody  the  only 
song  with  which  his  infant  cry  was  hushed  as  he  was  lulled  to 
rest  on  his  mother's  arm.  The  sacred  song,  and  the  rude  melody 
of  its  music,  were,  from  the  earliest  periods  of  Christian  antiquity, 
an  important  means  of  impressing  the  infant  heart  with  sentiments 
of  piety,  and  of  imbuing  the  susceptible  minds  of  the  young  with 
the  knowledge  and  the  faith  of  the  Scripture.  Even  in  the  earliest 
period  of  Christianity,  there  were  those  who,  like  our  divine  Watts 
in  modern  times,  "  condescended  to  lay  aside  the  scholar,  the  phi- 


SEC.  II.]  RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION   OF   CHILDREN.  65 


losopher,  and  the  wit,  to  write  little  poems  of  devotion  adapted  to 
the  wants  and  capacities  of  children." 

The  Christian  fathers  abundantly  insist  on  the  duty  of  giving 
daily  instructions  in  the  family.  "  Speak  of  divine  things  not  only 
in  the  social  circle,  but  in  the  family — the  husband  with  the  wife — 
the  father  with  his  child ;  and  very  frequently  renew  the  subject. 
Let  no  man  affirm  that  the  child  needs  not  to  be  addressed  on  these 
topics ;  for  they  must  be  discoursed  of,  not  only  sometimes,  but 
at  all  times."  "You  must  immediately  begin  to  bring  up  your  chil- 
dren in  the  nurture  of  the  Divine  word."^  "Leave  to  your  children 
God  for  their  inheritance,  and  you  leave  them  an  inestimable  trea- 
sure. Be  it  our  effort  and  our  desire,  then,  not  to  leave  to  them 
an  inheritance,  but  to  leave  them  in  the  possession* of  personal 
piety.  Preach  the  name  and  doctrine  of  Christ  on  all  occasions. 
Let  every  master  of  a  family  know  that  this  solemn  duty  rests 
upon  him  in  regard  to  all  his  house.  "^  Constantino  the  Great, 
though  he  appointed  men  of  the  most  approved  piety  to  be  the 
teachers  of  his  children,  was  himself  their  instructor  in  the  know- 
ledge of  divine  things,  to  lead  them  to  immortal  blessedness.^ 
Origen  was  first  and  chiefly  taught  by  his  father  the  knowledge  of 
divine  things,  and  made  familiar  with  the  sacred  Scriptures,  before 
he  was  permitted  to  give  attention  to  profane  literature ;  and,  not- 
withstanding his  vast  attainments  in  every  branch  of  knowledge, 
he  ever  continued  to  make  the  Scriptures  his  chief  study.  Even 
in  his  earliest  childhood,  he  was  required  to  commit  to  memory 
and  to  repeat  some  portion  of  the  sacred  Scriptures.^ 

The  writings  of  the  early  Christians  are  filled  with  expressions 
of  the  deepest  solicitude  for  the  piety  of  their  children.  The  mo- 
ther of  Augustine  bewailed  the  early  impiety  of  her  son  "with 
tears  and  sighs  more  bitter  and  abundant  than  those  of  a  mother 
for  the  death  of  her  child ;  for  she  looked  upon  him  as  already 
dead  in  spirit.  But  the  Lord  finally  heard  her  prayer,  and  refused 
not  her  tears,  for  she  gave  herself  wholly  unto  prayer."  When 
bewailing  his  hardened  impiety  to  a  Christian  friend,  he  said  to 
her,  "Go  in  peace;  it  is  impossible  that  a  child  of  so  many  tears 
should  be  lost."^ 

"Children,"  says  Jerome,  "are  a  trust  committed  to  us  of  the 
Lord,  and,  therefore,  to  be  trained  up  with  the  greatest  care.  The 
nearer  they  are  allied  to  us  in  the  flesh,  the  more  impressive  is 
our  responsibility."^  Poly  carp,  the  venerable  disciple  of  John, 
earnestly  exhorts  parents  to  bring  up  their  children  in  the  know- 


QQ  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANS    IN    THE    FAMILY.         [CHAP.  III. 


ledge  and  fear  of  GodJ  These  brief  examples  may  indicate  the 
pious  care  of  these  Christians  for  the  religious  education  and  the 
conversion  of  their  children.  Their  great  desire  and  constant  en- 
deavour was  to  train  up  their  children  in  the  fear  of  God,  to  con- 
duct their  education  at  home,  to  withdraw  them  as  much  as  pos- 
sible from  temptation,  and  to  make  them  so  happy  in  their  own 
quiet  homes  that  they  should  neither  desire  the  noisy  amusements 
of  the  world  nor  subject  themselves  to  its  temptations.  The  chil- 
dren found  their  happiness  in  their  parents,  and  the  parents  in 
their  children.  Such  families  were  the  nurseries  of  pure,  consistent, 
efficient  churches ;  such  Christians  were  the  lights  of  the  world, 
which  could  not  be  hid ;  the  salt  of  the  earth,  which  never  lost  its 
savour. 

§  3.  THE  DEVOTIONAL  EXERCISES  OF  THE  FAMILY. 

These  early  Christians  were  examples  of  devout  piety  in  their 
families.  There,  at  the  domestic  altar,  they  fed  the  sacred  flame 
of  devotion,  which  burned  in  their  bosom  with  a  triumphant,  death- 
less flame.  There  they  formed  and  maintained  the  spirit  of  a  pure, 
deep,  and  earnest  piety.  Every  master  of  a  family  fulfilled,  within 
the  walls  of  his  own  house,  the  office  of  private  pastor,  keeping 
up  in  it  a  regular  course  of  reading,  prayer,  and  private  instruc- 
tion to  all  the  members  of  his  household.  Thus,  every  private 
house  was,  in  the  words  of  Chrysostom,  a  church  to  itself. 

The  influence  of  pious  mothers  was  also  particularly  remarkable 
over  their  children.  Gregory  of  Nazianzen  ascribed  his  conversion 
to  the  piety  of  his  mother,  Nonna.  His  brother  Csesarius,  by  the 
same  means,  was  enabled  to  maintain  an  exemplary  life  of  piety  in 
the  court  of  the  emperor.  Their  sister  Gorgonia  also  religiously 
walked  in  the  steps  of  her  mother,  and  was  instrumental  in  the 
conversion  of  her  husband  and  training  her  children  and  her 
nephews  in  the  ways  of  piety.  Theodoret  ascribed  his  conversion, 
under  God,  to  his  pious  mother ;  and  Basil  the  Great,  to  his  grand- 
mother :  Emmilia  to  his  sister  Macrina.  Augustin  and  Chry- 
sostom, also  the  greatest  lights  of  the  ancient  church,  were  indebted 
to  their  pious  mothers  for  those  instructions  that  brought  them 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus. 

The  several  members  of  a  Christian  family  were  accustomed  to 
rise  very  early  in  the  morning  and  address  their  thoughts  to  God 
by  silent  ejaculations,  by  calling  to  mind  familiar  passages  of  Scrip- 


SEC.  III.]  DEVOTIONS    OF   THE   FAMILY.  67 


ture,  and  bj  secret  prayer.  Clement  of  Alexandria,  A.  D.  188, 
was  accustomed,  whenever  lie  awoke,  to  call  to  mind  the  words  of 
Christ;  and  often  anticipated  the  dawning  of  the  day  in  these 
devout  exercises.  "  One  must  arise,"  says  Basil  the  Great,  "before 
the  twilight  of  the  morning,  to  greet  with  prayer  the  coming  day." 
"Let  the  sun  at  his  rising  find  us  with  the  word  of  God  in  hand."^ 
"Let  the  day  begin  with  prayer."^  "Soon  as  the  day  returns, 
and  before  leaving  his  chamber,  the  Christian  should  address  his 
prayer  to  his  Saviour  ;  and,  before  resuming  his  daily  labour,  begin 
the  work  of  righteousness."^  "Let  the  child  be  accustomed,  early 
in  the  morning,  to  offer  prayer  and  praise  to  God :  and  at  evening 
again,  when  the  day  is  past  and  gone,  let  him  end  his  labour  by 
bringing  his  evening  offering  to  the  Lord."* 

After  their  private  devotions,  the  family  met  for  united  prayer, 
which  was  uniformly  accompanied  with  the  reading  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. The  recital  of  such  doctrinal  and  practical  sentiments  as 
might  best  fortify  them  against  the  prevailing  scandals  and  heresies 
of  the  times,  constituted  also,  as  it  would  seem,  part  of  their  devo- 
tional exercises.  In  the  family,  as  in  all  their  devotions,  the  pri- 
mitive Christians  delighted  to  sing  their  sacred  songs. 

At  the  table  they  reverently  sought  the  blessing  of  God.  Several 
of  these  examples  of  prayer  before  meals  are  given  at  length  in 
the  fathers.  Here  also  they  rehearsed  some  portions  of  Scripture 
and  sang  praise  to  God ;  a  custom  which  Clement  of  Alexandria 
and  Chrysostom  earnestly  recommend.  The  meal  being  ended, 
they  concluded  with  prayer,  giving  thanks  for  the  blessings  re- 
ceived, and  supplicating  a  continuance  of  the  Divine  mercy.  "As 
the  body  requires  daily  sustenance,"  says  Chrysostom,  "so  the  soul 
needs  to  be  refreshed  with  spiritual  food,  that  it  may  be  strength- 
ened for  its  warfare  against  the  flesh." 

The  day  was  closed  by  devotions,  renewed  in  much  the  same 
manner  as  in  the  morning.  Such  was  the  pious  care  with  which 
these  Christians  ordered  their  households  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord. 
Chrysostom  made  it  the  first  duty  of  the  master  of  the  house  "to 
seek  so  to  speak  and  so  to  act  that  the  spiritual  good  of  the  whole 
household  might  be  promoted ;  and  of  the  mistress  of  the  family, 
while  she  oversees  her  domestic  affairs,  especially  to  see  that  all 
act  in  the  fear  of  God  and  with  reference  to  the  kingdom  of 
heaven."^ 

There  is  extant  a  representation  of  one  of  these  sacred  scenes 
of  domestic  worship  in  the  families  of  the  primitive  Christians;  a 


68  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANS    IN    SOCIAL    LIFE.        [CHAP.  IV. 

view  of  -which  may  fitly  conclude  our  remarks  on  this  subject.  It 
is  a  large  sarcophagus,  which  Mlinter,  with  the  approbation  also 
of  Dorner/  refers  to  the  middle  of  the  second  century,  on  which  is 
exhibited  the  religious  worship  of  a  Christian  family.  On  one  side 
of  this  sarcophagus  are  three  women  standing  around  a  younger 
female  who  is  playing  on  a  lyre :  on  the  right  side  stand  four  men 
with  apparent  rolls  of  music  in  hand,  from  which  they  are  singing. 
This  interesting  monument  indicates  not  only  the  existence  at  that 
early  period  of  a  collection  of  sacred  music,  but  the  use  of  that 
delightful  portion  of  religious  worship,  sacred  psalmody,  in  the  de- 
votions of  the  family. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANS   IN   SOCIAL   LIFE. 
§  1.    THE   HOSPITALITY   OF   THE   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANS. 

Their  oneness  of  spirit  and  mutual  love  one  toward  another 
united  them  together  as  one  great  family.  Each  saw  in  another 
believer  in  Christ,  of  whatever  clime,  or  colour,  or  condition,  a 
friend  and  brother,  and  hastened  to  extend  to  him  the  kind  offices 
of  hospitality,  confidence,  and  affection,  as  to  a  member  of  his  own 
household.  "  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  to  one  of  the  least  of 
these  my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me."  Every  puch  oppor- 
tunity of  serving  Christ  by  services  to  the  humblest  of  his  fol- 
lovrers  was  eagerly  sought,  and  deeply  lamented  when  lost.  "We 
give  ourselves  to  hospitality,  and  receive  all  with  a  friendly  and 
joyful  welcome ;  for  we  fear  to  have  it  said,  as  in  the  inMance  of 
Joseph  and  Mary,  that  'there  was  no  room  for  them  in  tl\e  inn;' 
or  lest  our  Lord  should  say,  '  I  was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  not 
in.'  "^  In  their  readiness  to  entertain  strangers,  they  so  vied  with 
each  other  that  their  complaint  often  was  that  the  guests  could  not 
accept  the  hospitalities  offered  to  them. 

Tertullian  urges  it  as  one  strong  objection  to  the  marriage  of  a 
Christian  woman  with  an  unbeliever,  that  "she  could  neither  give 


SEC.  I.]  THEIR   HOSPITALITY.  69 


the  kiss  of  charity  to  a  Christian  brother,  nor  wash  the  feet  of  the 
saints,  nor  offer  to  them  either  food  or  drink ;  but  must,  if  she 
would  honour  them,  conceal  them  in  the  house  of  another,  because 
of  her  husband's  unwillingness  to  gratify  her  in  this  particular." 
Clement  of  Rome,  contemporary  with  the  apostles,  commends  the 
noble  hospitality  of  the  Corinthians  as  one  of  their  excellent  vir- 
tues. "Who  that  sojourned  among  you  has  not  experienced  the 
firmness  of  your  faith  and  its  fruitfulness  in  all  good  works  ?  Who 
has  not  admired  your  Christian  temper  and  moderation  ?  Who 
has  not  proclaimed  your  habitual  and  noble  hospitality."'  Poly- 
carp,  the  A^enerable  martyr,  when  arrested  by  his  persecutors  to  be 
led  away  to  death,  gently  addressed  them,  and  immediately  ordered 
a  table  to  be  spread  for  their  entertainment,  and  urged  them  freely 
to  partake  of  the  refreshments,  while  he  only  asked  of  them  the 
favour  of  one  hour,  that  he  might  pass  this  without  interruption  in 
prayer.  After  this,  he  quietly  resigned  himself  to  their  hands. 
Lucian,  a  little  more  than  a  century  later,  relates  of  Peregrinus, 
that  eccentric  impostor,  that,  on  professing  to  have  become  a  con- 
vert to  Christianity,  he  was  received  with  all  confidence  by  the 
Christians,  fully  entertained  by  them,  promoted  to  the  ofiice  of 
presbyter  among  them,  and  so  liberally  supplied  as  to  abound  in 
all  things,  until  his  hypocrisy  became  apparent,  when  he  was  ex- 
pelled from  their  communion. 

Cyprian,  A.  d.  250,  set  apart  from  his  yearly  income  a  certain 
portion  to  be  expended  in  offices  of  hospitality ;  and  the  same  may 
be  affirmed  of  Basil,  Athanasius,  Chrysostom,  Augustin,  and  many 
others.  Some  built,  at  their  own  expense,  houses  of  (mtertainment 
for  strangers.  Of  one,  it  is  said  that  he  was  but  a  guest  in  his 
own  house,  for  his  house  was  filled  with  strangers  and  with  the 
poor ;  of  another,  that  he  was  the  entertainer  of  all  the  saints ;  of 
a  third,  that  he  was  the  servant  of  strangers ;  of  another,  that  he 
was  given  to  hospitality ;  and  yet  again  of  another,  that,  by  word 
and  works,  he  diligently  sought  to  administer  to  the  sick  and  to 
strangers. 

This  hospitality,  proceeding  from  love  unfeigned  and  a  pure 
heart,  was  so  remarkable  as  to  gain  the  notice  of  the  apostate 
Julian,  who  even  ordered  similar  rites  of  hospitality  and  of  kind- 
ness to  the  poor  to  be  observed,  in  imitation  of  the  Christians, 
whom  he  so  much  despised.^  To  the  unconverted,  it  seemed  an  in- 
explicable mystery  that  Christians  should  thus  be  on  terms  of  the 
greatest  intimacy  with  each  other  whenever  they  should  meet.     It 


70  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANS   IN  SOCIAL   LIFE.  [CHAP.  IV. 


was  alleged  against  them  that  they  formed  a  secret  society,  known 
to  one  another  by  some  sign  or  watchword.  They  knew  nothing 
of  that  inward  communion  of  spirit,  that  fellowship  and  brotherly 
love  which  bound  the  believers  together  by  ties  independent  of  all 
natural  relations  or  national  distinctions,  and  which  were  mani- 
fested by  the  boundless  hospitality  and  generous  affection  with 
which  they  opened  their  hearts  and  their  houses  alike  to  all,  of 
whatever  condition,  who  love  the  sacred  name  of  Christ. 

Whenever  a  stranger  arrived  at  any  town,  he  repaired  to  the 
church,  in  or  about  which  liberal  entertainment  was  provided  for 
him.  Seldom  was  this  done  at  public  charge,  for  the  families  vied 
with  each  other  which  should  have  the  privilege  of  entertaining  the 
Christian  stranger  at  their  own  homes.  "When,  in  process  of  time, 
this  generous,  unsuspecting  hospitality  was  abused  by  unprincipled 
and  designing  men,  it  became  customary  for  one,  on  going  upon  a 
journey,  to  take  a  letter  of  recommendation  from  the  minister  of 
his  church,  which  admitted  him  to  the  confidence  and  fellowship  of 
his  brethren. 

Such  acquaintances  were  always  carefully  improved  by  them, 
as  affording  opportunities  for  religious  conversation  and  prayer. 
Prayer,  indeed,  on  the  arrival  of  a  guest,  was  a  uniform  part  of 
the  hospitality  of  the  times.  In  the  opinion  of  many,  the  love- 
feast  was  a  part  of  the  Christian  entertainment  of  the  guest ;  an 
account  of  which  may  fitly  conclude  this  article.  The  narrative  is 
abridged  from  Tertullian.^ 

"We,  who  are  of  one  mind  and  one  soul,  hesitate  not  to  commu- 
nicate what  we  possess  one  with  another.  What  wonder  is  it,  then, 
if,  maintaining  such  good-will  towards  each  other,  we  should  feast 
together.  Our  supper  sufficiently  shows  its  meaning  by  its  very 
name,  dydnyj,  which,  in  Greek,  signifies  love.  The  cause  of  our 
feast  is  honourable,  and  the  regulations  of  it  consistent  with  the 
duties  of  religion.  It  admits  of  nothing  indecorous,  nothing  indecent. 
We  sit  not  down  until  prayer  to  God  be  made,  as  the  first  portion 
of  the  banquet.  We  eat  as  much  as  will  satisfy  hunger,  and  drink 
as  much  as  is  useful  for  the  temperate.  We  commit  no  excess ;  for 
we  remember  that,  by  night  as  well  as  by  day,  we  are  to  make  our 
prayers  to  God.  Our  conversation  is  that  of  men  who  are  conscious 
that  the  Lord  hears  them.  After  water  for  the  hands  is  brought  in, 
and  the  lights,  we  are  invited  to  sing  to  God,  according  as  each  one 
can  propose  a  subject  from  the  Holy  Scriptures,  or  of  his  own  com- 
posing.    Prayer,  in  like  manner,  concludes  the  feast.     Thence  we 


SEC.  II.]  THEIR    UNITY,    PEACE    AND    LOVE.  71 

depart,  not  to  join  a  crowd  of  disturbers  of  the  peace,  nor  to  fol- 
low a  troop  of  brawlers,  nor  to  break  out  into  any  excess  of  wanton 
riot ;  but  to  maintain  the  same  staid  and  modest  demeanour,  as  if 
we  were  departing,  not  from  a  supper,  but  from  a  lecture."* 

§  2.    THE    UNITY,  PEACE,  AND    LOVE    OF    THE    PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANS 
TOWARDS    ONE    ANOTHER. 

Never  has  the  great  law  of  love,  one  towards  another,  which 
Christ  gave  as  a  "new  commandment,"  the  sum  of  his  gospel  to 
men,  been  more  happily  exemplified  than  in  the  earliest  periods  of 
the  church.  This  characteristic  of  Christians  of  that  age  was  the 
first  to  engage  the  notice  of  their  enemies.  Once  hateful  and  hating 
one  another,  such  was  now  their  affection  towards  each  other,  that 
they  compelled  all  men  to  acknowledge  and  admire,  however  they 
might  hate  the  change.  "By  this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye  are 
my  disciples,  if  ye  have  love  to  one  another." 

"We,"  says  Justin  Martyr,  "who  once  loved  above  all  things 
the  gain  of  money  and  possessions,  now  bring  all  that  we  have  into 
one  common  stock,  and  give  a  part  to  every  one  that  needs.  We, 
who  hated  and  killed  one  another,  and  permitted  not  those  of  an- 
other nation,  on  account  of  their  difierent  customs,  to  live  with  us 
under  the  same  roof,  now,  since  the  appearing  of  Christ,  live  at 
the  same  table,  and  pray  for  our  enemies,  and  endeavour  to  per- 
suade those  who  unjustly  hate  us,  that  they,  also  living  after  the 
excellent  institutions  of  Christ,  may  have  good  hope  with  us  to  ob- 
tain the  same  blessings  with  God,  the  Lord  of  all."^  To  the  same 
effect  is  also  the  testimony  of  Tertullian.  After  detailing  instances 
of  the  charity  and  mutual  affection  of  Christians,  he  says:  "Even 
the  working  of  a  charity  like  this  is  by  some  made  a  cause  of  cen- 
sure against  us.  'See,'  say  they,  'how  these  Christians  love  one 
another,  and  how  ready  each  one  is  to  die  for  another !'  We  ac- 
knowledge ourselves  to  be  even  your  brethren,  having  one  nature 
as  our  common  mother ;  although  ye  have  forfeited  your  title  to  be 


*  To  this  account  of  the  domestic  festivities  of  the  primitive  Christians,  we  sub- 
join the  delightful  representation  made  by  Cyprian :  Quoniam  feriata  nunc 
quies,  ac  tempus  est  otiosum  quicquid,  inclinato  jam  sole,  in  vesperam  diei  super- 
est;  ducamus  hanc  diem  Iceti ;  nee  sit  vel  hora  convivii  gratias  ccelestis  immunis. 
Sonet  psalmos  convivium  sobrium,  et,  ut  tibi  tenax  memoria  est,  vox  canora, 
aggredere  hoc  munus  ex  more.  Magis  carissimos  pasces  si  sit  nobis  spiritualis 
auditio  ;  prolectet  aures  religiosa  mulcedo. — Ad  Donat. 


72  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANS   IN   SOCIAL   LIFE.         [CHAP.  IV. 

considered  human  beings,  because  ye  are  bad  brethren.  With  how 
much  more  reason,  then,  are  ye  both  called  and  esteemed  brethren, 
who  have  all  recognised  one  Father,  even  God  ;  who  have  all  drunk 
of  one  spirit  of  holiness ;  who  have  all  trembled  with  astonishment, 
when  born,  as  it  were,  from  the  same  womb  of  ignorance  into  the 
same  light  of  truth. "^ 

Thus  Christians  recognised  each  other  as  truly  brethren,  and 
dwelled  together  in  the  delightful  harmony  of  kindred  in  Christ. 
"Behold,  how  we  love  one  another;  but  mutual  hatred  between  us 
is  impossible.  We  denominate  each  other  as  brethren,  the  offspring 
of  one  Father,  partakers  of  the  same  faith,  and  fellow-heirs  of  the 
same  hope."^  The  writings  of  the  early  Christians  are  replete 
with  the  most  endearing  demonstrations  of  that  ardent  affection  by 
which  they  were  bound  together  in  the  bonds  of  the  Spirit.  Dif- 
ference of  opinion  and  of  usage  did  not  then  divide  them ;  nor  had 
the  touch  of  heresy,  that  torch  of  hell,  which  since  has  so  inflamed 
the  angry  passions  of  the  church,  yet  lighted  its  fires.  Polycarp 
of  Smyrna  and  Victor  of  Rome  parted  as  brethren,  each  to  ad- 
here to  his  own  faith,  after  labouring  long  and  earnestly  to  convict 
the  other  of  error.  Justin  Martyr  says  of  the  heretics  of  his  age, 
"  We  are  brethren  still.  Our  prayer  is  to  one  God  ;  our  faith  is  in 
the  same  Saviour.  We  listen  to  the  same  gospel.  We  keep  the 
same  feast.  We  sing  the  same  divine  songs.  We  join  in  the  same 
doxology ;  and  unitedly  respond  Amen."^ 

Towards  their  fallen  brethren  also,  who,  in  the  fiery  trials  of  their 
faith,  SAverved  from  their  own  steadfastness,  these  Christians  exer- 
cised peculiar  tenderness  and  charity ;  seeking,  by  every  means,  to 
win  them  back  to  Christ  and  to  a  firmer  profession  of  their  faith 
in  him.  Many  a  fallen  brother,  by  such  Christian  kindness,  was 
recovered,  and  assisted,  through  grace,  to  witness  a  good  profession. 
But  when  one  persisted  in  hopeless  apostasy,  he  was  finally  rejected 
from  the  communion;  not  in  bitterness,  but  in  sorrow,  and  the 
church  bewailed  him  as  dead,  as  one  mourns  for  the  loss  of  the 
dearest  earthly  friend. 

§  3,    THE    BENEVOLENCE    OF    THE    PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANS. 

They  were  men  of  enlarged  philanthropy.  Their  hearts  not 
only  burned  with  fervent  charity  one  toward  another,  but  swelled 
with  the  wide  wish  of  benevolence  towards  all  men.  The  apostle 
of  the  Gentiles  earnestly  enjoined  his  converts  to  remember  the 


SEC.  III.]  THEIR   BENEVOLENCE.  73 

poor;  he  taught  them  to  provide  a  common  fund  for  this  purpose 
by  weekly  contributions  of  all,  as  God  had  prospered  them,  (1  Cor. 
xvi.  2 ;)  but  himself,  in  the  wide  range  of  his  missionary  tours,  be- 
came4iie  almoner  of  the  charity  of  the  churches  to  afflicted  saints  in 
foreign  countries.  The  custom,  in  these  primitive  times,  seems  to 
have  been  for  every  one,  on  the  Lord's  day,  at  the  close  of  public 
worship,  to  bring  to  the  notice  of  the  assembly  the  case  of  the  poor, 
the  aged,  the  widow,  or  the  orphan,  of  whose  necessities  he  had  any 
knowledge ;  and  forthwith  provision  was  made  for  such  from  the 
public  fund  created  by  their  weekly  contributions.  This  custom  is 
distinctly  specified  by  Justin  Martyr  in  the  middle  of  the  second 
century,  and  by  Tertullian  at  the  close  of  it,  as  is  indicated  in  the 
following  paragraphs : 

"  Of  those  who  have  abundance  and  are  willing,  each  at  his  plea- 
sm*e  gives  what  he  thinks  fit.  What  is  collected  is  deposited  with 
the  president,  who  succours  the  fatherless  and  the  widows,  and 
those  who  are  in  bonds,  and  the  strangers  who  are  sojourning 
among  us.     In  a  word,  he  provides  for  all  who  are  in  need."^ 

"  What  is  collected  in  the  public  chest  is  no  dishonourable  sum, 
as  if  it  belonged  to  a  purchased  religion.  Every  one  makes  a 
small  contribution  on  a  certain  day,  or  when  he  chooses  ;  provided 
only  he  is  willing  and  able ;  for  no  one  is  compelled ;  all  is  volun- 
tary. The  amount  is,  as  it  were,  a  common  fund  of  piety,  since 
it  is  expended,  not  in  feasting  or  drinking  or  indecent  excess,  but 
in  feeding  and  burying  the  poor,  and  in  supporting  children  of 
either  sex  who  have  neither  parents  nor  means  of  subsistence,  and 
old  men  now  confined  to  their  houses  and  incapable  of  work ;  in 
relieving  those  who  have  been  shipwrecked  ;  and,  if  there  are  any 
in  the  mines,  or  in  the  islands,  or  in  prison,  provided  they  sufiier 
for  the  cause  of  God's  religion,  they  are  the  recipients  of  the  bounty 
to  which  their  confession  entitles  them.  But  even  the  working  of  a 
charity  like  this  is  made,  by  some,  a  cause  of  censure  against  us."^ 

Numerous  instances  remain  on  record  of  the  boundless  charity 
of  the  early  Christians,  of  which,  in  this  boasted  age  of  Christian 
benevolence,  we  have  no  parallel.  Cyprian,  A.  D.  250,  against  the 
remonstrance  of  Christian  friends,  sold  the  estate  which  he  inhe- 
rited, to  supply  the  necessities  of  the  poor.  At  another  time,  by 
his  own  indefatigable  efforts,  he  raised,  from  his  persecuted,  afflicted 
flock,  the  extraordinary  sum  of  four  thousand  dollars  to  redeem 
some  Christian  captives  of  Numidia,  and  forwarded  it  with  a  letter 
to  the  churches  of  Numidia,  full  of  Christian  sympathy  and  ten- 


74 .  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANS    IN    SOCIAL    LIFE.         [CHAP.  IV. 

derness.'  "Csesarius,  St.  Basil's  brother,"  near  the  close  of  the 
fourth  century,  "  made  only  this  short  will  when  he  died.  '  I  will 
that  my  estate  be  given  to  the  poor.'  "  Nazianzen  reports  of  his 
father,  that  he  was  so  kind  to  the  poor  that  he  did  not  only  bestow 
the  surplusage  of  his  estate  upon  them,  but  even  part  of  what  was 
reserved  for  necessary  uses.  Of  his  mother  he  affirms,  that  an 
ocean  of  wealth  would  not  have  filled  her  unsatisfied  desire  of  doing 
good ;  and  that  he  had  often  heard  her  say,  that  if  it  were  lawful, 
she  could  willingly  have  sold  herself  and  children  to  have  expended 
the  price  upon  the  uses  of  the  poor  :  of  his  sister  Gorgonia,  that 
she  was  immensely  liberal.  "Job-like,  her  gate  was  open  to  every 
stranger.  She  was  eyes  to  the  blind,  feet  to  the  lame,  and  a 
mother  to  orphans.  Her  estate  was  as  common  to  the  poor  and 
as  much  at  their  service  as  every  one's  is  to  himself,  dispensing 
and  scattering  abroad ;  and,  according  to  the  counsel  of  our  Sa- 
viour, 'laying  up  her  treasure  in  heaven.'  "* 

The  church  at  Rome,  in  the  age  of  Cornelius,  A.  D.  250,  sup- 
ported more  than  fifteen  hundred  widows,  besides  the  afflicted  and 
needy.^  In  the  preceding  century  it  was,  as  it  had  been  from  the 
beginning,  their  practice  to  do  good  to  all  the  brethren,  in  every 
way,  and  to  send  contributions  to  needy  churches  in  every  city, 
thus  refreshing  the  needy  in  their  wants,  and  sending  needful  sup- 
plies to  the  brethren  condemned  to  the  mines.^  The  church  at 
Antioch,  though  its  revenues  were  small,  in  the  fifth  century,  daily 
maintained  more  than  three  thousand  widows  and  maids,  besides 
providing  for  its  clergy,  for  strangers,  for  lepers,  and  for  such  as 
were  in  bonds.^ 

A  better  idea  cannot,  perhaps,  be  given  of  the  sentiments  of 
early  Christians  on  this  subject  than  is  furnished  by  an  incident 
w^hich  occurred  in  Rome.  The  liberality  shown  to  the  poor  had  led 
a  Roman  officer,  in  the  days  of  persecution  under  Decius,  A.  D.  251, 
to  believe  that  Christians  had  great  treasures  at  their  command. 
Laurentius,  one  of  the  deacons  or  guardians  of  the  poor,  was  com- 
manded by  the  Roman  prefect  to  deliver  up  the  treasures  of  the 
church.  He  demanded  three  days  to  comply  with  the  requisition. 
In  that  time  he  collected  from  the  whole  city  all  the  poor  taken 
care  of  by  Christian  benevolence ;  and,  having  assembled,  in  the 
courts  and  porches  of  one  of  their  churches,  the  immense  multi- 
tude of  the  aged,  infirm,  lame,  blind,  diseased,  destitute  poor,  who 
received  constant  aid  from  the  hands  of  Christians,  he  called  upon 
the  prefect  and  said,  "  Come,  see  the  treasure  of  our  God ;  you 


SEC.  III.]  THEIR   BENEVOLENCE.  75 


shall  see  a  great  court  full  of  vessels  of  gold,  and  talents  are 
heaped  up  in  the  porches."  The  prefect  followed,  and  was  shown 
the  assembled  poor.  "Behold  the  treasures  I  promised  you.  I 
add  to  these  the  mdows  and  orphans ;  these  are  our  pearls  and 
precious  stones — the  crown  of  the  church.  Take  this  wealth  for 
Rome,  for  the  emperor,  and  for  yourself." 

But  the  benevolence  of  these  Christians  ended  not  with  alms- 
giving. It  was  manifested  no  less  in  their  personal  attentions  to 
the  poor,  the  distressed,  the  sick,  the  dying,  and  the  dead.  In 
these  deeds  of  charity  and  walks  of  usefulness  they  passed  much 
of  their  time,  and  often  perilled  their  lives  in  their  attentions  to  the 
sick  who  were  infected  w^ith  some  noisome  pestilence,  and  to  the 
dead  who  had  died  of  contagious  diseases.  Many  examples  to  this 
efiFect  might  be  given,  of  which  the  following  must  suffice,  pre- 
senting the  benevolence  of  the  Christians  in  contrast  with  the  bar- 
barous neglect  of  the  pagans  of  Alexandria,  during  the  prevalence 
of  the  plague  in  that  city : — "  That  pestilence  appeared  to  the  hea- 
then as  the  most  dreadful  of  all  things, — as  that  which  left  them 
no  hope.  Not  so,  however,  did  it  seem  to  us,  but  only  a  peculiar 
and  practical  trial.  The  greater  part  of  our  people,  in  the  abund- 
ance of  their  brotherly  love,  did  not  spare  themselves ;  and,  mu- 
tually attending  to  each  other,  they  cheerfully  attended  to  the  sick 
without  fear,  and  ministered  to  them  for  the  sake  of  Christ.  Many 
of  them  died,  after  their  care  had  restored  others  from  the  plague 
to  health.  The  best  among  our  brethren,  priests  and  deacons,  and 
some  who  were  celebrated  among  the  laity,  died  in  this  manner ; 
and  such  a  death,  the  fruit  of  great  piety  and  strong  faith,  is 
hardly  inferior  to  martyrdom.  Many  who  took  the  bodies  of  their 
Christian  brethren  into  their  hands  and  bosoms,  closed  their  mouth 
and  eyes,  and  buried  them  with  every  attention,  soon  followed 
them  in  death.  But  with  the  heathen,  matters  stood  quite  differ- 
ently :  at  the  first  symptom  of  sickness,  they  drove  a  man  from 
their  society,  they  tore  themselves  away  from  their  dearest  con- 
nections, they  threw  the  half  dead  into  the  streets,  and  left  thou- 
sands unburied, — endeavouring  by  all  the  means  in  their  power  to 
escape  contagion,  which,  notwithstanding  all  their  contrivances,  it 
was  very  difficult  to  accomplish."^ 

Eusebius,  again,  describes  the  dreadful  famine  and  pestilence 
which  prevailed  in  the  East  during  a  violent  persecution  under  the 
emperor  Maximin,  A.  D.  308,  and  the  unwearied  exertions  of  the 
Christians,  in  the  midst  of  their  persecutions,  in  behalf  of  the 


76  •        PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANS   IN   SOCIAL   LIFE.        [CHAP.  IV. 

starving,  plague-stricken  multitude.  "  Immense  numbers  were  cljing 
in  the  cities,  still  more  in  the  country  and  villages,  so  that  now  the 
vast  population  in  the  interior  was  almost  entirely  swept  away ; 
nearly  all  being  suddenly  destroyed  by  want  of  food  and  by  pesti- 
lential disease.  Many  were  anxious  to  sell  their  most  valuable 
effects,  to  those  better  supplied,  for  the  smallest  quantity  of  food. 
Others,  gradually  spending  all  their  possessions,  were  reduced  to 
the  last  extreme  of  want.  And  some  even  chewing  remnants  of 
hay ;  and  others,  eating  without  distinction  certain  noxious  herbs, 
miserably  destroyed  the  constitution  of  the  body.  Also,  some  of 
the  more  honourable  females  throughout  the  cities,  constrained  by 
want  to  throw  aside  all  shame,  went  into  the  public  markets  to  beg, 
indicating  the  evidences  of  their  former  liberal  education  by  the 
modesty  of  their  countenances  and  the  decency  of  their  apparel. 
Some,  indeed,  wasted  away  to  mere  skeletons,  stumbled  hither  and 
thither  like  dead  shadows,  trembling  and  tottering  from  excessive 
weakness  and  inability  to  stand  ;  they  fell  down  in  the  midst  of  the 
streets,  where  they  lay  stretched  out,  and  only  earnestly  begged 
some  one  to  hand  them  a  little  morsel  of  bread ;  then,  drawing  in 
their  breath,  with  the  last  gasp  they  cried  out,  '  Hunger !'  having 
only  strength  suflBcient  for  this  most  painful  cry.  Some,  however, 
of  those  that  appeared  better  supplied,  astonished  at  the  great 
multitude  of  those  begging,  after  giving  vast  quantities  away,  after- 
wards yielded  to  a  harsh  and  inflexible  disposition,  expecting  that 
they  would  soon  suffer  the  same  things  with  those  begging  of  them. 
So  that  now,  in  the  midst  of  the  streets  and  lanes,  the  dead  and 
naked  bodies,  cast  out  and  lying  for  many  days,  presented  a  most 
painful  spectacle  to  the  beholders.  Some,  indeed,  were  already 
the  food  of  dogs  ;  on  which  account  the  survivors  began  to  slay  the 
dogs,  lest,  growing  mad,  they  should  devour  men.  The  pestilence, 
in  the  mean  time,  did  not  the  less  prey  upon  every  house  and 
family ;  particularly  those  whom  the  famine,  from  their  abundance 
of  food,  could  not  destroy — the  wealthy,  the  rulers,  generals,  and 
vast  numbers  in  office — who,  as  if  they  had  been  designedly  left  by 
the  famine  to  the  pestilence,  were  overtaken  by  a  sudden,  violent, 
and  rapid  death.  All  places,  therefore,  were  filled  with  lamenta- 
tion, in  all  streets,  lanes,  market-places,  and  highways.  Nothing 
was  to  be  seen  but  tears,  with  the  accustomed  flutes  and  funeral 
dirge.  In  this  manner,  death  waged  a  desolating  war  with  these 
two  weapons — famine  and  pestilence — destroying  whole  families  in 
a  short  time ;  so  that  now  one  could  see  two  or  three  dead  bodies 


SEC.  IV.]  EFFORTS    TO    PROPAGATE    CHRISTIANITY.  77 

carried  out  at  once.  Such  were  the  rewards  of  the  pompous  boast- 
ing of  Maximinus,  and  of  his  edicts  throughout  the  city  against  us. 
Then,  also,  the  evidences  of  the  zeal  and  pietj  of  the  Christians 
became  manifest  and  obvious  to  all ;  for  they  were  the  only  per- 
sons, in  the  midst  of  such  distressing  circumstances,  that  exhibited 
sympathy  and  humanity  in  their  conduct.  They  continued  the 
whole  day,  some  in  the  care  and  burial  of  the  dead,  for  numberless 
were  they  for  whom  there  was  none  to  care ;  others,  collecting  the 
multitude  of  those  wasted  by  the  famine  throughout  the  city,  dis- 
tributed bread  among  all ;  so  that  the  fact  was  cried  abroad,  and 
men  glorified  the  God  of  the  Christians,  constrained  as  they  were, 
by  the  facts,  to  acknowledge  that  these  were  the  only  really  pious 
and  the  only  real  worshippers  of  God."^ 

§  4.    THEIR   EFFORTS   FOR   THE    PROPAGATION   OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

In  swift  obedience  to  the  great  command  which  closed  the  minis- 
try of  our  Lord,  the  apostles  sped  through  the  earth  as  angels 
of  mercy  to  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature.  Not  counting 
his  life  dear  to  him,  so  he  might  fulfil  his  benevolent  mission,  each 
in  turn  laid  down  his  life  a  cheerful  sacrifice  for  the  conversion  of 
men.  But  the  same  self-denying,  self-sacrificing  spirit  survived 
the  apostles  and  animated  the  primitive  ages  of  the  church.  Cle- 
ment, contemporary  and  survivor  of  the  apostles,  appeals  to  the 
personal  knowledge  of  the  Romans  and  Corinthians,  "how  many 
among  them  had  given  themselves  up  into  bonds,  that  they  might 
free  others.  Many  had  sold  themselves  into  bondage  and  received 
the  price  that  they  might  feed  others."^ 

Origen,  against  Celsus,  in  the  third  century,  describes  the  ear- 
nestness of  Christians  to  propagate  their  faith  through  the  whole 
world ;  some  of  whom  went  up  and  down,  not  only  through  cities, 
but  towns  and  villages,  to  bring  over  others  to  the  true  religj^pn, 
often  refusing  to  receive  necessary  accommodations  from  others ; 
and,  at  other  times,  only  accepting  these  when  greater  liberalities 
were  offered.  The  efforts  of  Monica,  the  mother  of  Augustin,  for 
the  conversion  of  her  husband  and  her  son,  are  well  known. 
To  the  latter  she  said,  "I  have  no  further  hopes  or  desires,  my 
son,  in  this  world;  I  only  desired  to  live  to  see  you  a  Christian." 
To  Emmilia,  the  grandmother  of  Basil  the  Great ;  to  Nonna,  the 
mother  of  Gregory  Nazianzen,  and  to  Arethusa,  the  mother  of 
Chrysostom,  the  world  was  indebted,  through  grace,  for  those  great 


78  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANS    IN    SOCIAL    LIFE.  [CHAP.  IV. 

lights  of  the  dark  and  degenerate  ages  in  which  they  lived.  Liba- 
nius,  the  celebrated  heathen  orator  and  instructor  of  Chrysostom, 
with  reference  to  his  mother,  exclaimed,  "What  wives  these  Chris- 
tians have  ?"  And  the  pagans  themselves,  lamenting  the  loss  of 
the  splendid  talents  of  Chrysostom  by  his  conversion,  complained 
that  "the  Christians  had  stolen  him  away."  To  such  an  extent 
did  these  Christians  carry  their  self-denying  efforts  for  the  con- 
version of  others,  that  some  even  sold  themselves  into  voluntary 
slavery,  as  the  means  of  bringing  their  masters  to  the  knowledge 
of  Christianity,  who,  on  their  conversion,  restored  again  their  Chris- 
tian slaves  to  freedom. 

Time  would  fail  to  enumerate  all  the  different  forms  in  which 
the  benevolence  of  primitive  Christians  discovered  itself.  Some 
devoted  large  possessions  to  the  gratuitous  distribution  of  the 
Scriptures ;  some,  in  support  of  missionaries ;  some,  to  deeds  of 
charity  to  the  poor,  the  afflicted,  or  for  the  redemption  of  captives ; 
and,  when  all  other  means  failed,  perilled  their  own  lives  in  deeds 
of  charity  to  others,  and  even  sold  themselves  into  captivity  to 
redeem  other  captives  from  bondage. 

§  5.    AMUSEMENTS    OF    THE    PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANS. 

Every  man  has  certain  customary  means  of  enjoyment  in  those 
little  intervals  of  leisure  which  occur  in  the  busiest  life.  Every 
community  offers  some  method  of  entertainment  and  recreation, 
according  to  the  prevailing  tastes  and  habits  of  their  society ;  and 
these  amusements  of  men  and  of  society  indicate,  no  less  than  their 
serious  occupations,  their  character.  The  primitive  Christians, 
when  occupied  neither  with  labours  nor  with  the  duties  of  religion, 
had,  no  doubt,  like  other  men,  their  amusements.  But  neither 
their  principles  nor  their  social  habits  would  allow  them  to  join  in 
mani  of  the  fashionable  amusements  of  their  day.  Primitive  Chris- 
tianity was,  indeed,  exempt  from  that  "suUenness  against  nature" 
and  nature's  God  which  characterized  the  stoical  philosophy  of  an- 
tiquity, and  which  subsequently  led  to  the  follies  of  monkery. 
But  its  principles  inculcate  great  strictness  in  regard  to  the  plea- 
sures of  the  world  ;  and  these  principles  of  Christianity,  contrasted 
with  the  degeneracy  of  the  age,  threw  over  its  professors  the  air 
of  great  seriousness. 

As  a  persecuted  and  despised  people,  they  sought  retirement  and 
seclusion.     Conscious  that  bonds,  imprisonment,  and  death  awaited 


SEC.  v.]  THEIR   AMUSEMENTS.  79 


them,  sorrowing  for  those  who  were  languishing  in  prison  or  had 
died  a  martyr's  death,  the  vanities  of  the  world  and  the  gajeties  of 
convivial  life  had  for  them  no  charms. 

Most  of  the  amusements  of  the  age  were  in  some  way  connected 
with  idolatrous  ideas  and  ceremonies,  or  else  were  tainted  with  im- 
purities and  immoralities  inconsistent  with  their  religion.  We, 
who  live  at  a  period  when  the  tone  of  public  sentiment  is  all  in 
favour  of  the  principles  and  practices  of  Christianity,  cannot 
readily  enter  into  the  feelings  of  those  who  moved  in  a  state  of 
society  where  every  element  of  nature  was  consecrated  to  the  ser- 
vice of  paganism,  and  the  simplest  and  most  innocent  amusements 
could  not  be  enjoyed  without  oflfence  to  all  that  is  pure  and  holy. 

These  circumstances  should  be  taken  into  account  along  with  the 
religious  seriousness  and  conscientieusness  of  Christians,  in  our 
estimate  of  their  apparent  austerity. 

Minucius  Felix,  a  Roman  lawyer,  a  convert  to  Christianity,  who 
died  A.  D.  208,  makes  Csecilius,  sustaining  the  heathen  part  of  his 
dialogue,  give  the  following  graphic  portraiture  of  the  manners 
and  life  of  Christians  :  "  Fearful  and  anxious,  you  abstain  from  plea- 
sures in  w^hich  there  is  nothing  indecorous ;  you  visit  no  shows ; 
you  attend  no  pageants  ;  you  are  seen  at  no  public  banquets ;  the 
sacred  games,  and  food  and  drink  used  in  the  sacrifices,  you  abhor ; 
you  thus  fear  the  gods  whom  you  deny ;  you  bind  not  your  brows 
with  garlands;  you  use  no  perfumes  for  the  body;  your  aroma  tics 
you  reserve  for  bui-ials ;  you  refuse  even  crowns  of  flowers  to  the 
sepulchres ;  pallid,  trembling,  you  are  fit  objects  of  commiseration 
to  our  gods."  In  another  place,  he  calls  them  "a  people  who  fled 
the  light,  who  hid  themselves  in  darkness  ;  mute  in  public,  garru- 
lous in  corners." 

The  amusements  of  the  theatre,  the  circus,  pantomimic  shows, 
tragedies,  comedies,  chariot  and  foot  races,  scenic  exhibitions  of 
every  kind  were  discountenanced  by  these  Christians,  because 
much  occurred  therfr  which  violated  the  moral  feelings  of  Christians 
and  the  decencies  of  Christian  life.  Moreover,  an  unholy  spirit 
breathed  in  them — the  frivolities  which  reigned  there,  "  the  hour- 
long  pursuit  of  idle  and  vain  objects,"  and  the  tumult  and  uproar 
which  prevailed  there,  were  viewed  as  incompatible  with  the  serious- 
ness of  the  Christian  character.  Then,  again,  these  scenes  were 
connected  with  idolatrous  ideas  and  worship,  and  weaker  Chris- 
tians might  be  led  back  to  heathenism.  Even  if  otherwise  inno- 
cent,  they  would  refrain  from  every  thing  that  might  make  their 


80  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANS   IN   SOCIAL   LIFE.        [CHAP.  IV. 

brotlier  to  offend.  On  this  principle,  all  trades  and  occupations 
which  encouraged  public  vices,  immoralities,  or  impieties,  were  dis- 
owned, Tertullian  would  not  allow  merchants  to  furnish  commodi- 
ties for  adorning  the  temples,  nor  to  sell  spices  for  incense. 

Dice  and  games  of  hazard  of  every  kind,  together  with  -seden- 
tary plays,  were  also  condemned,  as  inconsistent  with  a  Christian 
profession,  and  tending  to  form  habits  of  idleness  and  profligacy. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add,  that  all  excessive  ornament  and 
costly  apparel  were  likewise  condemned,  together  with  every  thing 
that  should  gratify  a  vain  ambition,  excite  sensual  desires,  or  gra- 
tify a  voluptuous  disposition.  "Tell  me,"  says  Apollonius,  A.  D. 
180,  "  does  a  prophet  dye  his  hair  ?  Does  he  paint  his  eyelids  ' 
Does  he  delight  in  ornament  ?  Does  he  play  at  dice  ?  Does  he 
take  usury  ?  Speak  and  say,  are  these  things  justifiable  ?"^  "What 
reason  can  you  have,"  says  Tertullian,  "for  going  about  in  gay 
apparel,  when  you  are  removed  from  all  with  whom  this  is  re- 
quired ?  You  do  not  go  the  round  of  the  temples ;  you  ask  for  no 
public  shows ;  you  have  nothing  to  do  with  public  festivals." 

Clement  of  Alexandria,  of  the  same  age,  in  his  Pedagogue,  per- 
sonates Christ  as  discoursing  on  the  rules  of  living  pertaining  to 
meats,  to  drinks,  to  ornaments  and  dress,  to  expensive  articles  of 
luxury,  in  which  he  descends  to  great  minuteness  of  detail ;  but 
allows  only  a  decent  consistency.  He  would  not  have  Christians 
"wear  a  severe  and  morose  countenance,"  but  condemns  all  buf- 
foonery, unseemly  merriment,  and  noisy  mirth  ;  and  comments 
with  great  severity  upon  "immodest  speech."  He  enters  minutely 
in  the  description  of  a  lady's  toilette.  The  "fine  gentleman"  of 
the  day — the  fop  of  Alexandria — and  idlers  "who  lounge  at  the 
fdiops  to  gaze  at  the  females  as  they  pass,"  especially  move  his 
virtuous  indignation.  Some  of  the  details  to  which  he  descends 
are  curious  enough ;  but  the  picture  which  he  draws  of  the  morals 
of  the  day,  especially  of  female  morals,  is  really  appalling.  But 
in  the  midst  of  this  extreme  degeneracy  and  corruption,  he  exhibits 
himself  the  champion  of  a  pure  and  inflexible  morality,  based  on 
a  deep  and  earnest  piety. 

Let  us  not,  however,  imagine  that  the  primitive  Christians  were 
sad  and  melancholy.  All  their  history  shows  them  to  have  been 
cheerful  and  happy.  Free  from  cankering,  corroding  cares  and 
guilty  passions,  they  enjoyed  peace  of  conscience  and  rejoiced  in 
hope  of  the  glory  of  God.  They  were  eminently  social.  The 
sacred  song,  the  harp,  the  lyre,  and  the  exalted  themes  of  Chris- 


SEC.  I.]  THEIR   INTERCOURSE   WITH    SOCIETY.  81 


tian  intercourse  enlivened  tlieir  pastimes ;  so  that,  in  their  quiet 
seclusion,  they  enjoyed  a  steady  and  tranquil  flow  of  happiness 
and  peace,  with  which  no  stranger  could  intermeddle.  With  a  pro- 
priety which  none  else  could  claim,  they  could  say — 

"With  us  no  melancholy  void, 
No  moment  lingers  unemployed 

Or  unenjoyed  below  ; 
Our  weariness  of  life  is  gone, 
Who  live  to  serve  our  God  alone, 

And  only  Jesus  know." 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   THE 
GOVERNMENT. 

§  1.    OF    THEIR    INTERCOURSE    WITH    SOCIETY. 

The  primitive  Christians  at  first,  like  their  Divine  Master,  sought 
not  the  seclusion  of  the  cloister.  They  affected  no  austerities. 
They  mingled  freely,  as  before  their  conversion,  with  society,  and 
conformed  to  its  customs  in  their  occupations  and  pursuits,  in  their 
apparel,  their  mode  of  life,  their  domestic  habits,  their  intervals  of 
labour  and  repose,  and  in  whatever  was  honourable,  pure,  and  of 
good  report.  The  mechanic  wrought  at  his  trade,  the  husbandman 
prosecuted  the  labours  of  the  field,  the  merchant  repaired  to  his 
shop,  the  soldier  continued  in  the  ranks, — men  went,  from  day  to 
day,  and  from  place  to  place,  obeying  the  calls  of  business  and 
friendship  as  before ;  and  instead  of  separating  from  their  former 
acquaintances,  or  withdrawing  from  the  avocations  to  which  they 
had  been  bred,  and  by  which  they  lived,  they  gave  no  symptoms, 
in  any  of  these  respects,  of  a  change  of  habit,  except  that,  being 
furnished  with  higher  motives,  they  attended  with  an  activity,  a 
diligence  and  fidelity  greater  than  ever,  to  all  the  claims  of  society 
and  the  offices  of  life. 

This  characteristic  is  finely  exemplified  in'  the  Epistle  to  Diog- 
netus,  (chap.  i.  p.  41;)  and  with  equal  force  by  Tertullian :  "We 
are  no  Brahmins,  we  are  no  Fakiers,  we  are  not  eremites  or  her- 


82  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANS   IN   THE   STATE.  [CHAP.  V. 


mits,  who  flee  from  life.  We  are  well  aware  of  the  obligations  we 
owe  to  God,  our  Creator  and  Lord.  We  reject  the  enjoyment  of 
none  of  his  gifts ;  we  seek  only  to  preserve  the  requisite  modera- 
tion, and  to  avoid  abuses.  We  do  not  live  in  this  world  without 
participating  in  your  markets,  your  baths,  your  public-houses,  your 
workshops,  your  auctions,  and  every  thing  which  pertains  to  the 
commerce  of  life.  We  engage  with  you  in  navigation,  in  military 
service,  in  agriculture,  in  trade.  We  engage  with  you  in  manufac- 
tures, and  devote  our  labour  to  your  benefit.  How,  then,  we  can 
seem  unserviceable  to  your  ordinary  business,  in  which  and  by 
which  we  live,  I  see  not.  If  I  frequent  not  your  religious  ceremo- 
nies, yet,  in  the  day  appointed  for  them,  I  am  still  a  citizen,  as  on 
other  days.  At  the  period  of  your  Saturnalia  I  bathe  not.  I 
bathe  not,  like  yourselves,  at  night,  lest  I  should  lose  both  the 
night  and  the  day ;  and  yet  I  bathe  at  my  usual  hour,  for  enjoy- 
ment and  health.  At  the  feasts  in  honour  of  your  gods,  I  sit  not 
down  in  public  at  the  banquet,  as  those  unhappy  men  do  who  then 
take  their  last  meal  before  they  are  thrown  to  the  wild  beasts ;  but 
whenever  I  sup,  I  eat  of  the  same  provisions  as  yourselves.  I  will, 
however,  confess  that  there  may  be  some  who  have  reason  to  com- 
plain of  their  want  of  support  from  the  Christians.  Among  the 
first  of  these  will  be  the  vile  panders  of  every  kind  of  lust ;  in  the 
next  place,  murderers,  poisoners,  magicians,  fortune-tellers,  sooth- 
sayers, and  astrologers.  To  be  profitless  to  such  is  itself  great 
gain  to  the  state.  "^ 

§  2.  OF  THEIR  LOYALTY  TO  GOVERNMENT. 

The  primitive  Christians  often  came  into  conflict  with  existing 
institutions  and  laws  of  the  state  which  contravened  their  religious 
faith ;  but  in  all  else  they  were  loyal  and  obedient  subjects  to  the 
government,  by  which,  too  often,  they  were  neglected,  oppressed, 
and  persecuted  as  outlaws.  But  they  faithfully  contributed  to  the 
support  of  the  government,  and  fervently  prayed  for  its  prosperity. 
"  We  make  it  our  principal  endeavour,  in  every  place,  to  pay  tri- 
bute and  custom  to  such  ofiicers  as  are  appointed  by  you.  We 
worship  God  only;  but  in  all  other  matters  we  joyfully  serve  .you, 
confessing  that  ye  are  kings  and  rulers,  and  praying  that  ye  may 
be  found  to  possess,  together  with  your  royal  power,  a  sound  and 
discerning  mind."^ 

But  the  "tribute  of  every  other  kind,"  except  revenues  to  the 


EEC.  III.]  THEIR   LOYALTY   TO    GOVERNMENT. 


temple,  says  Tertullian,  "  Is  deeply  indebted  to  the  Christians,  who 
pay  that  which  is  due  with  the  fidelity  with  which  we  abstain  from 
all  fraud.  Whereas,  if  an  account  were  kept  of  the  injury  which 
the  commonwealth  suffers  by  the  fraud  and  falsehood  which  ye 
exercise,  it  would  plainly  appear  that  the  accurate  statement  which 
we  make  of  the  tribute  which  we  owe,  would  much  more  than  com- 
pensate for  any  complaint  which  you  make  upon  any  other  ac- 
count."^ 

In  another  connection,  he  continues:  "We  reverence,  in  the  em- 
perors, the  providence  of  God  who  placed  them  on  their  thrones. 
We  know  that  the  power  which  they  possess  is  in  conformity  with 
the  will  of  God.^  We  pray  for  the  emperors,  and  for  those  in  au- 
thority under  them,  for  the  powers  of  this  world,  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  peace,  and  for  the  delay  of  the  final  judgment."*  "We 
all  pray  without  ceasing  for  all  emperors,  beseeching  for  them  a 
long  life,  a  secure  reign,  that  their  families  may  be  preserved  in 
safety,  their  armies  brave,  the  senate  faithful,  the  people  honest, 
the  whole  world  peaceful,  and  whatever  other  things  either  the  peo- 
ple or  the  emperor  can  desire."^ 

Athenagoras,  also,  in  his  address  to  the  emperors,  A.  D.  176,  ma- 
nifests the  same  loyal  spirit :  "  Are  any  more  devoted  to  you  than 
we,  who  pray  for  the  happiness  of  your  government ;  that,  accord- 
ing to  right  and  equity,  the  son  may  succeed  his  father  in  the  em- 
pire, that  your  dominions  may  be  enlarged,  and  that  all  things  in 
which  you  engage  may  prosper ;  and  this  for  our  mutual  advan- 
tage, that  so,  leading  a  quiet  and  peaceable  life,  we  may  cheerfully 
obey  all  your  commands?" 

In  addition  to  all  this,  Tertullian  urges  the  importance  of  the 
prevailing  intercessions  of  Christians  in  arresting  or  mitigating  the 
judgments  of  heaven ;  and,  after  alluding  to  the  vain  efforts  of 
idol-worshippers  to  propitiate  Jupiter  for  this  end,  adds,  "Mean- 
while we,  shrunk  with  famine  and  worn  out  with  abstinence  of  every 
kind,  cut  off  from  all  enjoyment  of  life,  rolling  in  sackcloth  and 
ashes,  weary  heaven  with  the  importunity  of  our  prayers,  and  reach 
the  ear  of  God ;  but  when  we  have  thus  extorted  mercy,  ye  give 
honour  to  Jupiter  and  neglect  God." 

§  3.    OF    THEIR    MILITARY    SERVICE. 

The  loyalty  of  the  Christians  appears  also  in  their  military  ser- 
vices to  the  state.     Many,  it  cannot  be  denied,  objected  to  an  oath, 


84  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANS   IN   THE   STATE.  [CHAP.  V. 


as  prohibited  bj  the  Author  of  their  religion  ;  but  it  is  equally  cer- 
tain that  many  also  assumed  the  military  oath  of  allegiance  to  their 
sovereign,  and  served  in  his  armies.  Tertullian^  and  Eusebius^  both 
affirm  that  the  emperor  M.  Aurelius  Antoninus  gained  a  signal  vic- 
tory over  his  enemies  in  Germany  through  the  prayers  of  a  certain 
Christian  legion  in  his  army,  known  in  history  as  "the  thundering 
legion."  Though  the  miraculous  event  recorded  by  them  be  called 
in  question,  it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  Christians  were  num- 
bered among  the  soldiery  of  this  emperor,  A-  D.  161-180. 

Under  Maximianus,  A.  D.  286,  a  certain  Theban  legion  being  re- 
quired, on  one  occasion,  to  turn  their  arms  against  their  Christian 
brethren,  meekly  replied,  "We  offer  our  hands  against  any  enemy, 
but  count  it  unlawful  to  imbrue  them  in  the  blood  of  the  innocent. 
Our  swords  know  how  to  strike  a  rebel  or  an  enemy,  but  not  to 
wound  guiltless  citizens.  We  have  always  fought  for  justice  and 
piety  and  the  safety  of  the  innocent.  These  have  hitherto  been 
the  price  of  those  dangers  which  we  have  incurred.  We  have 
fought  for  fidelity,  which  how  shall  we  be  able  to  keep  to  you,  if 
we  do  not  first  keep  it  to  our  God  ?"^ 

In  the  fourth  century,  the  military  services  of  Christians  to  the 
state  are  the  subject  of  frequent  record  in  authentic  history. 


§4.    OF   THEIR   HONESTY  AND   INTEGRITY  AS   GOOD    CITIZENS. 

The  honesty,  truthfulness,  and  blameless  character  of  Chris- 
tians, as  citizens  of  the  state,  are  the  frequent  subject  of  encomium 
in  their  early  history.  Pliny,  in  his  famous  letter  to  Trajan,  A.  D. 
Ill,  reports  that,  after  the  most  diligent  inquiry,  he  could  find  no- 
thing against  the  Christians,  other  than  that  they  were  accustomed 
to  meet  together  on  a  certain  day  for  the  worship  of  Christ,  their 
God ;  that  they  bound  themselves  by  a  covenant,  not  to  the  com- 
mission of  crimes,  but  to  refrain  from  fraud,  from  theft,  from  adul- 
tery ;  to  be  faithful  in  performing  their  promises,  and  to  withhold 
from  none  any  property  which  might  be  intrusted  to  their  keeping : 
that  after  this  they  separate,  and  meet  again  in  the  evening  at  a 
simple  meal.  This  was  all  that  he  could  allege  against  the  Chris- 
tians of  Bithynia,  except  an  "absurd  and  excessive  superstition." 
Justin  Martyr,  half  a  century  later,  says,  "When  we  are  most 
severely  examined,  we  never  deny  ourselves ;  counting  it  impious 
in  any  thing  to  dissemble  or  deny  the  truth,  as  we  know  the  con- 


SEC.  v.]  UNLAWFUL   OCCUPATIONS.  85 

trarjis  acceptable  to  God."^  "When  questioned,  it  is  in  our  power 
to  deny;  but  we  will  not  preserve  our  lives  by  falsehood."^ 

Tertullian,  again,  at  the  end  of  the  second  century,  asserts  the 
blameless  character  of  the  Christians.  "  You  regard  us  as  sacri- 
legious persons,  and  yet  never  found  any  of  us  guilty  of  wrong  or 
injury,  of  rapine  or  violence,  much  less  of  sacrilege  or  impiety. 
No ;  they  are  your  own  party  that  swear  by  and  worship  your 
gods,  and  rob  their  temples.  As  for  us,  we  deny  not  any  pledge 
left  with  us ;  w^e  defile  no  man's  marriage-bed ;  we  religiously  edu- 
cate and  train  up  orphans,  and  relieve  the  necessities  of  the  indi- 
gent :  but  we  render  to  no  man  evil  for  evil."^ 

So  remarkable  were  Christians  for  their  blameless  lives,  that 
their  apologists  triumphantly  call  upon  their  persecutors  to  allege 
against  them  any  crime.  "Let  but  any  of  us  be  convicted  of  any 
crime,  either  small  or  great,  and  we  refuse  not  to  be  punished ;  nay, 
we  consent  to  submit  to  the  most  cruel  and  severe  penalties."^ 
"  We  confidently  appeal  to  your  own  records,  kept  by  those  of  you 
who  preside  in  our  courts  of  justice,  and  make  a  distinct  enumera- 
tion of  the  crimes  of  these  who  are  brought  before  you.  Out  of  so 
great  a  multitude  as  are  there  recorded,  each  with  his  own  accusa- 
tion, what  murderer,  what  thief,  what  sacrilegious  person,  what 
corrupter  of  youth,  what  purloiner  is  described  as  also  a  Christian  ? 
They  are  men  of  your  own  party  who  fill  your  prisons  ;  the  sighs 
which  rise  from  the  mines  are  breathed  by  men  of  your  religion ; 
the  wild  beasts  feed  upon  your  men,  and  the  vile  herds  of  gladi- 
ators are  replenished  from  the  same  source.  Among  these  no 
Christian  is  found,  unless  the  name  of  Christian  be  his  only  of- 
fence."' "Were  we  Christians  compared  with  you,  though  oiu- 
discipline  might  seem  to  you  somewhat  inferior,  yet  we  should  be 
found  infinitely  to  transcend  you.  You  forbid  adultery,  and  then 
practise  it ;  we  strictly  keep  our  marriage-vows.  Y^ou  punish 
wickedness  when  committed ;  with  us,  even  a  wicked  thought  is 
sin.  You  stand  in  awe  of  those  w'ho  are  conscious  of  your  crimes  ; 
we,  of  nothing  but  our  consciences.  Last  of  all,  it  is  with  yoiu: 
party  that  the  prison  is  filled.  No  Christian  is  there,  unless  one 
who  is  a  shame  to  his  religion,  or  an  apostate  from  it."** 

§  5.    OF   UNLAW^FUL    OCCUPATIONS. 

The  first  converts  to  Christianity,  as  we  have  seen,  neither  af- 
fected any  religious  austerities  nor  sought  seclusion  from  the  com- 


86  PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANS   IN   THE   STATE.  [CHAP.  V. 

mon  walks  of  life.  But  there  were  occupations  in  which  they 
could  not  engage,  trades  which  they  could  not  follow,  amusements 
and  festivities  in  which  they  could  not  participate.  Paul  directed 
every  man  to  abide  in  the  same  calling  wherein  he  was  called : 
1  Cor.  vii.  20.  But  many  of  the  Ephesian  converts,  "who  used 
curious  arts,  brought  their  magical  books  together  and  burned  them 
before  all  men."  (Acts  xix.  19.)  By  this  single  act  they  made  a 
sacrifice  of  eight  thousand  dollars,  besides  the  loss  of  their  gains 
for  the  future  in  giving  up  their  customary  occupations. 

The  trades  of  a  diviner,  of  an  astrologer,  a  soothsayer,  a  fortune- 
teller, and  the  manufacture  of  charms,  shrines,  images,  and  sta- 
tues employed  a  multitude  of  men,  and  brought  great  gains  to  the 
tradesmen.  To  those  who  urged  that  such  was  their  profession 
and  their  only  means  of  subsistence,  and  that  the  apostle  directs 
each  one  to  remain  in  his  own  calling,  Tertullian  replied  that,  on  this 
principle,  every  one  of  us  might  continue  in  our  sins,  for  we  are  all 
sinners  before  God ;  whereas  Christ  came  to  call  sinners  to  him- 
self; — that  this  course  of  reasoning  would  permit  the  thief,  the 
robber,  the  assassin  to  continue  in  their  crimes,  and  require  the 
church  to  be  open  to  them  all  alike.  He  proceeds  further  to 
show,  that  to  continue  in  such  unlawful  occupations  is  a  total  viola- 
tion of  covenant  vows  ;*  and  in  answer  to  the  sophistry  of  those 
who  would  plead  that  they  did  not  themselves  worship  the  images 
or  idols  which  they  made,  but  only  manufactured  them  for  sale,  as 
articles  of  trade,  he  exclaims,  with  pious  indignation,  "Assuredly 
you,  who  prepare  them  to  be  worshipped,  do  yourselves  worship 
them ;  not  by  the  ministry  of  another,  but  by  your  own ;  you  sa- 
crifice to  them,  not  the  life  of  a  victim,  but  your  own  life,  your 
ingenuity  and  talent ;  you  offer  the  sweat  of  your  brow  as  their 
drink-ofi"ering,  and  kindle  for  them  the  light  of  your  skill ;  you 
are  more  than  priests  unto  them,  by  your  own  ministrations.  Deny 
as  you  may  your  participation  in  the  worship,  they  will  not  disown 
the  worship  while  you  olfer  in  it  the  greatest,  the  richest  of  all 
sacrifices — your  own  souls'  salvation."^ 

In  conformity  with  the  same  conscientious  scruples.  Christians 
would  not  swear,  as  they  were  often  required,  by  the  emperor's 
genius ;  neither  would  they  offer  sacrifices  for  his  safety,  nor  ac- 
knowledge him  as  a  god,  nor  observe  the  festivals  in  his  honour.^ 


*  De  ipso  Sacramento  nostra  interpretaremur  nobis  adversas  esse  fidei  ejusmodi 
artes. — De  Idol.  c.  6. 


SEC.  VI.]  MILITARY   DUTIES   DECLINED.  87 

"  We  worship  the  emporor  as  much  as  is  either  lawful  for  us  or  ex- 
pedient for  him,  as  subordinate  only  to  God.  We  sacrifice  for  his 
safety,  but  it  is  to  his  and  our  God,  and  in  the  manner  which  our 
God  has  commanded — only  holy  prayer.  For  God,  the  Creator  of 
the  universe,  requires  no  other  incense  or  ofiering."^ 

But  the  church,  while  they  required  the  converts  to  Christianity 
to  renounce  all  unlawful  occupations,  still  made  it  their  duty  to 
support  such  as  by  this  means  were  thrown  out  of  employment, 
and  to  provide  for  them  other  occupations  consistent  with  their 
Christian  profession. 

The  profession  of  an  actor  and  theatrical  exhibitions  were  dis- 
countenanced, as  inconsistent  with  the  Christian  character.  Cy- 
prian, in  answer  to  one  who  plead  that  he  had  trained  himself  and 
his  children  for  the  stage,  and  had  no  other  means  of  maintenance, 
refuses  entirely  the  plea,  but  refers  him  to  the  church  for  the  rea- 
sonable supply  of  his  wants,  and,  if  that  is  not  sufficient,  pledges 
his  own  church  to  the  fulfilment  of  this  duty.* 

The  frequenting  of  theatrical  exhibitions  was  equally  censured 
as  an  immorality  of  the  ancient  Christian  church.  Tertullian 
wrote  a  treatise  on  this  subject,  in  which  he  argues  that  to  attend 
such  exhibitions  is  a  violation  of  covenant  vows  and  inconsistent 
with  the  purity  of  the  Christian  character.  He  insists  on  the  dan- 
ger of  moral  contamination,  and  the  practice  of  hypocrisy  and  de- 
ception, which  such  shows  occasion.  He  speaks  of  the  theatre  as 
the  devil's  own  territory,  and  relates  the  famous  story  of  a  Chris- 
tian woman  who,  in  the  theatre,  was  seized  with  a  demoniacal  pos- 
session, and  gives  the  reply  of  the  unclean  spirit  in  answer  to  the 
inquiry  why  he  should  presume  to  molest  in  this  manner  one  of 
the  faithful — "that  he  had  a  perfect  right  so  to  do,  because  he 
found  the  w^oman  on  his  own  territory."  He  further  objects,  that 
the  name  of  God  is  there  blasphemed,  and  plans  formed  for  the 
persecution  of  the  church.  In  conclusion,  he  refers  Christians  to 
the  far  higher  sources  of  pleasure  which  are  opened  to  them  in  the 
gospel,  and  to  the  tremendous  pomp  and  solemnity  of  the  last  great 
day. 

§  6.    OF    THE    REFUSAL    OF    MILITARY    DUTIES. 

The  ancient  church  were  divided  in  opinion  and  practice  respect- 
ing the  profession  of  arms.  Some  followed  it,  but  others  submitted 
even  to  a  violent  death  rather  than  enter  into  the  service  of  the 
army.     Tertullian  wrote  a  treatise  in  commendation  of  soldiers 


88  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANS   IN   THE   STATE.  [CHAP.  Y. 


Vfho  refused  to  wear  a  military  chaplet,  as  savouring  of  idolatry 
and  inconsistent  with  the  Christian  profession.  In  this  treatise,  he 
asserts  the  unlawfulness  of  a  military  life  and  of  wearing  a  soldier's 
chaplet.  The  Christian  ought  rather  to  wear  his  Master's  crown 
of  thorns,  in  order  thereby  to  obtain  the  crown  of  life. 

It  is  related  of  a  young  man  in  Numidia,  before  the  persecution 
under  Dioclesian,  A.  D.  296,  that  he  refused  to  take  the  military 
oath  :  "  Strike  off  my  head ;  I  fight  not  for  this  world,  but  for  my 
God."  " Who  has  advised  you  thus ?"  said  the  proconsul.  "My 
heart  and  He  that  called  me."  "But  you  must  take  the  soldier's 
badge."  "I  bear  the  badge  of  Christ,  my  God."  "I  will  soon 
send  you,  then,  to  your  God."  "Would  that  you  might;  but  that 
will  reflect  no  honom-  upon  you."  The  proconsul  then  attempted 
by  force  to  invest  him  with  the  soldier's  badge.  "  I  cannot  wear 
it ;  I  have  taken  the  badge  of  the  Saviour,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Son  of  the  living  God,  whom  you  know  not,  who  died  for  our 
salvation,  an  offering  for  our  sins.  Him  we  Christians  serve  as  the 
Prince  of  life,  the  Captain  of  our  salvation."  "Enlist  in  this  ser- 
vice, that  you  die  not  miserably."  "I  shall  not  die;  my  name  is 
with  the  Lord."  "But  there  are  Christians  in  Caesar's  army, 
good  and  faithful  soldiers."  "They  know  what  they  ought  to  do, 
and  must  judge  for  themselves ;  but  I  am  a  Christian,  and  cannot 
consent  to  do  evil."  "What  evil  do  soldiers  commit?"  "You 
know  well  what  they  do :  but  I  shall  not  die ;  when  I  leave  this 
world,  my  soul  will  be  with  the  Lord."  As  he  received  the  sen- 
tence of  death,  he  exclaimed,  "  God  be  praised !"  and  begged  his 
father,  standing  by,  to  present  the  military  uniform  which  he  had 
prepared  for  him  to  his  own  executioner. 

The  military  service  often  compelled  the  Christian  soldier  either 
to  disobey  orders  or  to  violate  his  conscience  by  sacrificing  to  false 
gods,  or  by  turning  his  arms  against  his  fellow-christians  in  times  of 
persecution.  Under  Caius  Galerius  Maximian,  son-in-law  of  Dio- 
clesian, a  legion  of  six  hundred  and  sixty-six  men,  on  being  re- 
quired to  sacrifice  to  the  gods  and  turn  their  arms  agamst  the 
Christians,  quietly  withdrew  and  remonstrated.  Upon  which  every 
tenth  man  throughout  the  legion  was  put  to  death  without  resist- 
ance. The  commander  of  the  legion,  with  his  sword  dyed  in  the 
blood  of  his  soldiers  who  had  been  slain  at  his  side,  exhorted  the 
survivors  to  remain  steadfast,  and  these,  in  answer  to  the  renewed 
order  of  Caesar,  acknowledged  their  readiness  to  obey  where  the 
laws  of  Christianity   did   not   forbid,   and   concluded  by  saying, 


SEC.  VII.]        UNDESIGNED   ENCOMIUMS   FROM   ENEMIES.  89 

."Know  thou  that  we  all  are  Christians:  our  bodies  Ave  yield  sub- 
ject to  your  power ;  our  souls  we  reserve  entire  for  Christ,  the 
Author  and  the  Saviour  of  them." 

Enraged  by  this  reply,  he  immediately  ordered  a  second  deci- 
mation. The  surviving  officers  then  returned  answer :  "  We,  0  em- 
peror, are  your  soldiers,  but  withal  the  servants  of  God.  To  you 
we  owe  military  life ;  to  him,  innocency.  From  you  we  have  re- 
ceived wages  for  our  service ;  from  him,  our  being  and  our  lives. 
"We  cannot  obey  the  emperor  so  as  to  deny  God,  the  Author  of  our 
lives  and  of  yours.  It  is  not  despair  that  sustains  our  resolution. 
We  have  arms,  but  offer  no  resistance,  choosing  rather  to  die  inno- 
cent than  live  rebellious  and  revengeful.  If  you  appoint  us  to 
greater  sufferings,  we  are  ready  for  them.  Christians  ourselves, 
we  cannot  persecute  them  that  are  also  Christians.  The  bravery 
of  our  legion  you  must  acknowledge.  We  lay  down  our  arms, 
and  bend  our  necks  to  the  sword  of  the  executioner.  He  will 
find  our  right  hands  disarmed,  but  our  breasts  armed  with  a  true 
Christian  faith."  They  were  immediately  devoted  to  death,  and 
died  without  resistance,  with  their  arms  at  their  feet. 

§  7.    OF   UNDESIGNED   ENCOMIUMS   FROM   ENEMIES. 

This  rapid  and  imperfect  sketch  of  the  social  and  civil  character 
of  the  primitive  Christians  may,  with  propriety,  be  concluded  with 
the  tribute  undesignedly  paid  to  them  by  two  Roman  emperors. 

Alexander  Severus,  a.  d.  222-235,  observing  the  excellence  of 
their  conduct  in  every  condition  of  public  and  private  life,  on  in- 
quiring into  their  religion,  had  a  bust  of  Christ  placed  in  his  pri- 
vate chapel  among  the  images  of  others  whom  he  honoured  as 
superior  beings ;  and  learning  that  one  of  the  ruling  principles  of 
Christians  was  to  do  to  others  as  they  would  that  others  should 
to  them,  he  was  so  charmed  with  it  that  he  was  continually  repeat- 
ing it,  and  caused  it  to  be  written  upon  the  walls  of  his  palace  and 
upon  all  his  public  buildings,  that,  in  every  street  and  on  all  occa- 
sions, his  subjects  might  be  admonished  by  this  admirable  precept.^ 

The  emperor  Julian,  A.  D.  362,  one  of  the  bitterest  enemies  of 
Christians,  unconsciously  commended  them  for  their  charity,  in  sup- 
porting, not  only  their  own  poor,  but  all  who  needed  assistance ; 
for  their  hospitality,  for  their  attentions  to  the  sick,  the  infirm,  the 
aged ;  and  for  their  pious  care  for  the  deaci,  as  Avell  as  for  their 
brotherly  love,  and  their  purity  of  character,  so  opposed  to  pagan 


90  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANS   IN  THE    STATE.  [CHAP.  V. 


licentiousness.  The  imitation  of  these  virtues  Julian  urges  upon. 
Arsacius,  the  supreme  pontiflF  of  Galatia,  as  the  most  efficient 
means  of  promoting  paganism ;  and  then  adds,  "  Establish  hos- 
pitals in  every  town  for  the  care  of  the  sick  and  the  entertainment 
of  strangers,  and  for  extending  the  cares  of  humanity  to  all  that 
are  poor.  I  will  furnish  the  itieans.  For  it  is  a  shame  for  us  that 
no  Jew  ever  begs,  and  that  the  impious  Galileans  should  not  only 
keep  their  own  poor,  but  even  many  of  ours,  whom  we  leave  to  suf- 
fer." To  another,  he  writes  thus  :  "The  impious  Galileans,  having 
observed  that  our  priests  neglect  the  poor,  have  applied  themselves 
to  that  work ;  and  have  gained  many  from  us,  as  they  who  steal 
our  children  attract  them  by  offering  cakes ;  and  so  they  have  led 
our  faithful  ones  into  infidelity,  by  commencing  with  charity,  hos- 
pitality, and  the  service  of  tables ;  for  they  have  many  names  for 
these  works,  which  they  practise  abundantly."^  This  testimony  is 
of  great  value  in  showing  the  customs  of  Christians  in  those  days, 
and  the  nature  of  that  teaching  by  example  which  not  only  com- 
manded the  admiration  of  an  enemy,  but  compelled  an  emperor  to 
follow  it  in  pure  defence,  lest  the  hearts  of  his  subjects  should  be 
stolen  from  him. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  persuasive  power  of 
women  in  the  conversion  of  men.  This  engaged  the  notice  of  the 
enemies  of  the  Christian  religion.  The  men  of  Antioch,  admiring 
the  splendid  talents  of  Chi-ysostom,  bitterly  lamented  that  his  mo- 
ther had  alienated  him  from  them.  Libanius,  his  instructor,  re- 
proached the  Antiochians  of  rank,  because  they  suffered  themselves 
to  be  governed  by  those  whom  they  ought  to  govern — meaning  their 
Christian  wives  and  mothers. 

The  same  orator,  contemporary  also  with  Julian,  in  the  fourth 
century,  apologizes  for  those  Christians  Avho,  after  their  apostasy 
to  paganism,  again  returned  to  Christianity,  by  ascribing  this  per- 
version, as  he  regarded  it,  to  the  influence  of  Christian  women  at 
home.  "  They  are  recalled  by  the  women  at  home,  and  by  their 
tears  are  again  withdrawn  from  the  altars  of  the  gods."  It  was 
such  examples  of  the  constraining  power  of  female  piety  which 
extorted  from  pagan  enemies  the  reluctant  encomium  already  cited : 
"What  women  these  Christians  have  !" — a  noble  testimony  to  the 
refining,  elevating  power  of  woman,  and  the  most  beautiful  tribute 
to  the  gentle,  persuasive  influence  of  her  piety,  which  all  antiquity, 
heathen  or  Christian^  furnishes. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  CHURCH,  AND  THE  PECULIARITIES   OF 
THE  CHRISTIAN  SYSTEM. 

The  first  formation  of  the  Christian  church  was  essentially  dif- 
ferent from  that  which  it  afterwards  assumed ;  so  that  the  history 
of  the  constitution  of  the  church  embraces  two  epochs,  in  which 
the  primitive  and  the  episcopal  constitution  of  the  church  appear 
in  direct  contrast  with  each  other.  These  two  opposite  systems  of 
church  government  must  be  carefully  distinguished  in  all  archseolo- 
gical  inquiries  into  the  government,  offices,  and  religious  rites  of 
the  church.  But,  preparatory  to  a  right  understanding  of  the  con- 
stitution of  the  primitive  church,  we  must  take  into  view  the  Chris- 
tian idea  of  a  universal  spiritual  priesthood. 

§  1.    OF   THE   PRIESTHOOD    OF   THE    PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANS. 

The  grand  characteristic  of  the  Christian  religion,  in  distinction 
from  the  Jewish — of  the  religion  of  the  New  Testament  contrasted 
with  that  of  the  Old  Testament — was,  that  it  utterly  excluded  all 
idea  of  a  inediating  priesthood  in  the  worship  of  God.  When 
the  new  and  nobler  order  of  the  Christian  dispensation  began,  the 
veil  was  rent  which  shrouded  in  mysterious  darkness  the  awful  pre- 
sence of  our  God ;  the  sacred  altar  and  the  consecrated  priest, 
which  barred  the  approach  of  the  suppliant,  were  put  away ;  Christ 
himself  had  in  his  own  person  broken  down  the  middle  wall  of  par- 
tition between  us  and  our  God,  abolishing  the  Jewish  ritual  of 
ordinances  and  commandments  which  hedged  up  our  way  to  the 
mercy-seat,  and  opening  out  a  free  access  whereby  all  might 
come  near  with  full  assurance  of  hope.  Christ,  the  Prophet  and 
High-priest,  had  appeared  to  put  away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  him- 
self, and  had  entered,  not  into  the  holy  places  made  with  hands, 
the  figures  of  the  true,  but  into  heaven  itself,  now  to  appear  in  the 
presence  of  God  for  us. 

Christians,  all  alike,  had  accordingly  now  become — what  the  Jews 

91 


92  THE   CONSTITUTION   OF   THE   CHURCH,  [CHAP.  VI. 

had  been,  but  were  no  more — God's  chosen  people.  They  were  all  a 
"royal  priesthood,"  and  might  come  with  equal  boldness  to  his 
throne  of  mercy.  By  virtue  of  their  relations  to  God,  they  viewed 
themselves  as  a  spiritual  people  consecrated  to  him.  The  entire 
life  of  all  was  to  be  the  service  of  a  continual  priesthood,  a  per- 
petual worship  of  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth  ;  a  living  sacrifice,  holy 
and  acceptable  unto  him.  It  was  their  reasonable  service. 
^  Whatever  could  be  done  for  the  service  of  Christ  by  the  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel  and  the  difiusion  of  Christianity,  or  for  the  edifi- 
cation of  believers,  was  accordingly  the  duty,  not  of  a  select  class 
of  Christians  alone,  but  was  equally  the  duty  of  all,  according  to 
the  peculiar  qualifications  and  gifts  of  each. 

These  natural  endowments  and  qualifications,  sanctified  by  grace, 
were,  in  the  age  of  the  apostles,  supernaturally  quickened  by  pecu- 
liar spiritual  gifts,  which,  according  to  his  own  ability  given  unto 
him,  each  was  required  to  exercise  for  the  edification  of  the  church. 
This  duty  of  Christians  in  the  use  of  their  spiritual  gifts,  the 
apostle  Paul  fully  expounded  to  the  Corinthian  chuixh,  (1  Cor.  xii. ;) 
which  exposition  Neander  paraphrases  as  follows :  "  Once,  when 
you  were  heathen  and  were  led  blindfold  by  your  priests  to  dumb 
idols,  ye  were  as  dead  and  dumb  as  they.  Now  that  through 
Christ  ye  serve  the  living  God,  ye  no  longer  serve  such  guides, 
drawing  you  along  blindfold  by  leading-strings ;  ye  yourselves  have 
for  a  guide  the  Spirit  of  God  that  enlightens  you.  Ye  no  longer 
dumbly  follow ;  he  speaks  out  of  you :  there  are  diversities  of  gifts, 
but  the  same  Spirit."^ 

Although  the  right  and  the  duty  implied  in  ,  the  office  of  a 
teacher  were  common  to  all,  it  does  not  follow  that  all  were  equally 
qualified  to  teach,  or  that  they  actually  assumed  this  prerogative. 
Then,  as  now,  there  were  difi'erent  members  of  the  same  body ;  and 
these  members  had  not  all  the  same  office,  but  each  his  own  pecu- 
liar office,  according  to  his  ability.  They  who,  by  natural  ability,  by 
mental  culture,  or  spiritual  gifts,  were  qualified  to  teach,  would  give 
themselves  to  this  work.  To  this  office  they  were  commonly  or- 
dained or  set  apart ;  and  in  this  manner  the  office  of  teacher  and 
of  presbyter,  elder,  or  bishop  became  closely  connected  and  ulti- 
mately identified. 

This  idea  that  the  whole  church  constituted  a  spiritual  priesthood, 
that  each  believer  was  entitled  to  exhort,  to  teach,  and  to  preach, 
continued  for  some  time  in  the  church,  as  may  appear  in  the  extracts 
below.     But  it  is  important  to  our  present  purpose,  as  an  explana- 


SEC.  I,]  THE    PRIESTHOOD.  93 


lion  of  the  peculiar  office  and  duty  of  the  miuistrj  in  the  aposto- 
lical and  primitive  churches. 

"  We,  says  Justin  Martyr,^  are  the  true  high-priests  of  God, 
as  God  himself  testifies,  when  he  says  that  pleasant  incense  and  a 
pure  offering  shall  in  every  place  among  the  heathen  be  offered 
to  him.  (Mai.  i.  11.)  He  receives  offerings  from  none  but  his  priests. 
Prayer  and  thanksgiving  only,  brought  by  the  worthy,  are  genuine 
offerings  well-pleasing  to  God  ;  and  those.  Christians  alone  are  in  a 
condition  to  give."  Says  Irenfeus,*  "All  the  righteous  have  the 
sacerdotal  dignity."  Says  Tertullian,^  "We  are  the  true  worship- 
pers and  the  true  priests  who,  praying  in  the  spirit,  in  the  spirit 
offer  to  God  the  prayer  which  is  his  due,  and  is  well-pleasing  to  him. 
Such  prayer,  coming  from  a  heart  full  of  devotion,  nourished  by 
faith,  kept  pure  by  a  blameless  life,  made  glorious  by  love,  and  ac- 
companied with  good  works,  we  must  with  psalms  and  hymns  bring 
to  the  altar  of  God;  and  it  is  all  which  God  requires  of  us." 

There  was  then  no  such  distinction  between  clergymen  and  lay- 
men, that  compliances  which  would  be  acknowledged  improper  in 
the  one  would  yet  be  considered  harmless  in  the  other.  They 
were  all  equally  the  priests  of  God,  and  as  such  they  felt  their 
responsibilities,  and  as  such  they  endeavoured  to  keep  themselves 
unspotted  from  the  world,  and  always  to  maintain  the  grave  and 
serious  demeanour  becoming  a  priest  of  the  Most  High  God.  Says 
Tertullian,*  "We  are  priests,  called  thereto  by  Christ.  The  Su- 
preme High  Priest,  the  Great  Priest  of  the  Heavenly  Father,  even 
Christ,  when  he  clothed  us  with  that  which  is  his, — for  as  many  of 
you  as  are  baptized  have  put  on  Christ,  (Gal.  iii.  27,)  hath  made  us 
kings  and  priests  to  God  and  his  Father."  (Rev.  i.  6.)  "We  are 
deluded  if  we  imagine  that  that  is  allowed  to  the  layman  which  is 
not  permitted  to  the  priest.     Are  not  we  laymen  also  priests  V" 

These  extracts  may  suffice  to  show  that  the  primitive  Christians 
viewed  themselves  as  the  priests  of  Crod,  placed  in  a  polluted  world 
to  sanctify  it,  to  be  purified  temples  in  which  the  Holy  Spirit  might 
dwell,  safe  from  the  contact  of  surrounding  corruption,  to  be  puri- 
fied channels  in  which  the  sweet  influences  of  heaven,  the  rills  from 
the  river  of  life  which  surrounds  the  throne  of  God,  might  freely 
flow  to  purify  a  world  which  lay  in  wickedness. 

The  reasoning  of  Tertullian,  in  the  treatises  from  which  these 
citations  are  taken,  is  that  the  distinction  between  the  clergy  was 

*  Omnes  justi  sacerdotalem  habent  ordiuem. — Adcers,  Ilocres.  iv.  20. 


94  THE    CONSTITUTION    OF    THE    CHURCH.  [CHAP.  VI. 


only  conventional,  and  originally  unknown.  For  the  sake  of  order, 
he  would  have  the  ordinances  only  administered  by  the  clergy ;  but, 
in  their  absence,  he  contends  that  any  private  Christian,  as  being 
himself  a  priest,  may  assume  to  teach  and  to  preach,  to  baptize, 
and  to  administer  the  Lord's  supper. 

In  proof  of  this  clerical  rank  of  all  Christians,  Neander  also 
appeals  to  the  fact,  that  at  this  early  period  men  were  designated  to 
perform  the  offices  of  the  clergy  without  any  previous  study  or  in- 
structions to  qualify  them  for  it.^  Indeed,  even  Bingham,  to  whom 
this  notion  of  a  universal  priesthood  is  particularly  obnoxious,  as 
militating  against  the  assumptions  of  episcopacy,  admits  that  the 
title  of  priest  was  sometimes  applied  to  the  whole  Christian  chui'ch. 
He  even  gives  two  instances,  from  Socrates  and  Theodoret,  in 
which  laymen,  without  any  formal  consecration  or  ordination,  as- 
sumed the  ministerial  office.  Hilary,  in  the  fourth  century,  acknow- 
ledged this  primitive  priesthood.* 

§  2.    OF    THE    ORIGIN    OF    THE    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH. 

Christianity,  after  the  lapse  of  several  centuries,  assumed  an 
intermediate  character  between  other  forms  of  religion.  But  it 
was,  at  first,  a  substitute  for  the  religion  of  the  Jews ;  or,  rather, 
it  was  a  modified  and  improved  form  of  the  same.  The  Author  of 
this  system  was  himself  obedient  in  all  things  to  the  law  of  Moses, 
out  of  which  he  also  taught  his  disciples,  and,  undeniably,  derived 
from  the  same  source  the  rites  of  initiation  and  fellowship,  baptism 
and  the  Lord's  supper.  He  was  a  constant  attendant  upon  the 
religious  worship  of  the  synagogue,  and,  after  his  ascension,  his 
disciples  conformed  their  acts  of  worship  to  those  of  the  synagogue. 
These  consisted  in  prayer,  in  singing,  and  in  the  reading  and  expo- 
sition of  the  Scriptures,  as  appears  from  the  writers  of  the  New 
Testament,  from  the  earliest  Christian  fathers,  and  from  profane 
writers  of  the  first  two  centuries. 

In  the  synagogue  worship,  the  followers  of  Christ  found  a  most 
congenial  institution.  It  invited  them  to  the  reading  of  the  Scrip- 
tures and  to  prayer.  It  gave  them  liberty  of  speech  in  exhorta- 
tion and  in  worshipping  and  praising  God.  The  rules  and  govern- 
ment of  the  synagogue,  while  they  offered  little,  comparatively,  to 
excite  the  pride  of  office  and  of  power,  commended  themselves  the 

*  "Primuni  omnes  docebunt  et  omnes  baptizabunt." — Ad  Ephes.  iv.  11. 


SEC.  III.]  ONE   CHURCH    OXLY   IN   EACH    CITY.  95 


more  to  the  humble  believer  in  Christ.  The  synagogue  was  en- 
cleared  to  the  devout  Jew  by  sacred  associations  and  tender  recol- 
lections. It  was  near  at  hand,  and  not,  like  the  temple,  afar  off. 
He  went  but  seldom  up  to  Jerusalem,  and  only  on  great  occasions 
joined  in  the  rites  of  the  temple-service.  But  in  the  synagogue  he 
paid  his  constant  devotions  to  the  God  of  his  fathers.  It  met  his 
eye  in  every  place.  It  was  constantly  before  him  ;  and  from  in- 
fancy to  hoary  age,  he  was  accustomed  to  repair  to  that  hallowed 
place  of  worship,  to  listen  to  the  reading  of  his  sacred  books,  to 
pray,  and  sing  praises  unto  the  God  of  Israel.  In  accordance  with 
pious  usage,  therefore,  the  apostles  continued  to  frequent  the  syna- 
gogues of  the  Jews.  Wherever  they  went,  they  resorted  to  these 
places  of  worship,  and  strove  to  convert  their  brethren  to  faith  in 
Christ,  not  as  a  new  religion,  but  as  a  modification  of  their  own. 

§  3.    OF    ONE    CHURCH    ONLY   IN    EACH    CITY. 

The  Christian  converts  of  each  city  formed  one  church,  under 
several  co-ordinate  elders.  Everywhere  in  the  epistles  of  the 
apostles  and  of  the  apostolical  fathers,  the  Christians  of  the  same 
city  appear  as  the  members  of  one  and  the  same  church.  They 
are  addressed  as  the  church  at  Corinth,  at  Ephesus,  at  Smyrna,  at 
Philippi ;  one  church  only  in  each  city  where  the  gospel  had  been 
preached  and  a  community  of  Christians  formed.  In  this  position 
ecclesiastical  writers  are  so  generally  agreed  that  no  further  illus- 
tration is  required;  though  the  fertility  of  German  speculation  has 
started  of  late  another  theory,  unworthy  of  notice. 

§  4.    OF   THE    INDEPENDENCE    OF   THE    CHURCHES. 

These  churches,  wherever  formed,  became  separate  and  inde- 
pendent bodies,  competent  to  appoint  their  own  officers,  and  to 
administer  their  own  government,  vnthout  reference  or  subordina- 
tion to  any  central  authority  or  foreign  power.  No  fact  connected 
with  the  history  of  the  primitive  churches  is  more  fully  established 
or  more  generally  conceded,  so  that  the  discussion  of  it  need  not 
be  renewed  in  this  place.^ 

§  5.    OF    PRESBYTERS,    ELDERS,    BISHOPS. 

In  each  of  the  churches,  several  persons  were  appointed,  with 
equal  and  co-ordinate  authority,  as  rulers  and  overseers  of  the 


96  THE   CONSTITUTION   OF   THE   CHURCH.  [CHAP.  VI. 

clmrcli.  These  officers  were  known  by  the  name  of  elders  or  pres- 
byters, and  bishops.  In  churches  of  Jewish  origin,  they  were 
generally  denominated  elders,  presbyters,  as  a  term  of  respect  fami- 
liar to  the  Jews.  In  churches  gathered  chiefly  from  the  Gentiles, 
their  officers  were  more  frequently  called  tTtioxoTtoi,  overseers, 
bishops,  with  reference  particularly  to  their  duty  as  rulers  to  over- 
see and  take  care  of  the  interests  of  the  church.  But  by  whatever 
name  designated  or  known,  the  office  was  at  first  one  and  the 
same.     They  were  only  difierent  names  of  one  office.^ 

The  appropriate  and  specific  duty  of  these  elders  was  the  gene- 
ral supervision  of  their  church  and  the  direction  and  control  of  all 
the  interests  pertaining  to  it.  They  were,  ex  officio,  ruling  elders. 
Their  office  was  not  exclusively  to  teach  ;  for  this  was  the  privilege 
also  of  the  deacons,  and  of  all,  indeed,  except  the  female  mem- 
bers of  the  church.  (1  Cor.  xiv.  34 ;  Tim.  ii.  12.)  But  that  the 
primary  and  most  important  duty  of  the  presiding  officers  of  the 
church  was  to  preach  and  to  teach,  cannot  be  doubted.  Such  as 
were  particularly  qualified  for  this  ministry  of  the  word  gave  them- 
selves wholly  to  this  service,  to  which  they  were  early  set  apart 
and  ordained  by  peculiar  religious  solemnities, — the  laying  on  of 
hands,  and  prayer.  In  this  manner,  as  has  been  already  intimated, 
the  functions  of  the  minister  or  teacher,  and  of  the  elder  were  gra- 
dually associated  together.  Compare  the  following  passages : 
Matt,  xxviii.  19 ;  Mark  xvi.  15 ;  Acts  vi.  4 ;  2  Cor.  iii.  9,  v.  18 ; 
Tit.  i.  9 ;  1  Tim.  iii.  2. 

The  relation  which  these  presbyters  sustained  to  their  churches 
is  concisely  and  clearly  expressed  by  Neander :  "  They  were  not 
designed  to  exercise  absolute  authority,  but  to  act  as  presiding  of- 
ficers and  guides  of  an  ecclesiastical  republic ;  to  conduct  all  things 
with  the  co-operation  of  the  communities,  as  their  ministers,  and 
not  as  their  masters.  It  could  hardly  work  itself  out  in  a  natural 
way,  from  the  essence  of  the  Christian  life  and  Christian  fellow- 
ship, that  this  guidance  should  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  only  one 
individual.  The  monarchical  form  of  government  was  not  suited 
to  the  Christian  community  of  spirit.'' 

§  6.    OF    DEACONS. 

Besides  the  elders,  there  was,  in  the  apostolical  and  primitive 
ages  of  the  church,  only  one  other  office, — that  of  deacon.  The 
specific  duty  to  which  the  deacons  were  originally  appointed,  was  to 


SEC.  VII.]  CHANGES   AFTER   THE   APOSTOLIC   AGE.  97 


assist  in  the  distribution  of  alms.  The  care  of  providing  for  the 
poor,  the  sick,  and  of  bestowing  other  needful  attentions  upon  the 
members  of  the  community,  for  the  relief  of  those  who  were  occu- 
pied with  the  duties  of  the  ministry,  devolved  upon  them.  They 
also,  in  common  with  the  other  officers  of  the  church,  laboured  in 
the  word  and  baptized ;  so,  at  least,  it  is  related  of  two  of  the  seven 
deacons  at  Jerusalem,  Stephen  and  Philip.  (Acts  vi.  vii.  viii.) 

The  rule  of  the  churches,  in  regard  to  the  choice  of  officers,  we 
give  again  in  the  words  of  Neander :  "  The  brethren  chose  their 
own  officers  from  among  themselves ;  or  if,  in  the  first  organization 
of  the  churches,  their  officers  were  appointed  by  the  apostles,  it 
was  with  the  approbation  of  the  members  of  the  same."  And 
such  continued  to  be  the  order  of  the  churches  for  some  time  sub- 
sequent to  the  age  of  the  apostles.  Both  deacons  and  presbyters 
appear  to  have  been  consecrated  for  their  office  by  prayer  and  the 
laying  on  of  hands.  (1  Tim.  iv.  14,  v.  22 ;  2  Tim.  i.  6 ;  Acts  vi.  6, 
xiii.  3.) 

§  7.    CHANGES    IN    THE   CONSTITUTION   OF    THE    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH 
AFTER    THE    AGE    OF    THE    APOSTLES. 

1.  In  the  distinction  between  bishops  and  presbyters.  In  the 
college  of  equal  and  co-ordinate  presbyters,  some  one  would  natu- 
rally act  as  moderator  or  presiding  officer ;  age,  talent,  influence, 
or  ordination  by  the  apostles,  might  give  one  an  accidental  superi- 
ority over  his  fellows,  and  appropriate  to  him  the  standing  office 
of  president  of  the  presbytery.  To  this  office  the  title  of  bishop 
was  assigned ;  and  with  the  office  and  the  title  began  to  be  asso- 
ciated the  authority  also  of  a  distinct  order.  Jerome  alleges  that 
the  standing  office  and  authority  of  a  bishop  were  a  necessary  expe- 
dient to  still  the  cravings  and  strife  for  preferment  which,  by  the 
instigation  of  Satan,  arose  in  process  of  time  among  the  presby- 
ters.* Whatever  may  have  been  the  cause,  a  distinction  began  to 
be  made,  in  the  course  of  the  second  century,  between  bishops  and 


*  Idem  est  ergo  presbyter,  qui  episcopus  et  antequam  diaboli  instinctu  studia 
in  religione  fierent,  et  diceretur  in  populis ;  ego  sum  Pauli ;  ego,  Apollo,  ego  au- 
tem  Cephge,  communi  presbyteriorum  consilio  ecclesise  gubernabantur.  Post- 
^uam  vero,  unusquisque  eos,  quos  baptizaverat  suos  putabat  esse,  non  Christi,  ic. 
i.oto  orbe  decretum  est  ut  unus  de  presbyteris  electus  superponeretur  cseteris, 
ad  quem  omnis  ecclesias  cura  pertineret  et  schismatum  semina  tollerentur. — Ad 
Tit.  ii.     Comp.  Apost.  and  Frim.  Ch.  pp.  184-7,  254-63. 

7 


98  THE    CONSTITUTION    OF    THE    CHURCH.  [CHAP.  VL 

presbyters,  wliicli  finally  resulted,  in  the  century  following,  in  the 
establishment  of  the  episcopal  prerogatives. 

2.  The  formation  of  a  sacerdotal  caste  among  Christians.  With- 
out reference  to  the  causes  which  occasioned  the  distinction  between 
the  clergy  and  the  laity,  this  is  worthy  of  notice  as  another  import- 
ant change  in  the  constitution  of  the  church,  which  gradually  arose 
in  connection  with  the  rise  of  episcopal  power.  In  opposition  to 
the  idea  of  a  universal  priesthood,  the  people  now  become  a  dis- 
tinct and  inferior  order.  They  and  the  clergy  begin  to  feel  the 
force  of  conflicting  interests  and  claims,  the  distinction  widens  fast, 
and  influence,  authority,  and  power  centralize  in  the  bishop,  the 
head  of  the  clerical  order. 

3.  The  clergy  claim  for  themselves  the  prerogatives,  relations, 
and  authority  of  the  Jewish  priesthood.  Such  claims,  advanced  in 
the  third  century  by  Cyprian,  were  a  great  departure  from  the  ori- 
ginal spirit  and  model  of  the  church  derived  from  Christ  and  the 
apostles.  It  was  falling  back  from  the  New  to  the  Old  Testament, 
and  substituting  the  outward  for  the  inward  spirit.  It  presented 
the  priesthood  again  as  a  mediating  ofiice  between  man  and  his 
God.  It  sought  to  invest  the  propitiating  priest  with  awful  sanc- 
tity, as  the  appointed  medium  by  which  grace  is  imparted  to 
man.  Hence  the  necessity  of  episcopal  ordination,  the  apostolical 
succession,  and  the  grace  of  the  ordinances  administered  by  conse- 
crated hands.  The  clergy,  by  this  assumption,  were  made  inde- 
pendent of  the  people  ;  their  commission  and  office  were  from  God ; 
and,  as  a  Mosaic  priesthood,  they  soon  began  to  claim  an  inde- 
pendent sovereignty  over  the  laity.  "God  makes  the  priests," 
was  the  darling  maxim  of  Cyprian,  perpetually  recurring  in  iden- 
tical and  in  varied  phraseology.  No  change,  perhaps,  in  the  whole 
history  of  the  changing  forms  of  church  government  can  be  speci- 
fied more  destructive  to  the  primitive  constitution  of  the  church,  or 
more  disastrous  to  its  spiritual  interests.  "This  entire  perversion 
of  the  original  view  of  the  Christian  church,"  says  Neander,  "was 
itself  the  origin  of  the  whole  system  of  the  Roman  Catholic  reli- 
gion— the  germ  from  which  sprang  the  popery  of  the  dark  ages."^ 

4.  The  multiplicity  of  church  offices.  Few  and  simple  were  the 
offices  instituted  in  the  church  by  the  apostles ;  but  after  the  rise 
of  episcopacy,  ecclesiastical  offices  were  multiplied  with  great  ra- 
pidity. They  arose,  as  may  appear  in  the  progress  of  this  work, 
from  different  causes,  and  at  different  times ;  many  were  the  neces- 
sary result  of  changes  in  the  church  and  in  society ;  but,  generally, 


SEC.  VIII.]  DOCTRINAL   PECULIARITIES.  99 


they  will  be  found  to  have,  as  their  ultimate  effect  and  end,  the 
aggrandizement  of  the  episcopate.  They  were  an  integral,  if  not 
an  essential  part  of  the  ceremonial,  the  pomp  and  power  of  an  out- 
ward religion,  that  carnal  perversion  of  the  true  idea  of  the  Chris- 
tian church,  and  the  legitimate  consequence  of  beginning  in  the 
spirit  and  seeking  to  be  made  perfect  in  the  flesh. 

§  8.    DOCTRINAL    PECULIARITIES    OF    THE    CHRISTIAN    SYSTEM. 

Under  this  head,  we  propose  merely  to  specify  some  of  the  lead- 
ing characteristics  of  the  Christian  system  as  a  new  and  distinct 
form  of  religion. 

1.  This  system  presents  the  only  true  form  of  a  church.  The 
Jews  had  no  distinct  organization  which  could,  "^dth  propriety,  be 
denominated  a  church.  Much  less  is  any  association  under  other 
forms  of  religion  entitled  to  this  appellation. 

2.  The  Christian  church  has  always  been  distinguished  for  its 
veneration  for  the  Holy  Scriptures.  The  reading  and  exposition 
of  these  has,  from  the  beginning,  been  an  important  part  of  Chris- 
tian worship.  All  the  instructions  and  exhortations  of  the  preacher 
have  been  drawn  from  this  soui^ce.  The  prayers,  the  psalmody, 
the  catechisms  and  confessions  of  faith  of  the  early  Christians, 
together  with  their  religious  ordinances,  were  all  based  on  the 
Scriptiu-es. 

3.  The  doctrines  of  the  Trinity  and  of  the  Divinity  of  Christ 
are  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of  the  Christian  system.  The 
institutions  and  ordinances  of  the  church  itself  are  based  especially 
on  the  first-mentioned  doctrine ;  so  that  there  is  not  an  ancient 
symbol,  or  confession,  or  rule  of  faith,  in  which  it  is  not  either  ex- 
pressed or  distinctly  implied ;  nor  an  ordinance  which  is  not  com- 
memorative of  the.  belief  in  God  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost. 
This  is  implied  in  the  consecration  of  churches  to  God.  Even  the 
names  of  God,  Krptog,  Dominus,  according  to  the  Athanasian 
creed,  expresses  the  idea  of  a  triune  God.  Deus  triunus.  Pater 
Dominus,  Filius  Dominus,  Spiritus  Sanctus,  Dominus ;  non  tantum 
tres  Domini,  sed  unus  Dominus.  The  same  sentiment  is  implied 
in  the  baptismal  formulary ;  in  the  three  elements  of  the  eucharist — 
the  bread,  the  wine,  and  the  Avater ;  and  in  the  three  great  festivals 
of  the  ancient  church,  which  were  instituted  about  the  fourth  cen- 
tury.    The  same  is  also  implied  in  the  form  of  the  ancient  Chris- 


100  THE   CONSTITUTIOX    OF   THE   CHURCH.  [CHAP.  VI. 

tian's  oath,  which  was  usually  taken  in  the  name  of  God,  of  Christ, 
and  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

The  doctrine  of  the  divinity  of  Christ  appears  in  the  sacrament 
which  commemorates  his  death,  and  in  the  religious  services  con- 
nected with  this  ordinance,  as  well  as  in  the  prayers,  doxologies, 
psalms,  and  hymns  which  are  addressed  to  him.  The  same  senti- 
ment is  expressed  in  many  of  the  emblems  and  symbols  of  the 
ancient  church,  and  in  their  mystical  names,  such  as  i^^vg,  com- 
posed of  the  initials  of  the  following  Greek  words :  'lyjoovg  Xp/arog, 
Seov  Tlog,  Xatr^p,  Jesus  Christ,  the  Saviour,  the  Son  of  God. 
The  mystical  word  Abraxas  is  another  instance  of  the  same 
kind,  each  letter  representing  the  initials  of  the  following  words : 
A  DK  Father,  B  J3  Son,  R  HI"!  Spirit,  A  IHN  one,  i.  e.  one  God, 
X  Xpfcrrog  Christ,  A  'Av^pcoTtog  man,  i.  e.  God-man,  S  So'^'Tip 
Saviour.^ 

Thus,  the  ancient  Christians  appear,  in  this  mysterious  word,  at 
once  to  indicate  and  to  disguise  their  views  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
divinity  of  Christ.  The  belief  of  the  ancient  church  respecting 
the  person  and  character  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  been  set 
forth  by  Dorner,  in  his  masterly  work  on  this  subject,  in  a  light  so 
clear,  it  would  seem,  as  to  end  all  controversy.  "VVTiatever  may  be 
the  teaching  of  revelation,  he  has  made  it  incontrovertibly  evident 
that  the  doctrine  of  the  supreme  divinity  of  Christ  was  the  prevail- 
ing and  characteristic  faith  of  the  ancient  church.^ 

4.  It  is  peculiar  to  the  Christian  religion,  that  all  the  people 
take  part  in  their  religious  services.  The  humblest  worshipper,  as 
well  as  the  highest  functionary,  here  enters  the  temple  of  his  God, 
approaches  the  altar,  and  offers  an  acceptable  sacrifice  to  our  com- 
mon God  and  Father. 

5.  It  is  the  peculiar  privilege  of  the  Christian,  that  he  may  wor- 
ship God,  not  at  some  appointed  place,  and  at  stated  seasons,  but 
at  all  times,  and  in  every  place.  The  reader  is  directed  to  an  ex- 
tended discussion  on,  this  subject  in  the  index  of  authorities.^ 


CHAPTER  Vir. 

NAMES   AND   CLASSES   OF   CHRISTIANS. 
§  1.    OF   THE   APPELLATIONS  AND  NAMES  ASSUMED   BY  CHRISTIANS.^ 

The  professors  of  the  Christian  religion  were  originally  called 
saints,  dytoi.  This  is  their  usual  appellation  in  the  sacred  Scrip- 
tures. Thej  apply  this  term,  not  only  to  apostles  and  teachers, 
but  generally,  to  the  community  of  Christians.  The  term  is  de- 
rived from  the  Hebrew,  Wl^lp,  by  which  the  Jews  were  denomi- 
nated as  God's  chosen  people,  in  distinction  from  all  idolatrous 
nations.  But  by  the  apostle  Peter,  the  several  prerogatives  and 
titles  of  the  people  of  God  are  ascribed  also  to  all  Christians.  He 
denominates  them  a  chosen  generation,  a  royal  priesthood,  a  pecu- 
liar people,  (1  Pet,  ii.  9,  10.)  But  he  also  teaches  that  this  sanctity 
consists,  not  in  mere  outward  forms  of  social  worship,  but  in  that 
piety  which  their  holy  calling  requires  them  to  cultivate.  1  Pet. 
i.  15 ;  2  Pet.  iii.  11,  comp.  Eph.  v.  iii ;  Col.  i.  12,  iii.  12. 

The  name  was,  doubtless,  adopted  for  the  sake  of  convenience, 
and  not  as  implying  that  all  were  the  true  worshippers  of  the  holy 
Jesus.  Even  a  Judas  Iscariot  was  numbered  with  the  apostles. 
But,  to  the  highest  honour  of  Christianity,  it  may  be  said  that  her 
followers,  generally,  were  men  of  a  pure  spirit,  and  sanctified  the 
Lord  God  in  their  hearts.  Such  is  the  uniform  testimony  of  her 
early  historians  and  apologists.  And  even  her  enemies  acknow- 
ledged that  the  spotless  character  of  her  followers  caused  religion 
to  be  universally  respected,  and  led  to  its  introduction  into  every 
country. 

The  equality  of  all  Christians  is  clearly  asserted  in  the  Scrip- 
ture. They  are  brethren,  and,  as  such,  have  equal  rights,  icJoTi^ioi. 
Comp.  2  Pet.  i.  1.  They  are  one  heritage,  2  Pet.  v.  3,  and  all 
members  of  the  same  head.  Col.  i.  18.  Nay,  Christ  himself  asserts 
the  equality  of  all  his  disciples :  Luke  xxii.  25,  26.  And  yet  a 
distinction  is  made  between  the  master  and  his  disciple — the  teacher 
and  the  taught.  The  one  are  denominated  the  peop^le,  o  ?.a6g  ;  the 
flock,  TO  noi^viov;  the  body  of  believers,  to  Tt^n'^og  rcov  marQV'f 

101 


102  NAMES   AND    CLASSES   OF   CHRISTIANS.         [CHAP.  VII. 


the  church,  n  ixx7.yj<yia ;  private  persons,  i^LQtaL ;  and  laymen, 
or  men  devoted  to  secular  pursuits,  ^udi^ixoi.  The  others  are 
styled  teachers,  hLh6.axa%oi',  leaders,  7\yov^evoL;  shepherds,  Ttoi- 
^svsg ;  overseers,  iTtlaxonoL ;  elders,  Ttpgcr/^i'Tspot ;  rulers,  Ttpo- 
edtareg^  etc.  Subordinate  to  these  were  the  deacons,  oLaxovoi ; 
the  tvidoivs,  Z'^'P^h  or  deaconesses,  hiaxoviCGai ;  the  attendants, 
vnyjpiraL ;  and  the  inferiors,  VECdrepai.  So  that  even  the  New 
Testament  indicates  an  ecclesiastical  order  which,  at  a  later  age, 
became  much  more  prominent. 

The  names  which  Christians  assumed  for  themselves,  such  as 
saints,  dytOL ;  believers,  TtLatevaavreq,  Taatot  ;  elect,  kxXexroi ; 
disciples,  ^a^yjtai  ',  brethren,  ahe'X^oi  ;  people  of  Crod,  /lao$  tov 
(dsov,  and  the  like,  were  adopted  from  the  Jews,  and  were  expres- 
sive, severally,  of  some  moral  quality.  But,  in  process  of  time, 
the  common  acceptation  of  these  terms  became  so  different  from 
their  original  application,  that  they  implied  nothing  more  than  the 
distinctive  appellations  of  their  community,  composed  both  of  Jews 
and  Gentiles.  What  name  they  should  assume  became  now  a 
question  on  which  they  were  greatly  divided  among  themselves ; 
and  so  much  the  more  so,  because  they  had,  from  the  first,  refused 
all  sectarian  names.  They  would  call  no  man  master ;  neither 
would  they  receive  any  title  which  should  imply  that  their  religion 
was  of  human  origin.  In  this  dilemma,  a  name  was  providentially 
conferred  upon  them  which  soon  gained  ascendency  among  friends 
and  foes,  and  supplanted  all  others. 

Of  the  origin  of  this  name,  we  have  a  distinct  account  in  the 
eleventh  chapter  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  where  we  are  in- 
formed that,  while  Paul  and  Barnabas  were  labouring  together  at 
Antioch,  the  disciples  of  our  Lord  first  began  to  be  called  Chris- 
tians. The  form  of  this  word,  XptCTtarot,  clearly  proves  it  to  be 
a  Latin  derivation  from  Xptarog,  Christ.  Nor  is  there  the  re- 
motest .probability  that  either  the  Christians  or  the  Jews  would 
have  invented  this  name.  To  the  latter  this  term  was  peculiarly 
offensive :  1  Cor.  i.  23.  The  followers  of  Christ  they  styled  Gali- 
leans, (Acts  ii.  7.,)  or,  the  sect  of  the  Nazarenes,  (Acts  xxiv.  5.) 
In  the  New  Testament,  the  phrase  occurs  in  only  two  other  pas- 
sages ;  and  in  these  in  such  a  connection  as  to  indicate  the  foreign 
origin  of  the  word.     Acts  xxvi.  28  ;  1  Pet.  iv.  14,  16. 

On  the  supposition  that  the  pagan  inhabitants  of  Antioch,  in  deri- 
sion, first  promulgated  the  name  of  Christians  as  a  nickname,  it  is 
easy  to  see  how  it  might  soon  come  into  general  use  among  the 


SEC.  I.]  NAMES   ASSUMED    BY   THEMSELVES.  103 


Romans.  For  that  the  Roman  historians  regarded  Christians  as  an 
insignificant  and  contemptible  faction,  is  evident  from  Tacitus,  who 
says  that  "  Nero  inflicted  the  severest  punishments  upon  those  who 
were  commonly  called  Christians  and  were  detested  for  their  infa- 
mous crimes.  Their  name  they  derived  from  one  Christus,  who,  in  the 
reign  of  Tiberius,  suffered  under  Pontius  Pilate."^  Suetonius,  also, 
referring  evidently  to  Christians,  relates  that  "  the  Jews  were  ex- 
pelled from  Rome  because  of  their  ceaseless  tumults,  to  which  they 
were  instigated  by  one  named  Christus."^ 

It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  the  apostles  themselves  adopted 
the  name  which  had  been  imposed  upon  them  in  derision,  and  re- 
joiced to  bear  its  reproach.  From  the  apostles,  their  followers 
adopted  it  as  the  exclusive  name  of  their  body.  They  joyfully  as- 
sumed the  name  of  their  Lord  and  Master,  in  accordance  with  the 
rule  of  the  apostle — "If  any  man  suffer  as  a  Christian,  let  him  not 
be  ashamed,  but  let  him  glorify  God  on  this  behalf."  To  be  denomi- 
nated a  Christian  was,  in  the  estimation  of  Christian  professors  and 
martyrs,  their  highest  honour.  This  is  forcibly  illustrated  in  the 
narrative  which  Eusebius  has  copied  from  an  ancient  record  of  one 
Sanctus  in  Vienna,  who  endured  all  the  inhuman  tortures  which  art 
could  inflict  without  disclosing  either  his  name  or  his  native  land, 
or  his  condition  in  life,  whether  freeman  or  slave.  To  all  the  inter- 
rogations of  his  tormentors  he  only  replied,  in  the  Latin  tongue, 
I  am  a  Christian;  affirming  that  his  name,  his  country,  and  his 
kindred,  all  were  included  in  this.^  Of  the  same  import  also  was 
the  deportment  of  the  martyr  Lucian,  as  related  by  Chrysostom.^'^ 
To  every  interrogation  he  replied,  I  am  a  Christian.  Of  what 
country  are  you  ?  I  am  a  Christian.  What  is  your  occupation  ? 
I  am  a  Christian.  Who  are  your  parents  ?  I  am  a  Christian. 
And  such  was  his  reply  to  every  question. 

It  was  a  favourite  consideration  with  the  primitive  Christians, 
that  the  name  of  Christian  happily  avoids  all  sectarian  distinctions, 
and  indicates  the  oneness  of  their  faith  and  knowledge.  "I  honour 
Peter,"  says  Gregory  Nazianzen,^  "but  I  am  not  called  by  his 
name.  I  honour  Paul,  but  I  am  not  of  Paul.  The  name  I  bear  is 
derived  from  no  man;  I  am  born  of  God."  "No  sect  or  church 
took  their  name  from  the  apostles,"  observes  Epiphanius."^  "For 
we  have  never  heard  of  the  followers  of  Peter,  Paul,  Bartholomew, 
or  Thaddeus.  But  all  the  apostles,  from  the  beginning,  held  one 
faith,  and  preached,  not  themselves,  but  Jesus  Christ  their  Lord. 
For  this  reason,  they  all  gave  the  church  one  name,  derived,  not 


104  NAMES   AND   CLASSES   OF   CHRISTIANS.  [CHAP.  VII. 

from  themselves,  but  from  their  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  after  they  had 
already  begun  to  be  called  Christians  at  Antioch."  As  they  all 
had  one  Lord,  so  were  they  all  one,  and  bore  the  common  name  of 
Christians,  professing  themselves  to  be  the  followers  of  Him,  not 
as  tJie  head  of  their  sect  or  party,  but  as  the  Author  of  their  com- 
mon faith.  They  even  refused  the  name  of  Christ's  church,  claim- 
ing to  be  only  a  Christian  church,  i.  e.  a  body  of  Christians. 
From  this  primitive  church  various  religious  sects  separated  them- 
selves, Avho  assumed  the  names  of  Manichseans,  Simonians,  Valen- 
tinians,  Ebionites,  etc. 

Without  attempting  a  full  enumeration  of  the  names  which  have 
been  ascribed  to  Christians  by  the  fathers,  we  give  the  following 
summary  of  the  principal  appellations  by  which  they  were  known 
among  themselves : 

1.  Catholics,  denoting  an  adherence  to  the  universal  faith. 
While  the  church  remained  one  and  undivided,  it  was  appropriately 
styled  the  catholic  church.  But  after  the  rise  of  different  sects, 
who,  n^withstanding  their  separation  from  the  church,  still  claimed 
to  be  called  Christians,  then  did  the  true  believers  assume  the  name 
of  catholics,  to  distinguish  themselves  from  these  heretical  sects. 
So  that  the  catholic  church  is  the  true  church,  in  distinction  from 
all  heretics.  None  were  allowed  to  be  Christians  who  did  not  be- 
long to  this  catholic  church.  "I  am  of  the  catholic  church/'  said 
Pionius  the  martyr,  "for  Christ  has  no  other."  This  name  would, 
obviously,  be  claimed  by  all  who  supposed  that  their  faith  corre- 
sponded with  that  of  the  earliest  ages  of  the  church,  and  was  such 
as  ought  to  be,  at  all  times,  universal. 

2.  Ecclesiastics,  men  of  the  church.  Eusebius,  Origen,  Epipha- 
nius,  and  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  frequently  use  this  term  in  distinction 
from  Jews,  Gentiles,  and  heretics ;  and  in  such  connection  as  not 
to  designate  by  it  the  priesthood  merely,  to  whom  the  appellation 
was  afterwards  restricted. 

3.  Dogmatics,  ol  tov  Soy^idrog,  men  of  the  true  faith.  This 
term  denotes  those  who  held  fast  the  sound  doctrines  of  the  church. 
Primarily,  it  was  applied  only  to  religious  teachers  and  rulers  in 
the  church,  but  subsequently,  it  was  so  extended  as  to  include  all 
who  were  sound  in  the  faith. 

4.  Cfnostics.  Denoting  such  as  are  truly  learned,  in  opposition 
to  the  pretensions  of  false  teachers.  By  this  name  Christians  espe- 
cially characterized  themselves  as  the  true  Gnostics,  in  distinction 
from  an  arrogant  sect  who  claimed  to  be  called  by  the  same  name. 


SEC.  II.]  NAMES    CONFERRED   BY   THEIR   ENEMIES.  105 


Clemens  Alexandrinus,  Irenseus,  and  others,  would  intimate  bj  this 
term  that  not  merely  the  teachers,  but  all  members  of  the  catholic 
church  were  in  possession  of  true  wisdom,  draAvn  from  no  corrupt 
fountain,  and  mixed  with  no  foreign  ingredient. 

5.  Theoplioroi,  ^so^opoi,  Christophoroi,  XptCTo^opoi.  These 
epithets,  originally  applied  as  titles  of  honour,  became,  in  time,  pro- 
per names.  The  former  was  first  conferred  upon  Ignatius,  who  is 
usually  quoted  as  Ignatius  o  xai  Qeocpopog,  From  him,  or  some 
other  ancient  father,  it  passed  into  a  surname ;  but  whether  from 
his  declaration  to  the  emperor  Trajan  that  he  bore  Christ  his  God 
in  his  heart — or  from  the  blessing  of  Christ  bestowed  upon  him  in 
his  childhood — or  from  the  name  of  Christ  imprinted  on  his 
breast — or  for  some  other  reason,  is  not  known.  It  is  certain, 
however,  that  many  other  eminent  Christians  were  so  named.^ 

6.  'l^^vg,  Fishes.  An  acrostic  fancifully  derived  from  the 
initials  of  the  several  appellations  of  our  Saviour.  'lyj(jovg,  XptCT- 
tog,  Ssov  Ttog,  2^oTrip.  The  first  letters  of  each  are  united  in 
the  word  'I;^3'i'$.^ 

The  names  Christian,  Christiana,  Christopher,  Theophilus,  and 
the  like,  so  common  in  every  age  of  the  church,  though  adopted 
for  convenience,  by  implication  denote,  also,  devotedness  to  the 
service  of  Christ,  and  the  acknowledgment  of  his  name  and  his 
divinity. 

§  2.    NAMES    OF    REPROACH    AND    DERISION    CONFERRED    ON    CHRIS- 
TIANS   BY   THEIR    ENEMIES. 

These  are,  indeed,  without  number.  Such  hatred  and  contempt 
were  felt  for  Christianity  and  its  professors,  both  by  Jews  and  Gen- 
tiles, that  they  seized  every  opportunity  to  expose  the  disciples  of 
Christ  as  dangerous  and  contemptible  men.  The  reproachful  epi- 
thets cast  upon  them,  with  few  exceptions,  relate  only  to  the  first 
centuries  of  the  Christian  era,  and  are  chiefly  interesting  to  the 
historian  and  antiquarian.  And  yet  they  are  of  importance  as 
illustrating  the  condition  of  the  primitive  church. 

1.  Jews.  By  the  Romans,  Christians  were  at  first  regarded  as  a 
Jewish  sect,  like  the  Pharisees,  Sadducees,  and  Essenes.  As  such, 
they  were  accordingly  denominated  Jews,  and  despised  as  a  supersti- 
tious and  misanthropic  sect.  The  name  itself  was  a  term  of  contempt ; 
the  Jews  being  universally  despised  as  a  superstitious  and  misan- 
thropic race.     After  they  began  to  be  distinguished  from  the  Jews, 


106  NAMES   AND    CLASSES    OF   CHRISTIANS.         [CHAP.  VII. 

they  were  described  by  Suetonius  as  a  class  of  men  of  a  new  and 
mischievous  superstition.  Crenus  hominum  superstitionis  novse  et 
maleficse} 

2.  Nazarenes.  Both  Jews  and  Gentiles  unitedly  denominated 
the  Christians  Nazarenes.^  The  word  is  variously  written  Naza- 
renes, Nazarenes,  Nazw-enes,  Nazorenes,  and  Nazwrenes ;  but  the 
signification  was  the  same,  and  always  implied  reproach  and  con- 
tempt.   (Acts  xxiv.  5.) 

3.  Cfalileans.  This  name  was  probably  derived  from  Acts  ii.  7. 
It  is  so  represented  in  the  writings  of  Justin  Martyr.  Gregory 
Nazianzen,^  however,  ascribes  the  origin  of  this  reproachful  epithet 
to  Julian  the  apostate.  He  uniformly  denominated  both  Christ 
and  his  followers  Galileans ;  and  made  a  law  requiring  that  they 
should  not  be  called  by  any  other  name.  He  died  with  these  re- 
markable words  on  his  lips  :  Ah  !  thou  Cfalilean !  thou  hast  con- 
quered.^ 

4.  Greeks.  In  direct  opposition  to  Julian,  Christian  converts 
were  by  the  ancient  Komans  styled  Greeks  ;  which  with  them  Avas 
a  proverbial  phrase,  expressive  both  of  suspicion  and  contempt,  as 
an  impostor.  Whenever  they  saw  a  Christian  in  the  highway,  they 
were  wont  to  exclaim,  Ah  !  a  Greek  iinpostor.^  Christ  himself 
was  regarded  as  an  impostor.  (Matt,  xxvii.  63.)  The  practice  of 
some  Christians  in  wearing  the  Grecian  pallium  instead  of  the 
Eoman  toga*  had  also  some  influence  in  attaching  to  Christians  this 
epithet. 

5.  Magicians.  By  heathen  nations,  the  Author  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion  was  styled  Magician,  and  his  followers  magicians.® 
Our  blessed  Lord  was  generally  believed  by  the  heathen  to  have 
practised  magical  arts,  by  which  he  was  supposed  to  have  deceived 
the  people. 

Of  other  names  which  the  malice  of  their  persecutors  invented 
or  applied  to  them  on  particular  occasions,  the  following  is  a  brief 
summary. 

SihyUists.  From  their  being  charged  with  corrupting  the  Sibyl- 
line books.     A  favourite  insinuation  of  Celsus.''' 

Sarmentitii.  Derived  from  the  fagots,  sarmenta,  with  which  the 
fires  were  kindled  around  them  at  the  stake. ^ 

Semaxii.     From  the  stake,  semaxis,  to  which  they  were  bound. 

Parabolani,  Ttaoal^o'koL.  From  their  being  exposed  to  ravenous 
beasts.^  This  was  the  name  of  those  who  were  accustomed  to  fight 
with  wild  beasts. 


SEC.  III.]       DISTINCTION    BETWEEN    CLERGY   AND    LAITY.  107 

Bca^dvaroi,  self-murderers.  Alluding  to  their  fearlessness  of 
death. 

""AS-eof,  Atheists}'^  Their  renunciation  of  the  errors  of  poly- 
theism was  regarded  as  a  denial  of  the  existence  and  providence 
of  God. 

NeoiTepot,  Novelli,  novissimi,  nuperrimi,  &c.,  new  Ik/Jits,  inno- 
vators.    Authors  of  a  new  and  barbarous  superstition. 

Xravpo2.dtpaLy^^  worshippers  of  the  cross.  (2  Cor.  i.  18.)  From 
the  frequent  use  of  the  sign  of  the  cross. 

Plautinse  prosapise^^  homines  et  Pistores,  men  of  the  race  of 
Plautus,  haJcers.  Plautus  is  said  to  have  hired  himself  to  a  baker 
to  grind  in  his  mill. 

Asinarii,^*  worshijjpers  of  an  ass.  From  an  old  prejudice  against 
the  Jews,  of  uncertain  origin.  Oreduli,  Simplices,  Stulti,  Luci- 
fugse,  Stupidi,  Fatui,  Imperiti,  Abjecti,  Hebetes,  Idiotse,  etc.  Cre- 
dulous, simpletons,  fools,  infatuated,  skulking,  stupid,  abject, 
ignorant,  etc. 

Christians  were  also  denominated  worshippers  of  the  sun,  in 
consequence  of  their  turning  to  the  east  in  prayer.  Many  other 
causes  may  have  contributed  to  the  same  result ; — their  reverence 
for  Christ,  the  Light  of  the  world ;  their  observance  of  the  Lord's 
day,  Sunday,  dies  soils ;  and  looking  for  the  appearing  of  Christ 
in  the  east,  at  his  second  coming. 

§  3.    DISTINCTION    BETWEEN    THE    CLERGY   AND    THE    LAITY. 

The  first  instance  of  the  distinction  of  the  clergy  and  the  laity 
as  separate  orders  of  men  in  the  Christian  church,  occurs  in 
Tertullian,  at  the  beginning  of  the  third  century.*  In  this  pas- 
sage and  the  context,  the  laity  appear  as  a  distinct  order,  relatively 
opposed  to  the  clergy,  though  still  entitled,  under  certain  circum- 
stances, to  enjoy  the  prerogatives  and  perform  the  office  of  priests. 
The  term  clergy,  qui  sunt  in  clero,  appears  in  another  treatise  from 
the  same  author  of  about  the  same  date.^  The  clergy,  in  the  eccle- 
siastical phraseology  of  this  age,  are  a  class  of  men  chosen  to  be 
the  teachers  and  guides  of  their  brethren,  withdrawn  from  secular 
pursuits  and  devoted  to  the  contemplation  of  heavenly  things. 
The    apostles    often    distinguish   between   the    teachers   and   the 

*  DifiFereutiam  inter  ordinem  et  plebem  constituit  ecclesise  auctoritas. — Exhari 
ad  Castitat.  c.  7. 


108  NAMES   AND    CLASSES   OF   CHRISTIANS.  [CHAP.  VII. 


taught ,  the  rulers  and  the  ruled,  &c. ;  and  this  division,  after 
their  decease,  continued  in  the  church ;  but  the  clergy  and  the 
laity  were  not  recognised  as  two  distinct  orders  or  classes  in  the 
church,  until  the  close  of  the  second  and  beginning  of  the  third 
centuries. 

In  opposition  to  this  view  of  the  rise  of  the  original  orders  of 
the  hierarchy  at  so  late  a  period,  it  is  urged  that  the  word  xTS'.^og 
occurs  much  earlier  in  ecclesiastical  history.  In  reply,  the  position 
is  admitted,  but  the  conclusion  is  denied.  The  apostle  Peter  says 
of  Judas,  "  He  was  numbered  with  us,  and  had  obtained  part,  xXr^^ov, 
of  this  ministry,"  (Acts  i.  17 ;)  Avhich  only  shows  that  his  lot  was 
the  same  as  that  of  the  other  apostles.  Again,  it  is  used  to  ex- 
press the  inheritance  of  the  saints.  (Acts  xxvi.  18 ;  Coloss.  i.  12.) 
It  describes  the  church  collectively,  the  floch,  over  whom  the  pres- 
byters are  admonished  not  to  tyrannize.  (1  Pet.  v.  3.)  Eusebius^ 
has  preserved  a  short  extract  of  a  letter  written  in  the  second 
century  by  Christians  in  Vienna  and  Lyons  to  their  brethren  in 
proconsular  Asia  and  Phrygia,  in  which  the  same  term  is  applied 
to  martyr^,  as  the  Lord's  heritage.  Irenoeus,  of  the  same  age, 
with  whom  Augustin  also  agrees,  speaks  of  the  .xXyJpog  TT/g  fTtt- 
GxoTtrig  hiaoo'^iag,  with  reference  to  the  original  mode  of  election 
to  the  apostolic  office,  hy  lot,  in  the  case  of  Matthias.*  Clement 
of  Alexandria,  contemporary  with  Irenaeus  and  Tertullian,  describes 
John  as  having  gone  about  establishing  in  one  place  bishops ;  in 
another,  organizing  whole  churches  ;  and  in  another,  the  clergy 
allotting  one  and  another  of  those  who  were  designated  by  the 
Spirit. f  This  passage  must  be  understood  to  relate  to  such  of 
the  clergy  as  acted  either  as  rulers  or  teachers  in  these  churches, 
without  implying  any  official  distinction  between  bishop  and  clergy, 
constituting  a  distinct  order. 

It  appears,  then,  that  previous  to  the  time  of  Cyprian,  in  the 
middle  of  the  third  century,  the  clergy  were  not  recognised  as  a 
distinct  order  of  the  hierarchy.  The  whole  church  constituted  one 
order.  They  all  viewed  themselves  as  priests  of  God,  and  desig- 
nated certain  of  the  brethren  to  act  as  their  spiritual  guides  and 


*  Advrs.  Hisres.  i.  28,  iii.  3.  Et  cleros  et  clericos  hinc  appellatos  puto,  quia 
sunt  in  ecclesiastici  ministerii  gradibus  ordinati,  quia  Matthias  sorte  electus  est, 
quern  primum  per  apostolos  legimus  ordinatum. — Auyustin  in  Ps.  67. 

t  'OtIov  (x-iv  irttaxortor?  xat'aor^cytJi'  orfou  hi  o'hjo.i  ixx'Kt^a(.a^  ap^ouwf,  ortou  6e  xXrjpov, 
eva  ti  fiva  x'Krjpuisutv  -toi  vnb  rov  Uviifxato^  ar^fx-Mvofiivixiv — (Juts  Div.  Salv.  c.  42. 


SEC.  IV.]  THE    BAPTIZED.  109 


teachers,  claiming  the  right  themselves  to  officiate  in  the  same 
capacity,  in  the  absence  of  such  ministers. 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  fathers  themselves  are  not  agreed  re- 
specting the  origin  and  import  of  the  term  x/irlpog,  clei'gy.  Jerome 
supposes  it  to  be  derived  from  the  Levitical  priesthood,  as  the  por- 
tion of  the  Lord,  whom  he  had  chosen  for  himself ;  or  else,  because 
the  Lord  is  peculiarly  their  portion.*  Augustin,  with  whom  Chry- 
sostom  also  agrees,  supposes  it  derived  from  the  lot,  xT^ri^og,  by 
which  Matthias  was  chosen  in  the  place  of  Judas.  In  the  passages 
cited  above  from  Clement,  Irenseus,  and  Eusebius,  Neander  sup- 
poses the  clergy  to  receive  this  title  from  the  fact  that  they  were 
chosen  to  their  office  without  a  specific  limitation  to  an  election  by 
lot.3 

The  clergy  and  the  laity  were  subsequently  divided  into  various 
classes.  The  consideration  of  the  orders  of  the  clergy  will  be  re- 
served for  another  part  of  this  work.  The  most  general  division 
was  that  of  the  baptized  and  the  unhaptized. 

§  4.    OF   THE   BAPTIZED. 

This  term  is  used  to  designate  the  constituents  of  the  Christian 
community ;  that  body  or  assembly  which  was  appropriately  deno- 
minated the  church,  n  ixz?^yj(yia,  and  exxXriaia  tQV  ayiQv.  Per- 
sons of  this  description  were  distinguished  by  various  names, 
designed,  in  a  measure,  to  illustrate  the  true  nature  and  peculiar 
constitution  of  the  church. 

1.  They  were  styled  TtiOtoi,  the  faithful,  as  has  already  been 
mentioned.  This  is  the  favourite  and  universal  name  which  has 
uniformly  been  used  to  denote  such  as  have  been  duly  instructed 
in  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  re- 
ceived by  baptism  into  the  communion  of  the  church.  By  this 
name  they  are  distinguished,  on  the  one  hand,  from  the  dTtiCTTOt, 
such  as  are  not  Christians,  and  heretics ;  and,  on  the  other,  from 
the  clergy,  and  from  the  catechumens,  penitents,  energumens,  and 
I  ascetics.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  the  disciples  of  Christ  use 
the  active  form,  ol  TtiGTsvovreg,  or,  TtiorsvaavTEg,  while  the  fa- 
thers uniformly  use  the  passive,  ol  TtiOTOi.  The  latter,  however, 
occurs  occasionally  in  the  New  Testament,  (Acts  xvi.  1 ;  2  Cor.  vi. 


*  Vel  quia  de  sorte  sunt  Dei,  vel  quia  ipse  Deus  sors,  i.  e.  pars,  clericorum  est. 
— Ep.  ad  Ncjpolian.     Comp.  Num.  xviii.  20,  1  Deut.  x.  9. 


110  NAMES    AND    CLASSES    OF    CHRISTIANS.  [CHAP.  VII. 

15  ;  1  Tim.  iv.  12,  v.  10  ;)  but  in  a  sense  more  unlimited  than  that 
in  which  it  is  used  by  the  fathers. 

2.  ^coTi^oiievoi,  illuminati,  the  enlightened.  This  name  they 
received  upon  being  baptized,  baptism  being  by  them  denominated 
^UrtLO^og,  or  ^Oinaiia,  illumination.  It  is  a  curious  fact,  that 
the  baptized  are  denominated  ^ori^ofievoi,  and  candidates  for  bap- 
tism cpoT'Ky^svteg,  while,  on  grammatical  principles,  precisely  the 
reverse  might  have  been  expected.  The  usage  of  ^arLG^svTEg 
is  supposed  to  be  derived  from  Heb.  vi.  4,  as  the  most  proper  to 
denote  such  as  were  suitably  enlightened  to  be  received  into  the 
church. 

3.  Meuvy;i.iei>oi,  the  initiated.  This  appellation  was  most  in  use 
in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  when  so  much  was  said  of  the  dis- 
ciplina  areani,  the  secret  mysteries  of  the  Christian  religion.  It 
denotes  such  as  have  been  initiated  into  these  mysteries,  a  privilege 
belonging  exclusively  to  members  of  the  church.  The  phrase  the 
initiated  know,  occurs  about  fifty  times  in  Augustin  and  Chrysos- 
tom  alone.  The  terms  f^wcstai  and  fivataycdyyiToi  are  also  often 
used ;  and,  in  short,  almost  all  the  phraseology  which  profane 
writers  use  respecting  an  initiation  into  their  mysteries.  Indeed, 
the  rite  of  baptism  itself  was  early  supposed  to  have  an  evident  re- 
lation, as  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  represents,^  to  the  initiatory  rites  of 
Eleusis,  Samothrace,  etc.  In  conformity  with  this  usage,  catechu- 
mens were  denominated  the  initiated. 

4.  Ts^etot  and  te'keLOvasvoi,  the  perfect.  This  name,  like  the 
foregoing,  has  a  relation  to  their  sacred  mysteries.  It  is  adopted 
from  the  Ncav  Testament,  where  it  is  used,  not  indeed  in  the  same, 
but  in  a  kindred  meaning,  in  relation  to  Christian  perfection. 
(Matt.  V.  48 ;  Ileb.  vi.  1.)  To  join  the  church,  was  styled  eX^slv 
km  TO  teXeiov,  or  fiErs^eiv  tov  re/ieLOV,  to  attain  unto  perfec- 
tion ;  and  the  participation  of  the  sacrament,  which  in  the  ancient 
church  invariably  followed  baptism,  was  denominated  tsXet'ri  Te/le- 
TCiV,^  perfection  of  perfections. 

5.  The  titles,  brethren,  saints,  elect,  beloved,  sons  of  Crod,  etc., 
have  ever  been  applied  as  the  special  prerogative  of  believers,  or 
professing  Chi'istians. 

The  rights  and  privileges  peculiar  to  this  class  of  Christians 
were  the  following : 

1.  They  were  permitted  to  be  present  at  all  religious  assemblies 
without  exception;  to  take  part  in  the  missa  catechumen oriwi,  the 
first  religious  service  of  public  worship,  designed  especially  for  the 


SEC.  IV.]  THE    BAPTIZED.  Ill 


catechumens,  as  well  as  In  the  missa  fidelium,  the  after-service^  which 
was  particularly  designed  for  them,  and  which  none  but  the  initi- 
ated, during  the  continuance  of  the  secret  discipline  of  the  church, 
were  permitted  to  attend.  To  this  service  neither  catechumens 
nor  any  other  were  permitted  to  he  present,  not  even  as  spectators. 

2.  It  was  another  special  privilege  of  the  faithful,  to  hear  and 
join  in  the  rehearsal  of  the  Lord's  prayer.  None  but  believers 
were  permitted,  in  any  case,  audibly  to  adopt  the  language  of  this 
prayer  and  say.  Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven ;  though  it  might 
be  used  in  silent  prayer.  In  the  worship  of  the  faithful,  on  the 
contrary,  it  might  be  rehearsed  aloud,  or  sung  by  them,  or  repeated 
in  responses. 

3.  They  were  allowed  to  seek  an  explanation  of  all  the  myste- 
ries of  the  Christian  religion.  Origen  and  Gregory  of  Nyssa  allege, 
indeed,  in  commendation  of  Christianity,  that  it  has  mysteries, 
[ivarripia,  dpp>7Ta,  and  dnoppi^ra,  which  no  human  mind  can 
comprehend.  But  by  this  privilege  is  understood  the  right  of  ac- 
quaintance with  all  the  rites  and  doctrines  of  the  church  and  the 
subtleties  of  their  faith.  These  were  cautiously  concealed  from 
catechumens,  and  taught  to  believers  only,  because  "  by  God's  gift 
they  were  made  partakers  of  these  mysteries,  and  therefore  quali- 
fied to  judge  of  them."  To  the  uninitiated,  the  ancient  fathers 
discoursed  only  on  obvious  points  of  morality ;  and  if,  at  any  time, 
they  were  led  to  touch  upon  their  profound  mysteries,  they  dis- 
missed them  with  the  expression,  loaGiv  ot  [i8[j.vy][isvoi,  the  initiated 
know  these  things.* 

4.  The  distinguishing  religious  privilege  of  believers  is  that  of  par- 
taking of  the  eucharist,  which  was  regarded  as  the  consummation 


*  De  moralibus  quotidianum  sermonem  habuimus,  cum  vel  Patriarchorum  gesta, 
vel  proverbiorum  legerentur  praecepta :  ut  his  informati  atque  instituti  assuesce- 
retis  majorum  ingredi  vias  eorumque  iter  carpere,  ac  divinis  obedire  mandatis, 
quo  renovati  per  baptismum  ejus  vitas  usum  teneretis,  quae  ablutos  deceret. 
Nunc  de  mysteriis  dicere  admonet  atque  ipsam  sacramentorum  rationem  edere : 
quam  ante  baptismum  si  putassemus  insinuandum  nondum  initiatis,  prodidisse 
potius,  quara  edidisse,  sestimaremur. — Ambros.,  De  his  qui  mysteriis  inilieniur,  c.  i. 
Dimissis  jam  catechumenis,  vos  tantum  ad  audiendum  retinuimus  :  quia,  prseter 
ilia,  qua3  omnes  Christianos  convenit  in  commune  servare,  specialiter  de  cgelestibus 
mysteriis  locuturi  sumus,  quae  audire  non  possunt,  nisi  qui  ea  donante  jam  Domino 
perceperunt.  Tanto  igitur  majore  reverentia  debetis  audire  quae  dicimus,  quanto 
majora  ista  sunt,  quae  soils  baptizatis  et  fidelibus  auditoribus  committuntur,  quam 
ilia,  qua3  etiam  catechumeni  audire  consueverunt. — August.,  Serm.  i.  ad  Moph. 
'Aarifiuii;  6ta  tovi  a^vjjroi'j  rtfpc  t^v  ^a'cov  biaXeyo^t'^a,  f^vafr]pt.i^v  tovtuiv  Se  ;j;«ptfo- 
(ihuv,  ffaf  w5  io\<i  fisiJLvrji^ii'ov';  dibdaxo^iv. — Theodoret,  Quast.  15  in  Num. 


112  ITAMES   AND   CLASSES    OF   CHRISTIANS.  [CHAP.  VII. 


of  all  mysteries,  and  a  participation  in  them ;  hence  it  received  the 
significant  name  of  zoivavia,  communion,  participation. 

5.  In  close  connection  with  this  privilege  of  communion  stands 
also  that  important  right  which,  as  a  member  of  the  chm'ch,  each 
communicant  had,  of  taking  part  in  all  the  transactions  of  that 
body,  especially  in  the  choice  of  the  clergy/  and  of  their  ecclesiastical 
officers,  and  in  the  disciplifie  of  the  church. 

In  view  of  the  importance  of  this  right,  we  are  surprised  that  it 
is  but  briefly  touched  upon  by  Bingham  and  other  writers  on  this 
subject.  This,  however,  is  the  proper  place  distinctly  to  assert 
this  right  of  suflrage  which  the  faithful  enjoyed,  although  it  is  of 
necessity  implied  and  included  in  the  general  privileges  of  church 
membership.  That  the  church,  i.  e.  the  united  body  of  believers, 
has  had  a  part  in  the  election  of  their  pastor,  from  the  earliest 
period  downward,  is  certain,  not  merely  from  the  testimony  of 
Scripture,  but  also  from  the  most  ancient  testimony  of  the  fathers ; 
and  has  never  been  denied,  even  by  those  who,  in  this  respect,  have 
beeh  most  anxious  to  abridge  the  pri\ileges  of  the  people.  All 
they  assert  is,  that  the  original  usage  has  been  changed,  because  of 
its  manifold  abuses,  and  of  necessity  abrogated.  Hence  has  arisen 
the  question,  whether,  in  the  election  of  a  pastor,  the  church  is 
entitled  to  a  valid  elective  vote,  or  whether  their  sufli-age  should 
be  testimonial  only,  or  negative.  Then,  again,  arises  another  ques- 
tion of  equal  importance,  relating  to  the  method  of  voting  by 
proxy  and  by  a  body  of  electors,  which,  so  far  as  is  known,  appears 
to  have  been  first  practised  by  the  church  in  Africa.^ 

The  limits  prescribed  for  this  work  forbid  the  renewal  of  the 
discussion  respecting  the  right  of  the  church  to  elect  their  own 
teachers  and  rulers.  In  the  election  of  Matthias  (Acts  i.  23-26 
compared  with  i.  15)  as  an  apostle ;  of  the  seven  deacons,  (Acts 
vi.  1-6 ;)  of  the  assistants  and  companions  of  the  apostles,  (comp. 
2  Cor.  viii.  19,)  and  of  presbyters,  we  recognise  the  suffrages  of 
the  church.  Cyprian  uniformly  recognised  the  right  of  the  people 
to  choose  and  to  reject  their  own  pastors  ;*  and  even  the  Aposto- 
lical Constitutions  ordain  that  a  bishop  should  be  chosen  by  the 
whole  people.* 


*  In  ordinationibus  clericis,  fratres  carissimi,  solemus  vos  ante  consulere,  et 
mores  ac  merita  singulorum  communi  consilio  ponderare. — Cypkian,  Ev.  33,  ad 
cler.  et  pleb.  Carih.  Plebs  ipsa  maximam  habet  potestatem  vel  eligendi  dignoa 
Hacerdotes,  vel  indignos  recusandi. — Ep.  68. 


SEC.  v.]  the'  baptized.  113 

The  right  of  election  continued  unimpaired  through  the  third 
century ;  but  was  finally  wrested  by  episcopal  power  from  the 
hands  of  the  people.  "Election  by  the  people,"  says  Riddle,  of 
Oxford,  "has  been  discontinued.  This,  indeed,  in  the  estimation 
of  episcopalians,  is  a  great  improvement ;  but  still,  as  they  must 
allow,  it  is  a  change."  The  change,  indeed,  none  can  deny;  but 
the  improvement  may  well  be  called  in  question.  The  loss  of  it 
was  the  extinction  of  religious  liberty,  and  the  removal  of  the 
greatest  safeguard  against  the  introduction  of  unworthy  men  into 
the  Christian  ministry.^ 

6.  The  incestuous  person  at  Corinth  was,  at  the  instigation  of  the 
apostle  Paul,  both  excommunicated  and,  on  his  repentance,  restored 
to  their  fellowship  by  the  act  of  the  church.  (1  Cor.  iv.  comp.  with 
2  Cor.  ii.)  These  same  Corinthians,  in  the  age  immediately  suc- 
ceeding the  apostles,  rejected  some  of  their  presbyters  from  the 
ministry,  whom  Clement  exhorts  to  submit  to  the  authority  of  the 
multitude — the  church." 

The  authorities  from  the  early  Christian  fathers  and  from  eccle- 
siastical writers  have  been  duly  collated  elsewhere.^  Planck,  the 
great  historian  of  the  constitution  of  the  church,  and  the  highest 
authority  on  this  subject,  aifirms  that,  so  late  as  the  middle  of  the 
third  century,  the  members  of  the  church  still  exercised  their  ori- 
ginal right  of  controlling  the  proceedings  of  the  church,  both  in  the 
exclusion  of  offenders  and  in  the  restitution  of  penitents.* 

The  transfer  of  the  disciplinary  power  from  the  church  to  the 
clergy  should  be  carefully  noted,  as  one  of  the  most  injurious  inva- 
sions of  the  hierarchy  upon  the  rights  of  the  people.  It  invested 
the  episcopate  with  dangerous  prerogatives ;  and,  more  than  all 
else,  was,  perhaps,  the  occasion  of  bringing  into  neglect  all  sound 
discipline.  To  expect  such  from  an  independent  priesthood  is  to 
contradict  alike  the  deductions  of  reason  and  the  records  of  his- 
tory. 

§  5.    OF   ASCETICS,  COENOBITES,  MONKS,  FRATERNITIES. 

The  ascetics  of  antiquity  and  of  the  middle  ages  were  essentially 
different  in  many  respects.  To  the  first  class  belong  all  those  who 
sought  a  life  of  solitude  for  religious  exercises  and  private  contem- 
plation, and,  either  alone  or  in  company  with  others,  separated 
themselves  from  Christian  society  without  wholly  excluding  them- 
selves from  the  communion  of   the  church.     These  constituted, 

therefore,  a  distinct  class  of  the  laity. 

8 


114  NAMES   AND    CLASSES   OF   CHRISTIANS.  [CHAP.  VII. 


The  origin  of  the  ascetic  manner  of  life  dates  back  far  beyond 
the  Christian  era.  In  Egypt,  Assyria,  Persia,  and  India,  there  were, 
at  this  early  period,  ascetics,  hermits,  and  recluses.  The  Thera- 
peutics, of  whom  Philo  and  Josephus  speak,  were  a  religious  fra- 
ternity who,  in  many  respects,  had  a  striking  influence  in  the 
subsequent  formation  of  monastic  establishments.  Many  of  the 
Pythagorean  institutes  also  bore  a  striking  resemblance  to  the  mo- 
nastic rules  of  later  date.  Some,  again,  have  compared  them  with 
those  of  the  Nazarites  and  Rechabites  of  Scripture,  respecting 
whom  Witsius  and  Less  may  be  consulted.  The  prophet  Elijah,  the 
schools  of  the  prophets,  and  John  the  Baptist  have  also  been  con- 
sidered as  patterns  of  monastic  life.  But  its  high  antiquity  is  suf- 
ficiently proved  by  Jerome.^ 

As  early  as  the  second  centiuy,  the  foundations  of  monachism 
were  laid  in  a  vain  admiration  of  the  supposed  virtues  of  fasting, 
solitude,  and  celibacy.  Soon  after  the  age  of  the  apostles,  bodily 
mortification  and  a  contemplative  life  began  to  be  regarded  by 
many  Christians  as  indications  and  means  of  extraordinary  piety. 
In  the  time  of  Cyprian  and  Tertullian,  the  "  sacred  virgins  of  the 
church,"  or  the  "canonical  virgins,"  were  recognised  as  a  distinct 
class ;  and  celibacy  was  extolled  as  a  species  of  supereminent 
sanctity.'^  Such  superstition,  with  its  pernicious  adjuncts  and  con- 
sequences, made  rapid  progress  in  the  church. 

But  many  Greek  and  Latin  writers  concur  in  ascribing  the  ori- 
gin of  Christian  anchorets  and  monks  to  the  third  century.  They 
are  believed  to  have  arisen  first  in  Egypt.  Among  the  founders 
of  this  sect,  some  of  the  most  celebrated  were  Paulus,  Antonius, 
Pachomius,  Hilarion,  and  Athanasius.  To  these  may  be  added 
Basil  the  Great,  Ephraim  the  Syrian,  the  two  Gregories,  Epipha- 
nius,  Chrysostom,  Ambrose,  Augustin,  Jerome,  Cassian,  and  many 
others. 

In  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  the  monastic  life  had  become 
common  to  all  orders  of  men,  not  only  in  the  eastern,  but  also  in 
the  western  church ;  but  it  had  not  attained  the  celebrity  which  it 
afterwards  acquired.  Although  the  most  distinguished  of  the  fa- 
thers sought  celebrity  chiefly  by  their  monastic  life,  the  church 
were,  as  yet,  far  from  according  to  monks  the  rights  and  privileges 
of  the  clergy.  They  were  far  from  enjoying  equal  privileges  with 
these  oflicers  of  the  church ;  neither  were  the  monks  reckoned 
among  the  laity ;  but  they  were  accounted  a  distinct  religious 
order,  denominated  religiosi,  or  canonici,  by  which,  until  the  tenth 


SEC.  v.]  ASCETICS,    CCENOBITES,    MONKS,  ETC.  115 

century,  they  were  distinguished  both  from  the  clergy  and  laity. 
From  that  period,  they  began  to  be  reckoned  with  the  clergy. 
About  the  same  time  arose  the  distinction  between  the  clerici  secu- 
lares  and  clerici  regulares.  The  former  denoted  such  as  had  a 
regular  parochial  charge  and  cure  of  souls ;  the  latter,  the  clergy 
belonging  to  some  religious  order.  The  clerici  seculares,  however, 
uniformly  refused  to  own  the  monastics  as  fellow-labourers  in  the 
ministerial  office.  Indeed,  the  monks  have  never  been  fully  blended 
with  the  clergy.  On  the  contrary,  in  all  cloisters,  there  has  ever 
been  a  certain  class  of  lay  brethren,  or  lay  monks,  monachi  laid, 
who,  without  discharging  any  of  the  appropriate  functions  of  the 
ministry,  have,  as  in  the  ancient  church,  occupied  an  intermediate 
station  between  the  clergy  and  the  laity. 

The  following  are  the  principal  orders  of  the  monks,  and  the 
names  by  which  they  are  distinguished : 

1.  Ascetics,  'AciXYirai.  Originally,  the  term  was  used  by  profane 
writers  to  denote  the  gladiators  and  athletoe  of  the  ancients.  But 
in  the  works  of  the  fathers  it  denotes  all  of  every  age  and  condition 
who  devote  themselves  peculiarly  to  acts  of  piety,  such  as  fasting, 
prayer,  watchings,  and  the  denial  of  sensual  desires.  They  are 
sometimes  styled  dyaj-iOL,  unmarried,  and  eyx^ateig,  continentes. 
There  were  also  female  ascetics.  The  monastics  belonged  both  to 
the  clergy  and  to  the  laity,  and  were  of  either  sex,  and  from  all 
conditions  in  life.  They  were  men  of  active  life,  living  in  cities 
like  other  men,  but  devoted  to  prayers,  fasting,  watching,  and  in- 
tent upon  high  attainments  in  a  religious  life.  The  places  appro- 
priated for  these  exercises  were  styled  dGxYjrpia. 

2.  Monks,  appropriately  so  called,  M.ov6.j(pi,  sometimes  Mom- 
^ovtsc,,  01  UOV&)  t,Givr£q  0£6j ;  such  as  lived  a  sequestered  life, 
taking  no  part  in  the  ordinary  pursuits  of  men,  and  retiring  alone 
into  desert  places  and  solitary  cells ;  or,  in  company,  frequenting 
the  wilderness  and  distant  mountains.  These  belonged  exclusively 
to  the  laity,  and  were  characterized  chiefly  by  their  deep  seclusion 
from  society ;  while  the  ascetics  belonged  either  to  the  clergy  -ov 
laity,  and  were  distinguished  particularly  for  their  austerities. 
These  monks  were  sometimes  denominated  coenobites,  cocnohitse.,  soli- 
tarii,  solitares,  etc. 

3.  AncJiorets,  ' Ava^apyirai ,  Hermits.  A  distinction,  however, 
is  sometimes  made  between  the  two — anchorets  denoting  those  who 
led  a  solitary  life  without  establishing  their  residence  in  solitude ; 


116  NAMES   AND    CLASSES   OF   CHRISTIANS.  [CHAP.  VII. 

while  hermits  are  those  who  inhabit  the  most  desolate  and  inhos- 
pitable places,  in  solitary  cells  and  caves, ^ 

4.  Coenobites,  from  xoivoc,  [3iog,  communis  vita.  So  called  from 
their  inhabiting  one  place  in  common,  styled  coenohium,  and  having 
all  things  in  common.  They  are  also  called  GVVohitaL,*  and,  from 
avvohoic,,^  ol  iv  GvvoSiOLg  ^ojvrsg,  conventuales.^ 

5.  Gyrovagi.  Strolling  vagrants,  whose  lives  were  dishonoured 
by  the  lowest  sensuality  and  the  most  shameless  vices.^ 

G.  ^TL'/l/Vat,  Pillarists.  So  called  from  their  living  continually 
upon  a  pillar ;  a  manner  of  life  so  austere  and  forbidding  that  few 
were  induced  to  adopt  it.^ 

There  are  a  multitude  of  names  denoting  different  classes  of 
monks  and  ascetics ;  the  mention  of  which  may  serve  to  show  how 
numerous  were  these  religious  orders  in  the  ancient  church,  and 
the  estimation  in  which  they  were  held.     Such  as  the  following : 

7.  ^Ttovhaloi,  studiosi,^  'ExXExtoi,  electi,^^  "^ Axoi (iyjTol,  insom- 
wes,"  ^oaxoi,pascentes,^  irora  their  living,  like  brutes,  upon  herbs  and 
roots,  and  subjecting  themselves  to  the  severest  austerities  ;  Hcri> 
yaotai,  quiescentes^^  who  lived  by  themselves  in  perpetual  silence ; 
'ATtoTa^djaei'Ot,  renuntiantes  ;"  Culdei,  Keldei,  Keledei,  etc.,  cer- 
tain monks  in  Scotland  and  the  Hebrides ;  Apostolici,  monks  in 
Britain  and  Ireland. 

8.  Canoniei  regulares,  clerical  monks.  These  were  the  priests 
who  were  addicted  to  a  monastic  life,  in  distinction  from  the  secu- 
lar or  parochial  clergy,  canoniei  seculares. 

9.  Secular  monks,  monachi  seculares ;  a  class  distinct  from  the 
lay  brethren.  These,  Avithout  renouncing  marriages  and  the  social 
relations,  under  the  guidance  of  overseers  of  their  choice,  devotecl 
themselves  to  various  oflBces  of  piety.  Thus  constituted,  they 
served  as  patterns  for  those  religious  fraternities  or  brotherhoods 
which  first  appeared  in  France,  Italy,  and  Germany,  in  the  ninth 
century,  and,  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  became  exceed- 
ingly numerous  and  powerful,  and  widely  dispersed.  All  these  fra- 
ternities occupied  an  intermediate  rank  between  the  laity,  the 
monks,  and  the  clergy.^^ 

IMonastics  of  the  female  sex  were  not,  at  fii'st,  accounted  a  dis- 
tinct religious  order.  Nor  is  there  mention  of  them  as  such  so 
loniT  as  the  ancient  rule  of  the  church  remained  in  force,  which 
positively  debarred  women  from  ever  conducting  religious  worship 
or  assuming  any  of  the  offices  of  the  priesthood. 

Monasteries  and  nunneries  probably  arose  simultaneously.     The 


SEC.  VI.]  PEJTITENTS.  117 


first  traces  of  the  associations  of  women  in  a  monastic  life  dis- 
cover themselves  in  the  fourth  century.  In  this  period,  they  begin 
to  be  denominated  Mova^ai,  but  more  frequently  Moral,  motise, 
solae  viduse.  Jerome  was  the  first  to  call  them  JVonnse,  nuns.  By 
some,  this  is  understood  to  be  the  same  as  matron,  or  venerable 
widow.  Others  derive  it  from  'Novig,  a  virgin.  They  are  also 
called  by  many  other  names,  such  as  Sanctimoniales,  Virgines 
Dei,  s.  Christi,  Ancillx  Dei,  Sorores  ecclesice,  etc.  But  by  what- 
ever name  they  are  known,  they  are  carefully  to  be  distinguished 
from  the  ancient  order  of  deaconesses  in  the  church.  As  early  as 
the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries,  the  office  of  deaconess  ceased  in  the 
western  church.  After  this,  many  offices  of  charity  which  they 
were  wont  to  perform  to  the  poor  and  the  sick  were  discharged  by 
the  sisters  of  the  church.  For  this  purpose,  they  formed  them- 
selves into  various  associations  and  corporations.  Their  influence 
was  in  general  very  happy,  and  so  powerful  that  they  outlived  the 
storms  of  political  revolutions,  and,  to  a  great  extent,  still  sur\ive 
under  various  names  and  in  different  establishments. 

§  6.    OF   PENITENTS. 

None  but  such  as  had  received  baptism  and  confii'mation  could 
be  reckoned  among  the  penitents.  They  consisted  of  such  lay 
members  of  the  church  as  had  been  separated  from  it  by  reason  of 
their  unworthy  deportment,  or  for  grosser  offences,  and  who  volun- 
tarily submitted  to  the  penalties  inflicted  upon  them  with  a  view  to 
their  readmission  into  the  church,  and  restoration  to  Christian  fel- 
lowship and  the  privileges  of  communion. 

The  clergy  under  the  hierarchy  were  subject  to  a  discipline  pe- 
culiar to  their  order,  which  will  be  the  subject  of  a  separate  article 
in  another  place.  The  consideration  of  the  penitentiary  system  of 
discipline  to  which  the  penitents  were  subjected  is  reserved  for  a 
chapter  in  the  subsequent  part  of  this  work. 

§  7.    OF    CATECHUMENS. 

This  class  of  Christians  comprised  the  great  part  of  the  unbap- 
tized,  previous  to  the  general  prevalence  of  the  Christian  religion 
and  of  the  rite  of  infant  baptism.  Converts  to  Christianity  were 
gathered  from  Jew  and  Gentile,  barbarian  and  Greek.  These,  on 
seeking  admission  to  the  Christian  chm-ch,  were,  at  an  early  period, 


118  NAMES   AND   CLASSES   OP   CHRISTIANS.         [CHAP.  VII. 

subjected  to  a  peculiar  probationary  course  of  instruction  and  dis- 
cipline, preparatory  to  admission  to  the  privileges  of  full  communion 
with  the  church. 

But  we  look  in  vain  for  this  order  of  Christian  converts  in  the 
age  of  the  apostles.  A  renunciation  of  polytheism,  and  a  belief  in 
God  as  the  only  living  and  true  God,  were  required  of  the  converts 
from  idolatrous  nations  who  would  receive  the  ordinances  of  the 
Christian  church ;  and  all,  both  Jews  and  barbarians,  were  re- 
quired to  avow  their  faith  in  Christ,  and  to  covenant  to  live  agree- 
ably to  his  laws.  On  such  general  expressions  of  their  faith  and 
covenant,  the  earliest  converts  were  received  by  baptism  into  the 
church  of  Christ  without  further  probation.  But  the  evils  of  this 
hasty  and  indiscriminate  admission  to  the  church  of  all  who  pro- 
fessed repentance  and  faith  in  Christ  were  soon  manifest.  Even 
the  churches  which  were  planted  by  the  apostles  themselves  were 
greatly  dishonoured  by  the  hasty  admission  of  unworthy  men.  To 
guard  against  such  disastrous  consequences,  the  churches,  soon 
after  the  age  of  the  apostles,  gradually  instituted  a  severe  and  pro- 
tracted inquiry  into  the  character  and  views  of  those  who  sought 
the  privileges  of  their  communion.  They  were  put  upon  a  course 
of  instruction  and  discipline,  more  or  less  extended,  before  being 
received  into  the  communion  of  the  church.  These  candidates  for 
admission  to  the  church  were  denominated  catechumens.  The  rise 
of  this  order  may  be  traced  back  to  the  latter  part  of  the  second 
century.  The  system  was  gradually  developed  in  the  third  cen- 
tury, and  reached  its  culminating  point  about  the  beginning  of  the 
fifth  century ;  after  which  it  fell  by  degrees  into  disuse. 

Catechumens  are  mentioned  by  Tertullian,  A.  d.  180 ;  by  Clemens 
Alexandrinus,  A.  d.  190,  and  by  Origen,  A.  D.  202.  But  in  the 
fifth  century,  the  secret  discipline  had  already  been  discontinued ; 
converts  from  Jews  and  pagans  had  become  comparatively  few,  and 
with  the  cessation  of  the  causes  which  gave  rise  to  this  system  of 
catechetical  instruction,  the  system  itself  in  a  great  measure 
ceased ;  but,  in  one  form  or  another,  the  catechetical  instructions 
of  the  young  and  the  uninitiated  have  continued  to  the  present 
time. 

A  prudent  regard  to  the  purity  of  the  church  and  the  honour 
of  religion  appears  to  have  given  rise  to  this  complicated  system 
of  preparatory  instructions  and  discipline.  Other  causes,  however, 
soon  began  to  change  the  original  character  and  intent  of  the  insti- 
tution, and  to  pervert  it  into  the  means  of  promoting  sinister  and 


SEC.  VII.]  CATECHUMENS.  119 


selfish  ends.  It  early  became  almost  a  necessary  part  of  the  secret 
discipline  of  the  church.  It  is  clearly  evident  also  from  the  Apos- 
tolical Constitutions,  the  writings  of  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  and  of 
the  Pseudo  Dionysius,  that  these  catechetical  instructions  had  also 
a  close  analogy  to  the  initiatory  rites  of  the  Eleusinian,  Samothra- 
cian,  and  Pythagorean  mysteries.  They  became,  in  the  hands  of  the 
bishop,  an  efficient  means  of  advancing  the  power  and  sustaining 
the  interests  of  the  episcopate.  The  catechumen,  by  a  long  course 
of  discipline,  was  prepared,  on  his  admission  to  the  church,  to  be- 
come the  apt  and  trained  disciple  of  the  bishop,  acting  in  obedience 
to  his  will  and  in  subserviency  to  his  interests. 

For  admission  into  the  order  of  catechumens,  the  name  of  the 
candidate  must  be  proposed  to  the  bishop,  with  references  to  suit- 
able witnesses  or  sponsors.  If,  upon  examination,  the  candidate 
was  deemed  worthy  by  the  bishop,  he  caused  his  name  to  be  en- 
rolled in  the  books  of  the  church,  called  SiTttv^a  "C/dVXiiiV ^  and 
with  prayer,  the  laying  on  of  hands,  and  the  sign  of  the  cross,  re- 
ceived him  into  the  number  of  the  catechumens. 

The  catechumens  take  their  name  from  xatyjj^^ovfiEVOL,  learners, 
a  word  of  frequent  occurrence  in  the  New  Testament.  (Acts  xviii. 
25 ;  Gal.  vi.  6 ;  1  Cor.  xiv.  19.)  The  catechumens  of  the  ancient 
church  were  candidates  for  baptism,  under  instruction  for  admission 
into  the  Christian  church.  They  were  styled  candidates,  candidi, 
because  they  were  wont  to  appear  dressed  in  white  on  their  admis- 
sion to  church.  In  the  Latin  church,  they  were  sometimes  deno- 
minated novitii,  tirones,  audientes,  rudes,  incipientes,  pueri,  etc., 
equivalent  to  the  terms  pupils,  beginners,  novitiates,  learners,  etc. 

The  importance  of  this  order,  in  the  opinion  of  the  ancient 
church,  appears  from  the  fact  that  schools  were  instituted  espe- 
cially for  their  instruction,  and  catechists  appointed  over  them. 
One  part  of  the  church  service  was  also  suited  to  them  especially, 
and  another  to  the  faithful.  The  discipline  and  instruction  which 
they  received  in  this  manner  were  usually  an  indispensable  prelimi- 
nary to  their  admission  into  the  church. 

Clemens  Alexandrinus  and  Origen  have  much  to  say  in  recom- 
mendation of  a  certain  secret  doctriyie  of  the  church,  fLVGt^piocyo- 
^ia,  scientia  arcani.  This  discovers  itself  about  the  same  time 
with  the  order  of  catechumens,  and  appears  to  have  fallen  into  dis- 
repute as  the  church  increased  and  additions  were  made  to  it  from 
baptized  children  of  Christian  families,  rather  than  from  the  candi 
dates  who  had  been  received  from  among  Jews  and  Gentiles. 


120  NAMES   AND    CLASSES   OF   CHRISTIANS.  [CHAP.  VII. 

There  was  no  specific  rule  respecting  the  age  at  which  Jewish 
and  heathen  converts  were  received  as  catechumens.  History  in- 
forms us  that  the  greater  part  were  persons  of  adult  age.  Even 
Constantine  the  Great  was  reckoned  among  this  class.  The  delaj 
of  baptism,  against  which  Gregory  of  Nyssa  and  others  inveighed 
so  earnestly  in  the  fourth  century,  seems  to  intimate  that  these  sub- 
jects of  baptism  were  usually  advanced  beyond  the  legal  age  of 
manhood.  It  must,  indeed,  be  admitted  as  an  exception  to  this 
usage,  that  whole  families  were  occasionally  baptized,  as  in  the 
times  of  the  apostles.  (Acts  xvi.  15,  31,  xviii.  8 ;  1  Cor.  i.  16.) 
And  as  an  argument  in  favour  of  infant  baptism,  such  examples  are 
the  more  persuasive  from  the  fact  that  after  the  fourth  century 
pedobaptism  was  much  more  generally  introduced  and  defended. 
In  the  mean  while,  no  rule  is  given  for  the  children  of  Christian 
parents,  respecting  their  requisite  age  for  becoming  catechumens. 
And  it  is  remarkable  that  Tertullian  and  Cyprian,  who  in  other 
respects  are  so  harmonious,  should  so  disagree  on  this  point.  The 
latter  was  an  advocate  for  pedobaptism ;  the  former,  a  zealous  op- 
poser.  "It  is  better,"  he  says,  "for  each  one  to  delay  his  bap- 
tism, according  to  his  condition,  disposition,  and  age — especially 
for  the  young.  Let  them  come  when  they  have  arrived  to  matu- 
rity ;  let  them  come  when  they  have  sufficient  knowledge — when 
they  are  taught  why  they  come ;  let  them  become  Christians  (by 
baptism)  when  they  have  a  competent  knowledge  of  Christ."^ 

The  case  of  Augustin  may,  with  propriety,  be  cited  in  this  place. 
By  his  pious  mother  Monica  he  had,  from  his  infancy,  been  care- 
fully instructed  in  the  Christian  religion.  In  consequence  of  a  dan- 
gerous sickness,  he  was  about  to  be  baptized  in  early  childhood,  that 
he  might  die  as  a  Christian,  under  the  covenant.  But  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  ordinance  was  deferred  in  consequence  of  his  reco- 
very; and  the  delay  he  regarded  as  a  kind  Providence.  From 
this  example,  the  inference  is,  that  he  might  have  received  due 
preparation  for  the  ordinance  from  his  pious  mother ;  but  that  his 
baptism  would  have  been  an  exception  to  the  general  rule  on  this 
subject.  He  was  converted  under  Ambrose  of  iNIilan ;  and,  though 
at  this  time  a  distinguished  writer,  became  a  regular  catechumen. 
After  due  preparation,  he  was  baptized  in  the  year  387.^ 

It  is,  however,  certain  that  children  were,  at  an  early  age,  the 
subjects  of  baptism,  and  that,  too,  not  merely  in  cases  of  emer- 
gency, but  by  established  rule  and  usage ;  for  it  was  against  this 
usage  that  Tertullian  felt  himself  constrained  to  Avrite.     But  these 


SEC.  VII.]  CATECHUMENS.  121 


little  children,  wlio  were  incapable  of  knowing  Christ,  as  Tertullian 
describes  them,  could  not,  of  course,  be  subject  to  any  such  preli- 
minary preparation  as  the  catechumens  received.  They  could  only 
be  subject  to  such  exercises  subsequent  to  baptism,  just  as,  since  the 
general  introduction  of  infant  baptism,  the  subsequent  instructions 
preparatory  to  confirmation  are  regarded,  which  is  a  religious  ordi- 
nance introduced  into  the  church  very  unlike  the  original  usage. 

No  general  rule  prevailed  respecting  the  time  which  the  catechu- 
mens should  spend  in  that  relation.  It  varied  at  different  times 
and  according  to  the  usages  of  the  several  churches ;  especially, 
according  to  the  proficiency  of  each  individual.  In  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  apostles,^  three  years  are  prescribed.  By  the  council 
of  Illiberi,*  A.  D.  673,  two  years.  By  that  of  Agatha,^  A.  D.  506, 
eight  months.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  and  Jerome  direct  them  to  ob- 
serve a  season  of  fasting  and  prayer  for  forty  days."  From  all 
which  the  inference  is  that  there  was  no  determinate  rule  on  this 
subject.  This  public  preparation  of  the  catechumens  necessarily 
implies  that  they  were  previously  subject  to  private  instruction. 
The  same  is  inferred  from  the  instructions  which  were  preliminary 
to  confirmation.  The  true  idea  of  which  is,  that  of  completing  and 
confirming  the  discipline  to  which  the  candidate  has  already  been 
subjected.  Exceptions  there  undoubtedly  were.  Instances  may 
be  adduced  in  which  all  the  preparation  which  the  candidate  re- 
ceived was  limited  to  a  single  day.'^  And  the  procedure  is  author- 
ized by  examples  in  the  Scriptures.  But  the  rules  of  the  church 
have  usually  required  a  longer  period  of  probation. 

The  catechumens  were  early  divided  into  separate  classes.  But 
their  number  and  their  names  were  somewhat  different.  The 
Greek  canonists  specify  two  classes.^  The  uninitiated,  are/lfcr- 
Tepot,  and  the  more  advanced,  te'k&Gte^oi,  perfectiores.  Beve- 
ridge,  Basnage,  Suicer,^  and  others,  make  mention  also  of  two 
classes,  the  axpocdf-iEVoi ,  such  as  are  occupied  in  learning,  and 
Evy^ofievoi,  such  as  are  engaged  in  devotional  pursuits.  Maldo- 
natus  gives  three  classes,^''  the  audientes,  the  competentes,  and  the 
poenitentes.  According  to  Bingham, ^^  there  were  four  classes. 
1.  Those  who  were  subject  to  private  instruction.  2.  Such  as- 
received  public  instruction.  3.  Those  who  were  occupied  with  de- 
votional exercises.  4.  Those  who  were  duly  qualified  for  baptism. 
But  this  classification  is  not  duly  authorized. 

These  distinctions,  however,  are  of  little  importance,  and  have 
never  been  generally  recognised.     They  seem  to  have  been  made 


122  NAMES   AND   CLASSES   OF   CHRISTIANS.         [CHAP.  VII. 

as  occasion  required,  rather  than  by  any  essential  rule  of  classifi- 
cation. The  churches  at  Rome,  Constantinople,  Antioch,  and 
Alexandria  were  at  variance  among  themselves  on  this  point,  and 
each  agreed  with  the  churches  of  its  own  communion  only  in  a  few 
leading  particulars.  The  gradations  of  improvement  were  parti- 
cularly observed.  The  age  and  sex  and  circumstances  of  the  cate- 
chumens were  also  duly  regarded.  Male  and  female  catechumens 
formed  distinct  classes ;  and  men  of  rank  and  distinction  were 
usually  separated  from  children  of  twelve  or  thirteen  years  of  age. 
But  at  other  times,  and  in  different  places,  all  may  have  been 
united  into  one  class,  or  divided  into  several,  as  occasion  required. 

The  mode  of  their  admittance  was  very  brief  and  unceremonious. 
But  some  form  of  admission  was  uniformly  required;  a  circum- 
stance which  illustrates  the  degree  of  consideration  in  which  the 
rite  was  held,  while  it  indicates  the  existence  both  of  some  deter- 
minate time  of  admission,  and  of  some  difierence  of  opinion  re- 
specting it.  The  imposition  of  hands  was  one  of  the  prescribed 
ceremonies. ^^  The  sign  of  the  cross  is  also  mentioned,  Augustin 
received  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  affirms  that  this,  with  the  impo- 
sition of  hands,  was  the  usual  mode  of  setting  them  apart.  By 
Porphyry,  bishop  of  Gaza,  converts  from  paganism  were  received 
by  prostrating  themselves  at  his  feet  and  requesting  to  receive  the 
sign  of  the  cross.  After  having  passed  upon  them  this  sign  and 
received  them  as  catechumens,  he  propounded  them  for  admission 
to  the  church  and  dismissed  them  with  his  benediction.  Soon  after 
this,  he  baptized  them,  having  previously  given  them  catechetical 
instruction.^^  In  this  instance,  the  term  of  probation  must  have 
been  short.  They  were  also  immediately  recognised  as  candidates 
for  baptism,  without  reference  to  the  distinction  of  classes. 

The  manner  of  receiving  a  catechumen,  therefore,  was  substan- 
tially as  follows: — "The  bishop  examined  the  candidate,  and,  if  he 
was  found  worthy,  enrolled  his  name  in  the  records  of  the  church. 
The  solemnity  was  then  concluded  by  prayer,  imposition  of  hands, 
and  the  signing  of  the  cross." 

The  exercises  of  the  catechumens,  until  their  union  with  believers, 
were  wholly  directed  with  reference  to  their  preparation  for  bap- 
tism. They  consisted  generally  in  attending  to  various  catechetical 
and  doctrinal  instructions,  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  etc. 
Particularly,  the  ten  commandments  and  the  Lord's  j^rayer  were 
committed  to  memory,  and  the  symbol,  the  creed  or  confession  of 
faith  of  the  church.     These  the  catechumens  were  expected  to 


SEC.  VII.]  CATECHUMENS.  123 


commit  to  memory;  and  the  advanced  class,  styled  competentes, 
before  baptism  were  required  publicly  to  rehearse  them  from  me- 
mory, and  to  subject  themselves  to  an  examination  before  the 
church  respecting  their  general  character,  and  their  knowledge  of 
the  Scriptures  and  of  the  doctrines  of  the  church.  They  who 
were  received  on  such  examination  as  candidates  for  baptism,  were 
said  to  be  elected,  eleeti.  Thus  the  authority  and  intervention  of 
the  church  in  the  admission  of  members  was  duly  recognised,  even 
after  the  full  establishment  of  the  hierarchy.* 

The  last  forty  days  previous  to  baptism  were  particularly  spent 
in  fasting,  prayer,  and  confession  of  sins.  After  the  third  cen- 
tury, various  superstitious  rites  were  connected  with  the  preparation 
for  baptism ;  such  as  exorcising  the  candidate,  requiring  him  to 
renounce  the  devil  and  his  works ;  insufflation,  breathing  upon  him 
by  the  bishop,  after  the  manner  of  Christ,  (John  xx.  22 ;)  anoint- 
ing the  eyes,  (John  ix.  6 ;)  opening  the  ears,  (Mark  vii.  34 ;)  veiling 
the  face,  and  administering  salt,  sacramentum  cateehumenorum,  as 
a  type  of  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper.^* 

The  instruction  of  catechumens  was  the  appropriate  office  of  the 
bishop.  These  instructions  were  given  either  by  him  or  by  pres- 
byters, deacons,  rcitders,  or  exorcists  under  the  bishop's  supervision. 
They  were  not  given  publicly  in  the  chui'ch,  but  privately  in  some 
convenient  place ;  all  but  the  catechumens  being  carefully  excluded. 
The  baptisteries  were  frequently  used  for  this  purpose,  and,  subse- 
quently, the  school-building  connected  with  the  church. 

If  any  were  guilty  of  offences  requiring  censure,  during  their 
probation,  they  were  degraded  to  a  loAver  class ;  their  baptism  was 
deferred  for  three  or  even  five  years. ^^  The  severest  penalty  to 
which  they  were  subject  was  the  delay  of  baptism  until  death.  If 
the  delinquent  died  without  baptism,  he  was  treated  as  a  suicide, 
and  his  funeral  was  attended  without  the  customary  solemnities. 


*  Ex  more  catechumenus  post  aliquantum  nihilominus  temporis,  propinquante 
solemnitate  paschali,  in  competentes  oifertur,  scribitur,  eruditur,  universa  quoque 
religionis  catholicse  veneranda  mysteria  cognoscens,  atque  percipiens,  celebrato 
solemniter  scrutinio,  per  exorcismum  contra  diabolum  vindicatur,  cui  se  renunciare 
constanter,  sicut  haec  consuetude  poscebat,  auditurus  symbolum  profitetur.  Ipsa 
insuper  sancti  symboli  verba  memoriter  in  conspecHi  populi  fidelis  clara  voce  pronun~ 
dans,  piam  regulam  dominicse  orationis  accepit,  simulque  et  quid  cre<cleret,  et 
quid  oraret  intelligens,  future  baptismati  parabatur. — Fulgent.  Ferrandus,  a.  d. 
530,  in  Bibl.  PP.  T.  xi.  p.  319.  Comp.  August.  De  Fide,  et  Oper.  c.  6,  cono. 
Cartag.  iv.  c.  85 ;  Leo  in  Ep.  4. 


124  NAMES   AND   CLASSES   OF   CHRISTIANS.  [CHAP.  VII. 

In  case  of  severe  sickness,  baptism  was  administered  to  the  pa- 
tient on  his  bed,  £7ti  trig  x^ivyjg.  This  was  called  clinic  baptism. 
In  such  instances,  it  was  allowable  to  administer  it  by  sprinkling. 
Baptism  was  also  administered  to  apostate  catechumens  in  the  near 
approach  of  death,  and  to  such  apostates  as  gave  evidence  of  re- 
pentance it  was  not  denied,  even  though  they  were  not  received  to 
the  class  of  penitents. 

Any  one  devoted  to  martyrdom  was  reckoned  among  the  cate- 
chumens, martyrdom  being  regarded  as  a  full  substitute,  and  there- 
fore styled  blood  baptism}'^  This  notion  was  derived  from  various 
passages  in  the  Scriptures  :  "He  that  loseth  his  life,  shall  find  it." 
(Matt,  X.  39.)  "  I  have  a  baptism  to  be  baptized  with."  (Luke 
xii.  50.)  Baptism  was  accounted  essential  to  salvation.  Martyr- 
dom was  also  esteemed  a  passport  to  heaven.  It  was,  therefore, 
made  a  substitute  for  baptism. 

On  the  contrary,  if  any  catechumen  who  had  caused  the  delay 
of  his  baptism  by  his  crimes  died  unbaptized,  he  was  not  treated  as 
a  Christian.  His  name  was  not  enrolled  in  the  records  of  the 
church  while  living,  and  after  death  he  was  denied  the  solemnities 
of  Christian  burial,  and  refused  a  place  in  the  catalogue  of  Chris- 
tians.    He  was  buried  sine  cruce  et  luce. 

Much  controversy  has  arisen  out  of  a  passage  from  Augustin,*^ 
respecting  the  sacrament  of  the  catechumens,  relating  chiefly  to 
the  consecrated  bread,  panis  benedictus.  But  Bona,  Basnage,  and 
Bingham  have  sufiiciently  shown  that  it  was  not  the  sacramental 
bread,  but  bread  seasoned  with  salt ;  and  that  this,  at  their  baptism, 
was  administered  with  milk  and  honey,  salt  being  the  emblem  of 
purity  and  incorruption.^^ 

§  8.    OF   ENERGUMENS,  OR   DEMONIACS. 

* 

Mention  is  often  made,  in  the  ancient  church,  of  persons  pos- 
sessed of  an  evil  spirit.  The  regulations  of  the  church  bestow 
upon  them  especial  care.  They  constitute  a  distinct  class  of  Chris- 
tians, bearing  some  relation  both  to  the  catechumens  and  the  faith- 
ful ;  but  differing  from  both  in  this,  that  they  were  under  the 
special  oversight  and  direction  of  exorcists,  while  they  took  part 
in  some  of  the  religious  exercises  of  both  classes. 

Catechumens  who  during  their  probationary  exercises  became 
demoniacs  were  never  baptized  until  thoroughly  healed,  except  in 
case  of  extreme  sickness.^     Believers  who  became  demoniacs,  in 


SEC.  VII.]  ENERGUMENS.  125 


the  worst  stages  of  their  disease,  like  the  weeping  penitents,  were 
not  permitted  to  enter  the  church ;  but  were  retained  under  close 
inspection  in  the  outer  porch.  From  this  circumstance,  they  were 
denominated  x^ifia^ofisvoi,  or  '^^ei^O-^ovreg-,  hyemantes.  When 
partially  recovered,  they  were  permitted,  with  the  audientes,  to  join 
in  public  worship ;  but  they  were  not  permitted  to  partake  of  the 
sacrament  until  wholly  restored,  except  in  the  immediate  prospect 
of  death.  In  general,  the  energumens  were  subject  to  the  same 
rules  as  the  penitents.^  That  the  Christians  of  the  first  and  second 
centuries  believed  the  reality  of  demoniacal  possessions  cannot  be 
doubted ;  nay,  they  firmly  believed  that  they  had  power,  like  our 
Lord,  to  cast  out  devils.  Eusebius  affirms  that  they  "certainly 
and  truly  cast  out  devils ;"  and  that  many  thus  healed  believed 
and  were  received  into  the  church.  Tertullian  and  Irenseus  often 
affirm  the  same,  and  appeal  to  their  enemies  in  proof  of  it.^  The 
subject  of  energumens  will  again  come  into  notice  in  connection 
with  the  exorcists. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

OF  THE  SUPERIOR  ORDERS  OF  THE  CLERGY. 

The  clergy  of  the  apostolical  churches  were  ordinary  and  extra- 
ordinary. After  the  multiplication  of  ecclesiastical  offices,  in  the 
third  and  subsequent  centuries,  the  clergy  were  divided  into  va- 
rious orders,  according  to  the  convenience  or  caprice  of  different 
churches.  The  prevailing  distinction,  however,  was  that  of  the 
superior  and  inferior  orders  of  the  clergy.  In  the  former  were 
generally  included  bishops,  presbyters,  and  deacons ;  in  the  latter, 
the  numerous  subordinate  offices  of  the  clergy  under  the  hierarchy. 
Agreeably  to  this  classification,  wc  are  to  consider  in  succession 
the  several  orders  of  bishop,  presbyters,  and  deacons,  after  a  brief 
preliminary  notice  of  the  ordinary  and  extraordinary  officers  of 
the  apostolical  churches  and  of  the  different  orders  of  the  clergy. 

§  1.    PRELIMINARY    REMARKS. 

I.  Extraordinary  teachers  in  the  apostolical  churches. — These 
were  known  in  the  church  only  while  the  miraculous  gifts  of  the 
Spirit  continued.  They  were  apostles,  evangelists,  and  prophets. 
The  precise  nature  and  characteristic  distinctions  of  these  officers 
it  is  not  our  province  to  define.  The  discussion  is  given  at  length 
by  Neander  in  his  "  Planting  of  the  Christian  Church  by  the  Apos- 
tles." The  distinction  of  ordinary  and  extraordinary,  however, 
seems  to  be  justified  by  such  passages  as  the  following :  Eph.  iv. 
11,  12,  compared  with  1  Cor.  xii.  28  ;  Rom.  xii.  7,  8 ;  2  Tim.  iv. 
5,  &c.  These  extraordinary  offices,  whatever  they  were,  ceased 
with  the  age  of  the  apostles.  The  office  of  the  apostles  bears  no 
resemblance  to  any  other.  They  were  commissioned  by  Christ, 
and  were  endowed  with  spiritual  gifts  to  transmit  his  word  and 
Spirit  to  the  whole  Christian  church  through  all  ages.  Their  au- 
thority can  be  delegated  to  none  else ;  as  apostles,  they  can  have 
no  successors.  The  fiction  of  the  apostolical  succession  is  a  delusion 
which,  in  extravagant  folly  and  superstition,  is,  perhaps,  without  a 

parallel  even  in  the  history  of  religious  extravagances. 
126 


SEC.  I.]  PRELIMINARY   REMARKS.  127 


II.  The  ordinary  officers  of  the  apostolical  church. — The  original 
and  ordinary  officers  of  the  church  consisted  of  two  classes ;  the 
first,  known  by  different  names,  STtiCxoTtOL,  overseers,  superintend- 
ents, bishops,  Tt^EG^vte^oi,  presbyters,  elders,  SLSaGxaXoi,  teachers, 
Ttoifisveg,  pastors,  &c. ;  the  second,  SidxovoL,  servants,  deaco7is. 

The  two  orders  of  the  clergy  established  by  the  apostles  con- 
tinued until  the  latter  part  of  the  second  and  first  half  of  the  third 
centuries.  Tertullian,^  A.  D.  220,  is  the  first  to  make  mention  of  a 
new  and  subordinate  order,  that  of  readers.  Cyprian,^  A.  D.  250, 
speaks  of  sub-deacons,  acolyths,  and  readers.  There  were  also  exor- 
cists, at  the  same  time,  in  the  church  at  Carthage.  Eusebius^  has 
preserved  a  fragment  of  an  epistle  from  Cornelius  of  Rome,  A.  D. 
250,  from  which  it  appears  that  there  were  in  that  church  also  the 
same  officers,  to  which  is  added  that  of  janitors.  These  were  ac- 
counted an  inferior  order,  while  bishops,  presbyters,  and  deacons 
constituted  the  superior  order.  The  inferior  order  were  the  attend- 
ants, assistants,  and  servants  of  their  superiors,  to  wait  upon  and 
assist  them  in  their  ministrations,  and  to  render  the  rites  of  public 
worship  more  formal  and  imposing. 

III.  Divisions  and  classes  in  different  churches. — In  the  divi- 
sions of  the  priesthood,  it  is  a  great  mistake  to  seek  for  uniform  and 
fixed  rules  without  regard  to  the  exigencies  of  difierent  communities 
and  countries.  From  a  letter  to  Fabius,  bishop  of  Antioch,  writ- 
ten by  Cornelius  of  Rome,  who  died  A.  D.  250,  it  appears  that  the 
inferior  orders  of  the  clergy  at  Rome  composed  five  classes,  sub- 
deacons,  acolyths,  exorcists,  readers,  and  doorkeepers ;  but  the 
usages  of  the  churches  of  Milan,  Naples,  Syracuse,  and  Ravenna 
did  not  at  the  same  time  correspond  with  those  of  Rome. 

For  the  vast  church  at  Constantinople,  A.  D.  530,  Justinian  pre- 
scribed the  following  officers :  sixty  presbyters,  one  hundred  dea- 
cons, forty  deaconesses,  ninety  sub-deacons,  one  hundred  and  ten 
readers,  and  twenty-five  singers ;  in  all,  four  hundred  and  twenty- 
five,  besides  one  hundred  door-keepers,  ostiarii. 

From  all  these  authorities  the  inference  clearly  is,  that  the  dis- 
tinction of  superior  and  inferior  clergy  was  recognised  in  all  the 
churches,  though  there  was  no  uniform  rule  of  division. 

In  this  connection  it  is  important  also  to  take  notice  of  the  dif- 
ferent classifications  which  prevail  in  the  several  great  divisions  of 
the  church. 

In  the  Greek  church,  the  officers  were  as  follow :    1.  Bishops ; 


128  SUPERIOR  ORDERS  OF  THE  CLERGY.    [cHAP.  VIII. 


2.  Priests ;  3.  Deacons ;  4.  Sub-deacons,  and  5.  Readers,  to  which 
class  the  singers  and  acolyths  also  belonged. 

The  episcopal  hierarchy  itself  consisted  of  three  orders :  arch- 
bishops, metropolitans,  and  patriarchs.  To  these  another  officer, 
still  higher,  was  sometimes  added,  styled  exarch.  The  ecclesias- 
tical court  of  Russia  is  styled  the  Holy  Synod.  Its  organization 
corresponds  with  that  of  the  modern  Greek  church  in  Russia.* 

The  Syriac  and  Nestorian  churches  affect  to  copy  after  the  hea- 
venly hierarchy,  and  to  compare  their  officers  with  those  of  the 
court  of  heaven.  The  Nestorians  compare  their  patriarchs,  metro- 
politans, and  bishops  with  the  orders  of  Cherubim,  Seraphim,  and 
Thrones  ;  their  archdeacons,  pastoral  priests,  and  preachers  with 
angels  of  the  second  rank,  styled  Virtues,  Powers,  and  Domina- 
tions ;  their  deacons,  sub-deacons,  and  readers  with  those  of  the 
third  rank,  viz.  Princedoms,  Archangels,  and  Angels.^ 

The  Roman  Catholics  of  the  Western  church,  in  general,  abide 
firmly  by  the  principle  established  by  the  schoolmen,  that  the 
priesthood  is  to  consist  of  seven  classes,  corresponding  to  the  seven 
spirits  of  God.  Of  these,  the  three  who  are  chiefly  employed  in 
the  duties  of  the  ministerial  office  compose  the  superior  order ;  and 
the  four,  whose  duty  it  is  to  wait  upon  the  clergy  in  their  ministra- 
tions and  to  assist  in  conducting  public  worship,  belong  to  the  infe- 
rior order. 

The  canonists  divide  the  priesthood  into  nine  classes ;  of  which 
four  belong  to  the  higher  order,  and  five  to  the  lower.  The  follow- 
ing is  a  catalogue  of  the  several  classes  as  given  by  them,  pro- 
ceeding from  the  lowest  to  the  highest :  Of  the  inferior  order — 
1.  Singers  ;  2.  Doorkeepers ;  3.  Readers  ;  4.  Exorcists  ;  5.  Aco- 
lyths. Of  the  superior  order — 6.  Sub-deacons ;  7.  Deacons ; 
8.  Presbyters  ;  9.  Bishops.^ 

The  classification  according  to  the  scholastics  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  church  is  as  follows  :  Of  the  superior  order,  three — 1.  Pres- 
byters, or  priests ;  2.  Deacons ;  3.  Sub-deacons.  Of  the  inferior 
order,  four — 1.  Acolyths ;  2.  Exorcists  ;  3.  Readers ;  4.  Door- 
keepers. This  classification  of  the  inferior  order  was  established 
by  the  Council  of  Trent ;  but  another  of  a  subordinate  rank  is 
sometimes  added.^ 

The  second  Council  of  Toletum,  A.  d.  531,  provides  that  chil- 
dren of  tender  age  may  be  devoted  to  the  ministry  ;  and  that,  after 
having  been  duly  instructed,  if  of  blameless  morals,  they  may, 
after  passing  through  the  inferior  orders,  be  advanced  to  the  supe- 


SEC.  I.]  PRELIMINARY   REMARKS.  129 


rior,  by  appointment  to  the  ofiEice  of  deacon,  presbyter,  or  bishop. 
The  inferior  orders  of  the  clergy  thus  became  a  kind  of  seminary 
from  which  the  churches  were  supplied  with  candidates  for  the 
ministry. 

IV.  Origin  of  the  distinction  between  Bishops  and  Presbyter's,  as 
separate  orders  of  the  clergy. — According  to  Hilary  of  Rome,  in 
the  middle  of  the  fourth  century,  the  distinction  was  the  result  of 
an  ambitious  strife  for  preferment  and  office  on  the  part  of  certain 
of  the  clergy,  who,  by  talent  and  influence  gaining  a  leading  in- 
fluence among  their  fellow-presbyters,  began  proudly  to  claim  supe- 
riority over  them  as  a  distinct  order  of  the  priesthood,  and,  by  this 
means,  finally  acquired  for  themselves  official  consideration  and 
importance,  which  was,  at  first,  the  result  of  accidental  circum- 
stances.* 

Jerome  ascribes  the  origin  of  these  prerogatives  to  the  ambition 
of  the  priesthood.  It  was  a  fruitless  expedient  to  put  an  end  to 
the  ambitious  contentions  of  the  clergy  for  preferment  one  above 
another,  and  to  quiet  their  discussions. f  In  either  case,  episco- 
pacy, accoi'ding  to  these  ancient  authors,  had  its  origin  in  the  bad 
passions  of  the  priesthood,  and  evinces  their  early  departure  from 
the  spirit  of  Christ,  &c. 

These  and  many  other  causes,  doubtless,  operating,  some  with 
less  and  others  with  greater  power  in  different  churches,  gave  rise 
to  episcopacy  at  an  early  period ;  and  the  institution  of  the  epis- 
copal system  soon  wrought  almost  a  total  change  in  the  constitution 
of  the  church.  This  change  is  apparent  in  the  rise  of  a  multitude 
of  officers  in  the  church  and  in  the  ministry,  resulting  from  the 
establishment  of  the  episcopal  prerogatives.  But  the  opinions  of 
the  learned  respecting  the  origin  of  the  episcopacy  have  been  exhi- 
bited in  another  place.  It  only  remains,  in  this  connection,  to 
subjoin  the  date  which  is  generally  assigned  to  the  commencement 
of  the  official  distinction  between  bishops  and  presbyters. 

*  Apud  omnes  gentes  utique  honorabilis  est  senectus,  unde  et  synagoga  et 
postea  ecclesia  seniores  habuit,  quorum  sine  consilio  nihil  agebatur.  Quod  qua 
negligentia  obsoleverit,  nescio,  nisi  forte  doctorum  dissidio,  aut  magis  superbia 
dum  soli  volant  aliquid  videri. — In  Tim.  v.  5. 

f  Antequam  diaboli  instinctu  studia  in  religione  fierent,  et  diceretur  in  popu- 
lis,  ego  sum  Pauli,  ego  autem  Cephoe,  communi  presbyterorum  consilio  ecclesiaj 
gubernabantur.  Postquam  vero  unusquisque  eos  quos  baptizaverat  suos  puta- 
bat  esse,  non  Christi,  in  toto  orbe  decretum  est  ut  unus  de  presbyteris  electus 
superponeretur  CEeteris,  ad  quem  omnis  ecclesioe  cura  pertineret,  et  scliismatnm 
semina  tollerentur. — In  Tit.  i.  1. 

9 


130  SUPERIOR    ORDERS    OF    THE    CLERGY.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

After  the  decease  of  the  apostles,  the  authority  of  such  as  had 
enjoyed  their  personal  instructions,  like  Polycarp,  Papias,  and  Cle- 
ment of  Rome,  would  naturally  be  received  with  great  respect.  A 
peculiar  veneration  may  also  be  supposed  to  belong  to  them,  and  to 
the  churches  founded  by  the  apostles  over  which  these,  their  imme- 
diate successors,  presided.  So  far  as  such  incidental  circumstances 
are  to  be  regarded  as  the  germ  of  the  episcopacy,  the  causes  which 
gave  rise  to  it  may  date  back  to  the  time  of  the  apostles.  But 
beyond  this  there  is  no  satisfactory  evidence  that  any  one  assumed 
or  exercised  the  office  of  bishop  earlier  than  a  hundred  years  from 
the  age  of  the  apostles,  in  the  last  half  of  the  second  century. 
For  a  hundred  years  later,  until  the  fourth  century,  the  bishop 
continued  only  to  administer  the  affairs  of  the  church  in  connection 
with  his  fellow-presbyters,  by  and  with  their  consent  and  advice. 
The  idea  of  the  co-ordinate  authority  of  presbyters  and  bishops 
continued  for  several  centuries  later.* 

The  specifications  which  follow  relate  to  the  bishop  when  fully 
invested  with  his  prerogatives  as  head  of  the  church  and  presiding 
officer  over  the  different  orders  of  the  clergy. 

§  2.    OF    BISHOPS. 

I.  Names  and  titles  of  BisJiops. — The  Greek  word,  ETtiaxonog, 
which  has  from  the  beginning  been  retained  in  the  nomenclature 
of  the  church,  is  equivalent  to  the  terms  overseer,  superintendent, 
inspector,  president.  Augustin  defines  it  to  mean  overseer,  presi- 
dent. Jerome  renders  it  superintendent ;  both,  however,  uniformly 
employ  the  original  word.  It  is  worthy  of  notice,  also,  that  the 
presbyters  are  likewise  exhorted  in  the  Scriptures  to  exercise  the 
same  spiritual  functions  as  the  bishops,  eTtiaxoTtovvtec,,  talcing  the 
oversight  of  the  churches.     (1  Pet.  v.  1,  2.) 

The  following  are  the  most  important  names  which  were  an- 
ciently applied  to  the  bishops.  The  period  from  which  these  titles 
severally  take  their  origin  is  indicated  by  the  age  of  the  authors 
cited  in  the  references. 

1.  Ylpea^vrepoL  nposaTateg,  (1  Tim.  v.  17 ;)  TtpoiardfiEvoi, 
(1  Thess.  v.  12,)  rendered  in  Latin  prepositi,  and  used  to  designate 


*  The  authorities  on  this  point  have  been  collected  by  Rothe,  Die  Anfange  der 
Christlichen  Kirche,  i.  208,  el  seq.,  the  most  important  of  which  will  be  found  in 
Trim.  Church,  chap.  vi.  pp.  124,  244. 


SEC,  II.]  BISHOPS.  131 

them  as  the  presiding  officers  in  Christian  assemblies.  The  Greek 
fathers  are  careful  to  add  the  phrase  spiritual,  Ttvevfianxoi  or 
TtvevacLtixov  "^o^ov,  to  distinguish  them  from  secular  rulers.^ 

2.  ITpoe^pOf,  prsesides,  pra^sidentes.  Used  in  close  connection 
with  the  foregoing,  and  derived  from  the  TtpoeSpia,  the  elevated 
seat  which  the  bishop  occupied  in  the  synod,  and  in  the  religious 
assemblies  of  the  people.^ 

3.  "E(popoL,  inspectors.  Not  often  used,  because  it  is  liable  to 
be  confounded  with  the  £<popoi  of  the  Greeks.  Both  the  Greek 
and  Latin  terra  is  much  in  use  among  Protestants  to  desiirnate  the 
principal  of  a  school,  or  corporation,  or  church,  and  is  synonymous 
with  church  or  school  inspector,  or  master  of  a  gymnasium. 

4.  AnocroTiOi,  apostles.  So  called  by  Theodoret  to  distinguish 
them  from  presbyters,  who  were  called  ETtiOxoTtOL.^  Also,  Ata- 
GO^OL  tm>  d7to<yTo?.o)V,  vicarii,  or  successors  of  the  apostles.*  On 
this  title  now  depends  the  important  dogma  concerning  the  per- 
petual and  uninterrupted  succession  of  bishops  which,  not  only  the 
Greek  and  Romish  churches,  but  a  portion  also  of  the  church  of 
England,  maintain  with  singular  pertinacity. 

The  doctrine  of  the  apostolical  succession  is  purely  a  creation  of 
prelacy  unknown  to  the  primitive  churches.  Ignatius  is  of  no  au- 
thority :  none  of  the  apostolical  fathers  teach  it.  The  passage  of 
Clement,  in  his  epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  c.  44,  so  often  cited,  refers 
to  the  ordinary  ministry.  Cyprian,  at  the  distance  of  two  hundred 
years  from  the  apostolic  age,  is  the  first  to  assert  this  dogma.* 
After  Cyprian,  it  is  affirmed  by  Ambrose,  Augustin,  Basil,  Jerome, 
and  Theodoret,  and  from  them  it  has  been  transmitted  through 
every  succeeding  age.  Even  now  it  assumes  to  unchurch  the  whole 
Christian  ministry,  unless  episcopally  ordained  by  one  who  has 
received  the  mysterious  grace  of  apostolical  succession. 

5.  Angeli  ecclesise,  angels  of  the  church.  An  epithet  derived 
from  the  angel  of  the  church,  in  the  Apocalypse.  It  was  a  doc- 
trine of  great  antiquity,  that  some  angel  in  heaven  acted  as  the 
representative  of  every  nation  and  kingdom  and  province,  and  that 
some  guardian  angel  was  intrusted  with  the  care  of  each  indivi- 
dual. (Heb.  i.  14.)  The  bishops,  therefore,  who  were  appointed  by 
Christ  and  his  apostles  to  the  ministry  of  the  gospel  and  the  ser- 
vice of  the  saints,  were  supposed  to  bear  the  same  relations  in  the 

*  Laborare  debemus,  ut  unitatem  a  Domino,  et  per  apostolos  nobis,  successoribus 
traditam  obtinere  euremus. — Epist.  ad  Cornel.  42,  al.  45.  Comp.  Ep.  G9,  al.  66, 
ad  Florent. 


132  SUPERIOR    ORDERS    OP    THE    CLERGY.  [CHAP.  Vlll. 

Lierarcliy  of  the  church  that  these  tutelary  angels  bore  in  the 
court  of  heaven.  On  the  subject  of  guardian  angels,  see  refer- 
ences.^ 

6.  Summi  sacerdotes,  pontifices  maximi,  chief  priests,  etc.  These 
titles  were  conferred  by  those  writers  who,  in  the  third  century, 
began  to  derive  the  organization  of  the  church  from  the  regulations 
of  the  temple  service,  rather  than  from  those  of  the  synagogue. 
They  afterwards  became  the  titles  of  the  patriarchs  and  bishops  of 
the  Roman  Catholics. 

7.  Patres,  patres  ecclesise,  patres  clericoruni,  and  patres  patrum, 
"fathers,  fathers  of  the  church,  fathers  of  the  clergy,  fathers  of 
fathers ;"  according  to  the  oriental  custom  of  calling  a  teacher  or 
superior,  2i<:,  Oi(3(3d  and  a^^aq,  father. 

Abba  and  abbas  was  originally  the  common  appellation  of  a 
monk.     Modern  usage  also  confers  upon  him  the  name  of  father.    . 

Pajja,  pope,  corresponds  in  signification  with  6.(i^d,  TtOJtTta, 
father,  honoured  father,  and  is  a  familiar  and  affectionate  form  of 
expression  which  was  applied  at  first  to  all  bishops.  Tertullian  be- 
stows this  appellation  upon  the  bishop.^  Cyprian  was  addressed 
by  the  same  title.^  Siricius  was  probably  the  first  Roman  bishop 
who,  about  the  year  384,  assumed  the  name  as  an  ofiicial  title  in  a 
public  document.^  It  was  not,  however,  employed  officially  until 
the  time  of  Leo  the  Great,  A.  D.  450 ;  and  it  was  afterwards  ap- 
plied exclusively  to  the  bishop  of  Rome,  according  to  an  order  of 
Gregory  the  Great,  A.  D.  590,  who  declares  this  to  be  the  only 
appropriate  title  belonging  to  the  office. 

8.  Patriarchs.  At  first,  all  bishops  were  called  by  this  name, 
as  being  superior  to  the  presbyters,  who  were  merely  denominated 
patres.  It  was  afterwards  only  applied  to  the  archbishop  and  me- 
tropolitan, or  to  the  bishop  of  some  large  and  influential  diocese. 
Between  the  fourth  and  sixth  centuries,  five  large  churches  arose, 
whose  highest  ecclesiastical  officer  bore  the  title  of  patriarch. 
These  were  the  churches  of  Rome,  Constantinople,  Alexandria, 
Theophilus  or  Antioch,  and  Jerusalem. 

9.  Stadtholders  aiid  vicegerents  of  Christ  and  of  God.  From 
the  time  of  Ignatius  and  the  date  of  the  Apostolical  Constitutions, 
the  bishops  were  represented  to  have  received  their  commissions 
from  Christ  himself,  and,  in  his  name,  to  administer  the  affairs  of 
the  church.  Cyprian  speaks  of  the  bishop  as  acting  ^^vice  OJiristi," 
in  the  place  of  Christ.  Basil  represents  him  as  occupying  the 
place  of  the  Saviour  :^  "the  president  is  nothing  less  than  one  who 


SEC.  II.]  BISHOPS.  133 

sustains  the  person,  o  tov  SuTrfpog  VTts^GiV  TtpoGCdTiov,  wlio  occu- 
pies the  place  of  the  Saviour  ;"  and  Augustin  and  Ambrose  employ 
much  the  same  extravagant  language.  So  early  did  the  church 
forget  the  Saviour's  injunction,  "Call  no  man  master." 

The  pope,  in  styling  himself  vicar  of  Christ,  vicegerent  of  God, 
etc.,  only  arrogated  as  exclusively  his  own,  what  had  previously  been 
a  common  appellation  of  bishops. 

10.  'Ap^ovreg  ixx?^y!Gicbv,  rulers  of  the  church.  So  Origen, 
Eusebius,  Chrysostom,  Jerome,  and  others.  They  were  rulers,  how- 
ever, not  in  a  political,  but  merely  in  a  religious  sense. 

11.  Princeps  sacerdotum,  and  Episcopus  episcoporum,  are  syn- 
onymous with  archbishop,  patriarch,  etc. 

12.  Various  other  epithets  are  applied  to  them,  such  as  blessed^ 
most  blessed — holy,  most  holy — 7nost  beloved  of  God,  etc.  The  usual 
salutation  of  a  letter  was  as  follows :  T(p  ayioTdtco  xal  [.laxapo- 
rdrci  apj^LeTCKyxoTtoi  xai  oixovfiEVLX(p  narpidp^Ti. 

II.  Official  duties  of  the  Bishop. — The  office  of  bishop  compre- 
hended, in  general,  two  different  classes  of  duties. 

A.  All  those  that  relate  to  the  worship  of  Cfod.  This  division 
comprises  all  the  offices  of  religious  worship  without  exception, 
whether  performed  by  the  bishop  in  person,  or  by  others  acting 
under  his  commission. 

B.  Duties  relating  to  the  government  and  discipline  of  the  church. 
Under  this  class  is  comprised  the  oversight  in  all  the  churches  of 
his  diocese,  both  of  the  laity  and  the  priesthood ;  and  the  manage- 
ment of  the  affairs  of  the  several  churches  which  were  submitted 
to  his  care. 

These  separate  divisions  require  each  a  careful  examination. 

A.  In  regard  to  duties  pertaining  to  religious  worship,  we  are  to 
distinguish  carefully  between  the  right  or  vocation,  and  the  actual 
exercise  of  the  duties  consequent  upon  this  vocation.  In  the  earliest 
period  of  the  church,  Avhile  yet  the  greatest  simplicity  of  form  pre- 
vailed, and  before  any  determinate  distinction  was  known  between 
bishop  and  presbyter,  many  services  relating  to  the  worship  of  God 
were  prescribed  to  the  deacons  and  ministers,  oiaxovoLg  and  vit'/jp- 
staig,  who  were  already  known  in  the  New  Testament.  According. 
to  Justin  Martyr,^"  it  was  the  duty  of  the  minister,  o  npoEGTG)g 
tcdv  aheT^^CiV,  synonymous  with  eniaxoTtog,  apx,^ep£vg,  Ispap^nr^g, 
to  consecrate  the  elements.  To  the  deacons  belonged  the  duty  of 
distributing  them.  The  same  distribution  of  the  services  is  also 
prescribed  in  the  Apostolical  Constitutions."     Other  duties    are 


134  SUPEEIOE  ORDERS  OF  THE  CLERGY.    [CHAP.  VIII. 

also  assigned  to  the  deacons  and  subordinate  oflBcers  of  the  church, 
to  be  performed,  however,  by  the  direction  or  under  the  immediate 
oversight  of  the  bishop. 

Some  of  the  offices  and  duties  mentioned  below  were  not  exclu- 
sively performed  by  the  bishop.  They  were,  however,  appropri- 
ately his  own,  whether  fulfilled  by  himself  or  by  another  under  his 
authority  or  superintendence  as  commissioned  by  him. 

1.  It  was  especially  the  duty  of  the  bishop  to  perform  the  offices  of 
catechist  and  preacher.  It  was  a  maxim  of  the  ancient  church  that 
the  peculiar  office  of  the  bishop  is  to  teach  the  people.^  This  duty 
was  distinctly  acknowledged  and  actually  performed  by  Chrysostom, 
Gregory  Nazianzen,  Cyprian,  Augustin,  Leo  the  Great,  Gregory 
the  Great,  and  others.  Such  was  not  only  the  sentiment  of  the 
church  generally,  but  Charlemagne  and  Louis  I.  expressly  enjoin 
the  bishops  not  to  neglect  this  important  part  of  their  official  duties 
on  any  plea  of  ignorance  or  indolence.^'  The  same  duty  is  expli- 
citly taught  by  the  Council  of  Trent  in  the  following  terms,  and  in 
perfect  accordance  with  the  vicAvs  of  the  primitive  church:  "Whereas 
the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  which  is  the  peculiar  office  of  bishops, 
is  as  essential  to  every  Christian  community  as  the  reading  of  the 
word ;  therefore,  this  sacred  synod  has  determined  and  decreed 
that  all  bishops,  archbishops,  and  primates,  and  all  other  prelates 
of  the  churches,  are  themselves  required  and  personally  bound  to 
preach  the  blessed  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  unless  specially  pre- 
vented, legitime  prohibiti."^^ 

Such,  beyond  all  controversy,  is  the  duty  of  those  who  sustain 
the  office  of  bishop ;  though  their  practice  has,  at  times,  been  alto- 
gether the  reverse  of  this,  and  still  is  in  part.  Occasionally,  even 
in  the  ancient  church,  the  bishops,  through  the  pressure  of  secular 
cares,  neglected  entirely  their  ministerial  duties.  At  other  times, 
they  refused,  in  the  pride  of  office,  their  duties  as  preachers  and 
catechists,  and  the  more  humble  duties  of  the  sacred  office,  as  dero- 
gatory to  their  character.  But  at  no  time  has  the  right  and  the 
duty  of  the  bishop  to  discharge  all  the  offices  of  the  ministry  been 
called  in  question.  The  act  of  ordination,  of  itself,  and  according 
to  the  canons  of  the  church,  exclusively  invests  them  with  all  the 
offices  and  prerogatives  of  the  priesthood. 

2.  The  confirmation  of  baptized  persons,  by  which  they  are  re- 


*  Episcopi  proprium  munus — docere  populum. — Ambrose,  De  Offic.  Sacer.  lib. 
i.  c.  i. 


SEC.  II.]  BISHOPS.  135 


ceived  as  regular  members  of  the  church.  This,  which  is  styled 
the  sealing  of  the  covenant,  was  the  prerogative  of  the  bishop.* 
This  rite  is  still  performed  in  the  Roman  Catholic  and  English 
chm'ches  by  the  bishop  himself  or  his  substitute.  In  other  churches, 
the  priest  is  permitted  to  administer  this  ordinance. 

3.  The  ordination  of  the  clergy,  and  consecration  of  other  officers 
of  the  church.  It  has  been  a  uniform  rule  of  the  church,  both  in 
ancient  and  modern  times,  to  which  there  have  been  only  occasional 
exceptions,  that  the  right  of  ordaining  belongs  to  the  bishop.  The 
substitute  was  regarded  as  acting  strictly  in  the  jjlace  of  the  bishop, 
and  in  this  way  the  bishop  gained  peculiar  influence  and  considera- 
tion. The  archdeacon  is  sometimes  represented  as  officiating  in  the 
ordination  of  inferior  officers ;  but  he  is  to  be  regarded  as  acting,  in 
such  cases,  in  the  place  of  the  bishop,  so  that  what  he  does  by  an- 
other he  does  of  himself.  Three  bishops  were  required  to  assist  in 
the  ordination  of  one  to  that  office ;  but  some  of  the  higher  officers 
in  other  orders  of  the  clergy  were  subsequently  permitted  to  assist 
in  this  service. 

4.  The  consecration  of  the  sacramental  elements.  This  was  done, 
in  the  time  of  Justin  Martyr  by  the  TtpoeCTTog  tcov  d^eZ^ojr,  the 
presiding  officer  of  the  church,  and  became,  subsequently,  the  duty 
exclusively  of  the  bishop.  It  was,  indeed,  frequently  performed 
by  presbyters,  and  even  by  deacons,  but  only  in  the  absence  of  the 
bishop,  and  by  his  authority.  Whenever  either  presbyter  or  dea- 
con presumed  to  perform  this  office,  it  was  severely  censured  as  an 
assumption  of  an  episcopal  prerogative. f 

III.  Of  the  power  of  the  bishop  in  the  government  and  discipline 
of  the  church  after  the  establishment  of  the  hierarchy. — It  was  a 
favourite  sentiment  in  the  church,  after  the  establishment  of  the 
ecclesiastical  hierarchy,  that  all  power  centered  in  the  bishop  as  a 
universal  hierarch — that  all  the  clergy  were  subject  to  his  autho- 
rity— that  all  spiritual  benefices  and  preferments  proceeded  from 
him,  and  that  all  the  sacraments  were  to  be  administered  in  his 


*  Pontificibus  solis  deberi  ut  vel  consignant,  vel  paraclitum  Spiritum  tradant, 
non  solum  consuetudo  ecclesias  demonstrat,  verum  et  lectio  Actorum  Apostolo- 
rum. — Innocent  I.,  Ad  Decret.  c.  i.  s.  3.  Comp.  Innocent  II.  Epist.  73.  Quid 
facit,  ezcepta  ordinatione,  episcopus  quod  presbyter  non  facit? — Hieron.  Ad  Evag 
85.     Comp.  Cone.  Antioch.  c.  22. 

f  Pepin's  decree,  a.  d.  755,  is  as  follows  : — Nullus  presbyter  prsesumat  missas 
celebrare  sine  jussione  episcopi  in  cujus  parochia  est.  The  Council  of  ArleS; 
A.  D.  314,  laid  similar  restrictions  upon  deacons. — Can.  15. 


136  SUPERIOR    ORDERS    OF    THE    CLERGY.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

name  and  by  a  commission  from  him.  Both  the  Apostolical  Con- 
stitutions and  the  liturgy  of  the  pseudo  Dionysius,  the  Areopagite, 
represent  that  every  thing  relating  to  the  worship  of  God,  in  all  its 
parts,  is  the  collective  work  of  the  bishop.  But  restrictions  were 
early  laid  upon  the  authority  of  the  bishop  by  regulations  of  the 
church,  by  synodical  decisions,  and  by  metropolitan,  patriarchal, 
and  papal  decrees.  By  these  regulations  and  decrees,  the  power 
of  the  bishop  was,  at  times,  greatly  reduced.  But,  however  limited 
his  prerogatives,  the  bishop  uniformly  remained  the  source  and 
centre  of  ecclesiastical  authority  within  his  own  diocese.  The  dio- 
cesan clergy  of  every  rank  were  dependent  upon  him,  and  by  him 
were  the  regulations  of  the  churches  directed.  His  influence  was 
especially  manifested  in  the  following  particulars  : 

1.  In  the  sujyerintendence  of  religious  ivorship.  All  the  forms 
of  public  worship  were  subject  to  his  direction.  This  direction  he 
gave  at  pleasure,  either  in  accordance  with  his  own  will,  or  in 
conformity  Avith  usage,  or  by  rules  more  or  less  epecific.  It  Avas 
his  business  to  sec  that  every  thing  was  done  according  to  the 
established  order.  Over  occasional  and  peculiar  religious  acts, 
such  as  processions,  pilgrimages,  fasts,  and  vows,  he  had  a  special 
control. 

2.  The  oversight  of  all  the  members  of  his  diocese  in  regard  to 
spiritual  and  ecclesiastical  matters.  This  oversight  he  exercised 
by  adjudicating,  excommunicating,  prescribing  penance,  and  regu- 
lating the  laws  of  the  marriage  institution.  The  doings  of  the 
priest  were  especially  open  to  an  appeal  to  him  and  subject  to  his 
revision.  In  a  word,  all  that  related  to  the  discipline  of  the  church 
was  subject  to  his  control. 

3.  The  reconciling  of  penitents,  or  the  restoration  of  offending 
members  of  the  church.  It  was  the  duty  of  the  bishop  to  announce 
those  who  made  profession  of  penitence — to  receive  them  on  pro- 
bation— to  prescribe  the  time  and  form  of  their  penance,  and  to 
exercise  a  watch  over  them ;  though,  in  all  this,  the  presbyter  often 
co-operated  Avith  him,  and  even  the  Avhole  church  continued  for 
some  time  to  have  a  voice  in  its  discipline.  But  to  remove  the  sen- 
tence of  excommunication  was,  in  the  ancient  church,  the  especial 
prerogative  of  the  bishop,  which  Avas  very  seldom  delegated  to  a 
presbyter  or  any  other.  In  this  respect,  the  authority  of  the  bishop 
was  absolute  over  even  the  monarch  upon  his  throne.  Ambrose 
boldly  forbade  Theodosius  the  emperor  to  receiA-e  the  Lord's  sup- 
per at  his  hands ;  and,  after  prescribing  to  him  a  se\xre  penance, 


SEC.  II.]  BISHOPS.  137 

restored  him,  on  confession,  to  the  communion  of  the  church."  On 
the  introduction  of  the  forms  of  confession  and  private  absolu- 
tion, the  whole  system  of  penance  previously  in  use  was  changed, 
but  there  still  remained  much  to'  be  administered  publicly  by  the 
bishop. 

4.  All  the  subordinate  members  of  the  priesthood,  and  the  ser- 
vants in  the  church,  were  subject  to  the  superintendence  of  the 
bishops,  both  as  to  the  discharge  of  their  offices  and  the  conduct 
of  their  lives.  It  was  an  ancient  rule  in  the  church,  that  the  clergy 
are  under  the  same  subjection  to  the  bishop  as  the  soldier  to  his 
commander.  History,  indeed,  abounds  with  examples  of  severe 
punishment  inflicted  upon  a  refractory  and  disobedient  priesthood.* 

5.  It  was  the  specific  duty  of  the  bishop  to  visit  curates,  churches, 
schools,  cloisters,  and  religious  establishments.  Many  rules  of  the 
church  enforce  this  duty  upon  the  bishops  personally,  and  it  was 
with  reluctance  allowed  to  the  bishop  to  appoint  to  this  service 
rural  bishops,  chorepiscopi,  exarchs,  and  itinerant  or  visiting  pres- 
byters, TteoLohEVtai .  The  Council  of  Laodicea,  in  the  middle  of 
the  fourth  century,  decreed  that  bishops  should  not  reside  in  the 
country  or  smaller  villages,  but  itinerant  presbyters  only,  and  that 
these  should  do  nothing  without  the  knowledge  of  the  bishop  resid- 
ing in  the  city,  just  as  presbyters  acted  in  subordination  to  his  will. 
Under  the  Carlovingian  dynasty,  bishops  and  counts  of  the  realm 
were  placed  on  equal  footing,  and  exercised  a  joint  jurisdiction. 

6.  The  bishop)  acted  as  moderator  of  all  synods  within  his  dio- 
cese, and  gave  direction  to  their  doings.  This  was  formerly  a  pri- 
vilege of  great  importance.  The  disrespect  into  which  synodical 
councils  and  decrees  have  fallen,  in  modern  times,  has  greatly 
reduced  the  authority  and  influence  of  the  bishops.  Ecclesiastical 
councils  are  supposed  to  have  been  first  held  in  the  Greek  chm'ch, 
towards  the  close  of  the  second  century. 

7.  The  bishop  contj-olled  and  disbursed,  at  pleasure,  both  the 
occasional  contributions  and  the  stated  revenues  of  the  church. 
The  deacons,  at  first,  acted  as  his  assistants  in  the  business ;  but 
as  the  management  of  the  revenue  became  more  intricate  and  re- 
sponsible, it  was  intrusted  to  stewards,  subject  to  the  direction  of 

*  Cum  pro  episcopatus  vigore,  et  cathedrte  auctoritate  haberes  potestatem,  qua 
posses  de  illo  statim  vindicari — fungeris  circa  euna  potestate  honoris  tui,  ut  eum 
vel  deponas,  vel  abstineas.  Such  is  Cyprian's  counsel  to  Rogatian,  a  fellow  bishop, 
respecting  the  exercise  of  his  episcopal  power  in  the  discipline  of  a  disorderly 
deacon. — Ep.  C5,  al.  3.     Comp.  Ep.  12,  al.  3,  13  al.  18. 


138  SUPERIOR    ORDERS    OF   THE   CLERGY.         [CHAP.  VIII. 

the  archdeacons,  over  whom  the  bishop  retained  a  general  super- 
intendence. 

8.  The  bishop  exercised,  in  part,  a  civil  as  ivell  as  ecclesiastical 
jurisdiction,  especially  in  cases  relating  to  marriages  and  divorces, 
and  to  the  person  or  goods  of  ecclesiastics,*  and  in  what  are  called 
mixed  cases,  in  civil  or  penal  actions,  which  are  to  be  adjudged  both 
by  statute  and  by  common  law.  At  first,  there  were  certain  jus- 
tices, exSlxol  and  OvvhixoL,  advocati  and  eonsules,  who  acted  as 
his  substitutes  and  in  his  name.  Special  tribunals  were  established 
here,  as  occasion  required,  for  the  management  of  his  various 
judicial  concerns.  Such  was  the  origin  of  the  office  of  deputies, 
officials,  and  chancellor,  and  of  the  courts  of  the  archdeacons  and 
consistories.  But  these  all  acted  in  the  name  and  by  the  autho- 
rity of  the  bishop,  and  were  accountable  to  him. 

Such  various  functions  of  the  bishop,  clerical,  financial,  and  judi- 
cial, invested  him  with  authority  and  power  which  can  never  be 
safely  committed  to  any  man,  either  in  church  or  state.  The  bishop 
was  the  autocrat  of  the  church,  and  often  abused  his  poAver  for  the 
accomplishment  of  selfish,  sinister  ends.  Of  chapters  of  cathedral 
churches,  nothing  Avas  then  known.  These  were  first  established 
in  the  ninth  century.  From  the  twelfth,  they  had  a  constitution 
which,  while  it  laid  some  salutary  restrictions  on  the  arbitrary 
powers  of  the  bishop,  brought  the  church  under  the  control  of  a 
dangerous  aristocracy.  The  bishop  continued  to  be  nominally  the 
head  of  his  chapter ;  but  his  efi'orts  to  hold  them  under  restraint 
proved  often  unavailing. 

The  bishop  was  chosen  to  his  office  in  difierent  ways,  which  are 
specified  in  a  subsequent  chapter  on  elections. 

According  to  the  Apostolical  Constitutions,  one  was  not  eligible 
to  the  office  of  bishop  until  he  was  fifty  years  of  age.  The  rule, 
however,  was  not  generally  observed.  The  canonical  age  for  enter- 
ing upon  this  office  was  thirty  years  ;^^  but  there  are  instances  on 
record  of  persons  who  have  been  elevated  to  the  bishop's  seat  at 
an  earlier  age. 

The  rites  of  consecration  by  which  the  bishop  was  inducted  into 
office  are  detailed  under  the  head  of  Ordination. 


*  Reference  was  had  to  1  Cor.  vi.  4  et  seq.,  for  authority  for  the  exercise  of 
such  powers.  Augustin  complains  of  such  duties  as  exceedingly  vexatious  and 
oppressive. — Oper.  de  Monarch,  c.  29. 


SEC.  III.]  INFERIOR   BISHOPS.  139 


§  3.    OF   THE   INFERIOR   BISHOPS. 

The  whole  number  of  bishops  in  the  early  churches  may  be 
divided  into  two  classes  or  orders — inferior  and  superior.  To  the 
first  of  these  classes  may  be  referred, 

1.  "FiTtiCxoTtOL  G^oT^d^ovTeg,  vacui,  vacantes,  cessantes,  quies- 
centes,  bisJiops  without  cures.  To  this  class  belong  those  who,  for 
any  cause,  declined  the  duties  of  their  office.  In  times  of  perse- 
cution and  religious  commotion,  especially  in  the  fourth  and  fifth 
centuries,  many  men  of  distinction  refused  to  be  considered  candi- 
dates for  the  office  of  bishop,  and  even,  when  elected,  declined  the 
duties  of  the  office.  Others  resigned  who  had  been  fully  inducted 
into  office  ;  and  others,  again,  not  being  acknowledged  by  their 
colleagues  and  dioceses,  were  subject  to  a  compulsory  resignation. 

Under  this  head  may  also  be  ranked  those  bishops  who,  though 
they  did  not  resign,  absented  themselves  from  their  diocese  for  a 
length  of  time,  and  resided,  without  good  reason,  in  other  places. 
In  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  it  was  not  uncommon  for  ten  or 
twelve  bishops  to  relinquish  the  duties  of  their  office,  and  resort  to 
the  court  at  Constantinople.  These  were  deservedly  accounted 
subordinate  to  their  colleagues  who  continued  in  the  faithful  dis- 
charge of  their  duties. 

2.  Titular  hisliops,  Episcopi  in  partibus  infidelimn,  Episcopi 
gentium,  regionarii.  Bishops  of  this  class  were  invested  with  their 
office,  but  had  no  stated  charge  or  diocese.  This  title,  in  general 
use  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  was  given  to  the  bishops 
of  those  provinces  Avhich  had  been  gained  by  the  conquests  of  the 
cross,  and  which  had  long  been  held  under  the  dominion  of  the 
Saracens  and  Turks.  It  is  peculiarly  a  Popish  expedient  to  ap- 
pease the  claimants  for  episcopal  preferment.  The  appointment 
of  titular  dignitaries  was  opposed  to  the  general  usage  of  the  an- 
cient church ;  though  instances  of  this  unworthy  custom  occasion- 
ally occur  in  the  history  of  the  church.  The  Council  of  Chalcedon, 
A.  D.  451,  (c.  6,)  decreed  that  no  one  should  be  ordained  at  large, 

a7tO/l£/lU|M£J^O$. 

3.  Siiff7'agan  bishops.  These  were  originally  the  same  as  dio- 
cesan bishops,  who  acted  as  the  representatives  and  substitutes  of 
their  metropolitans.  They  were  called  suffragan,  either  because 
they  could  not  be  consecrated  without  the  suffrage  of  the  metro- 
politan, or  because  they  had  the  right  of  suffrage  in  the  synod, 


140  SUPERIOR  ORDERS  OF  THE  CLERGY.     [cHAP.  VIII. 

■while  yet  distinct  from  other  members  of  that  body.  The  latter  is 
the  more  probable  explanation  of  the  term. 

These  suffragan  bishops  are  not  the  same  as  the  chorepiscopi ;' 
but  after  the  cessation  of  them,  the  necessity  of  suffragans  became 
much  greater,  and  they  were  accordingly  increased.  Bishops  who 
had  no  metropolitan  power,  fii'st  began  in  the  tenth  century  to  have 
suffragans  under  them.  These  were  also  styled  vicar-generals,  vice- 
gerents, vice-ejnscopi,  etc.^  The  suffragan  bishops  of  Germany 
were  appointed  for  the  ordination  of  inferior  officers  and  the  con- 
secration and  benediction  of  churches,  altars,  baptismal  waters, 
etc. 

4.  Countri/  bishops,  ^Q^eTiiCiXOTtoi,  from  ;t6jpa,  or  ^opior, 
country  ;  Episcopi  rurales,  s.  villani.  These  bishops  have  been  the 
subject  of  much  dispute  among  the  learned,  and  called  forth  a  mul- 
titude of  treatises  and  authors,  ancient  and  modern.  The  office  be- 
longed to  the  ancient  church,  but  is  entirely  unknown  in  the  modern. 
The  gospel  was  early  preached  in  villages  and  towns,  and  churches 
established  with  pastors  and  teachers.  These  were  styled  ;j^ope7t/- 
GxoTtOLf  bishops  of  the  country,  in  distinction  from  bishops  resident 
in  the  cities  ;  but  the  rights  and  official  duties  of  both  were  in 
many  instances  the  same.  In  many  cases,  churches  would  natu- 
rally be  established  in  the  country  around  a  large  city,  througli  the 
influence  of  the  parent  church  in  the  city.  These  churches,  and 
the  ministers  sent  out  to  them,  acknowledged  a  certain  dependence 
and  subordination  to  the  bishop  and  church  of  the  metropolis.  So 
that  the  bishops  in  the  country  were  more  or  less  subordinate  to 
those  of  the  city,  according  to  circumstances,  though  sustaining 
the  relations  of  an  official  equality. 

The  existence  of  such  country  bishops,  however,  was  soon  found 
to  be  derogatory  to  the  dignity  and  influence  of  the  metropolitan. 
It  was  accordingly  the  earnest  and  zealous  strife  of  this  dignitary, 
in  the  councils,  to  subject  the  bishop  of  the  country  to  the  autho- 
rity of  the  metropolitan,  and  finally  to  annihilate  the  office  alto- 
gether. The  Council  of  Sardica,  A.  D.  347,  (c.  6,)  decreed  that 
such  bishops  should  not  be  appointed,  ne  vilescat  nomen  episcojn  et 
auctoritas.  And  the  Council  of  Laodicea,  A.  D.  360,  (c.  57,)  re- 
newed the  same  decree  for  a  similar  reason.  Previous  to  this  period 
their  powers  had  become  considerably  restricted.  They  are  styled 
Gv7J).eLrovoyoi,  fellow-labourers  with  the  bishop ;  and,  like  the 
cardinals  of  later  times,  were  reckoned  seventy  in  number,  which 
shows  again  that  they,  as  well  as  the  bishops,  were  compared  Avith 


SEC.  III.]  INFERIOR   BISHOPS.  141 


the  apostles  in  office.^  The  Council  of  Nice,  (c.  8,)  so  speaks  of 
them  as  to  show  that  they  held  an  intermediate  grade  between 
presbyters  and  bishops.  Their  duties  were,  to  give  letters  of 
recommendation  and  the  testimonials  of  the  church ;  to  take  the 
oversight  of  the  church  in  the  section  of  country  allotted  to  them ; 
to  appoint  the  readers,  sub-deacons,  and  exorcists ;  and  they  might 
ordain  presbyters  and  deacons,  but  not  without  the  co-operation  of 
the  city  bishop.'*  In  the  year  451,  they  voted,  for  the  first  time, 
as  the  substitutes  or  representatives  of  their  bishops.^  Previous  to 
this  time,  they  had  an  independent  vote  in  general  council,  as  in 
the  Council  of  Nice,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  city  bishops.'' 

The  office  of  cJior-episcopus  was  first  recognised  and  was  also 
soonest  discontinued  in  the  Eastern  church.  In  the  Western  church 
it  shared  a  similar  fate  at  a  later  period,  and  after  a  long  and  angry 
struggle  with  hierarchical  supremacy.  In  France,  this  order  of 
bishops  began  to  be  known  about  the  fifth  century.  They  have 
never  been  numerous  in  Spain  and  Italy.  In  Africa,  on  the  con- 
trary, they  constitute  a  numerous  body.  In  Germany,  they  must 
have  been  frequent  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries  f  and  in  the 
twelfth  century,  the  arrogance,  insubordination,  and  injurious  con- 
duct of  this  class  of  ecclesiastics  became  a  subject  of -general  com- 
plaint in  the  Western  church,  but  more  especially  in  France.  In 
the  East,  the  order  was  abolished  for  the  same  reasons  by  the  Coun- 
cil of  Laodicea,  a.  d.  361.  But  so  little  respect  was  entertained 
for  this  decree  that  the  order  continued  until  the  tenth  century. 
They  were  first  prohibited  in  the  Western  church  in  the  ninth  cen- 
tury.^ About  the  twelfth  century  they  disappeared  from  the  page 
of  history,  and  were  succeeded  by  archdeacons,  rural-deans,  and 
vicar-generals. 

5.  Visitors,  Ttepioosvtai,  itinerant  presbyters.  They  were,  at 
first,  appointed  by  the  Council  of  Laodicea  in  the  room  of  the  clior- 
episcofi,  in  the  fourth  century ;  but  they  were  not  recognised  as  a 
distinct  order  until  some  centuries  later.  Their  business  was  that 
of  itinerant  ministers,  or  evangelists,  to  minister  to  the  churches  in 
the  name  and  under  the  authority  of  the  bishop,  going  about  con- 
tinually to  guard  the  wavering  and  to  confirm  the  faithful.  But 
it  was  their  peculiar  characteristic  that  they  had  no  fixed  abode. 
They  had  not  the  independent  prerogatives  of  the  country  bishops, 
but  were  merely  vicarious  assistants  of  the  bishop — like  a  visiting 
committee  of  the  church,  or  the  visitor.es  ecclesiarttm  of  the  Latin 
church.^ 


142  SUPERIOR   ORDERS   OF   THE   CLERGY.         [CHAP.  VIII. 

6.  Intercessors,  intercessores,  and  interventores.  Officers  peculiar 
to  the  African  church,  who  are  first  mentioned  in  the  Fifth  Council  of 
Carthage.  They  were  temporary  incumbents  of  a  vacant  bishopric, 
and,  for  the  time  being,  performed  the  several  offices  of  bishop.  It 
was  their  duty  to  take  measures  for  the  regular  appointment  of  a 
bishop  as  speedily  as  possible.  To  prevent  abuse,  no  one  was 
allowed  to  continue  in  office  more  than  one  year. 


§  4.    OF   THE    SUPERIOR   BISHOPS. 

1.  Of  AreJihisJwps,  Apj(^iE7tiGxo7tov.  They  are  not  the  same  as 
metropolitans,  as  has  frequently  been  supposed.  The  two  have  ever 
been  distinct  in  the  Eastern  church,  and  usually  in  the  Western. 
The  archbishop  is,  in  the  age  to  which  he  belongs,  the  highest 
functionary,  and  as  such  presides  over  both  metropolitans  and 
bishops.*  The  bishops  of  larger  cities,  such  as  Alexandria,  Rome, 
Constantinople,  Antioch,  etc.,  gained  an  ascendency,  in  the  fourth 
and  fifth  centuries,  over  the  bishops  and  metropolitans  of  smaller 
towns,  and  received  the  name  of  archbishops  to  denote  this  superi- 
ority. The  title  was  officially  conferred  by  the  Council  of  Ephesus, 
A.  D.  431 ;'  but  in  the  preceding  century  was  conferred  upon  the 
bishop  of  Alexandria  by  Athanasius  f  and,  previous  to  this,  appears 
to  have  been  used  interchangeably  with  other  titles  of  respect 
towards  eminent  bishops  of  the  larger  cities  and  presidents  of  pro- 
vincial synods,  but  without  designating  any  official  superiority. 
But  it  prevailed  only  until  the  introduction  of  the  Jewish  title, 
patriarch,  to  which  the  name  of  archbishop  gave  place. 

2.  Of  Metropolitans.  The  pastors  of  those  churches  which  were 
founded  by  the  apostles,  especially  if  those  pastors  had  themselves 
been  inducted  into  their  charge  by  the  apostles,  may  be  presumed 
from  these  circumstances  to  have  shared  largely  in  the  respect  of 
their  contemporaries.  Their  age  and  talents  and  commanding  in- 
fluence at  the  head  of  the  church  in  the  metropolis  would  natu- 
rally give  them  a  controlling  influence  over  the  neighbouring  and 
dependent  pastors  and  churches,  and  in  their  early  synodical 
councils. 

As  early  as  the  latter  part  of  the   second   century,  Eusebius 

*  Archiepiscopus  graece  dicitur  summus  episcoporum ;  praesidet  tam  metropo- 
litanis  quam  episcopis  caeteris.  Metropolitani  singulis  provinciis  prsesident. — 
IsiDOR.  Sevill.,  Orig.  lib.  vii.  21. 


SEC.  IV.]  SUPERIOR   BISHOPS.  143 


speaks  of  Philip  as  bishop  of  Gortyna  and  the  other  churches  of 
Crete,^  and  of  Irenjsus  as  having  the  oversight  of  the  churches  of 
Gaul  ;*  but  the  name  of  metropolitan  does  not  occur  until  the 
fourth  century :  instead  of  this,  the  titles  of  eminence  for  the 
bishops  were  XE^aXr,,  8^apj(^og  STtap^iag,  princeps  sacerdotum, 
summus  saeerdos,  primates,  senes,  &c.,  which,  after  the  Council  of 
Nice  defined  the  prerogatives  of  metropolitans,  came  into  frequent 
use.^  These  circumstances  may,  as  early  as  the  third  century  or 
the  latter  part  of  the  second,  have  conferred  upon  the  bishop  of  the 
metropolis,  as  a  voluntary  concession,  what  he  afterwards  claimed 
as  his  right — the  right  of  pre-eminence. 

The  metropolitan,  as  an  official  dignitary  of  the  church,  is  first 
announced  at  the  Council  of  Nice  in  the  fourth  century,  but  in 
such  a  connection  as  to  indicate  that  the  title  was  of  an  earlier 
date.  The  metropolitan  government  was  introduced  earlier  and 
more  fully  developed  in  the  Eastern  than  in  the  Western  churches. 
The  churches  of  Africa  were  particularly  opposed  to  this  system  ; 
but  the  diocesan  finally  gave  place  to  the  metropolitan  system 
throughout  the  Christian  church. 

It  was  the  prerogative  of  the  metropolitan  to  exercise  authority 
over  the  bishops  of  the  provinces,*  to  adjudicate  on  complaints  of 
presbyters  and  other  orders  of  the  clergy  respecting  their  bishops ; 
to  regulate  the  liturgy  of  the  church ;  to  convene  and  to  preside 
over  synodical  councils,  and  to  direct  the  common  and  public  affairs 
of  the  church.^ 

3.  Primates,  Ttpoitoi,  TtpatevovtEg  STttaxoTtOiV.  This  title  is 
not,  as  many  suppose,  derived  from  an  ancient  civil  office  in  Rome. 
The  term  primas  urbis,  castelli,  palatii,  etc.,  primate  of  the  city, 
palace,  etc.,  is  of  much  later  origin,  and,  probably,  was  itself  de- 
rived at  first  from  the  church.  Bishops,  venerable  for  their  age  or 
personal  dignity,  and  those  who  held  offices  over  other  dignitaries 
of  the  church,  were  called  primates.  The  distinction,  however, 
between  titular  or  honorary  primates  and  primates  in  power,  was 
very  early  made.  In  Africa,  the  primate  was  the  same  as  epis- 
copus  primse  sectis,  first  in  rank ;  and  the  bishop  of  Carthage 
was  styled  Primate  of  all  Africa.  The  term  primate  was  often  the 
same  in  signification  as  archbishop,  metropolitan,  and  patriarch. 

*  Si  quempiam  vestrum,  pro  causis  propriis,  ubicunque  compulerit  ambulare 
necessitas  ab  eodem  metropolitano  vestro  petere  cessionem  debeatis. — Greg.  M. 
lib.  vii.  Ep.  8. 


144  SUPEKIOR   ORDEUS    OF   THE    CLERGY.         [CHAP.  VIIL 

The    appellation    of    primate    was  in   use    only   in   the    Western 
church. 

4.  Exarchs.  These  were,  in  the  Eastern  church,  the  same  as 
the  primates  in  the  Western  church.  The  bishops  of  Ephesus, 
Haeraclea,  Csesarea  in  Cappadocia,  together  with  those  of  Rome, 
Alexandria,  and  Antioch,  especially  preserved  this  title.  It  was 
their  duty  to  consecrate  their  metropolitans. 

5.  Absolute  or  independent  bishops,  (ixs(pa?yOL  and  av'tox£<pa2,OL, 
not  subject  to  the  authority  of  a  superior.  Such  were  all  bishops 
and  metropolitans  who  had  the  independent  control  of  their  dio- 
ceses. It  was  not  in  frequent  use,  because  the  Monophysites 
claimed  the  same  title  in  another,  but  kindred  sense.  According 
to  Bingham,  the  four  following  classes  received  this  title:  1.  All 
metropolitans,  anciently.  2.  Some  metropolitans  who  remained 
independent  after  the  establishment  of  the  patriarchal  power,  such 
as  those  of  Cyprus,  Iberia,  Armenia,  and  Britain.  3.  Such  bishops 
as  acknowledged  no  subjection  to  metropolitans,  but  only  to  the 
patriarch  of  the  diocese.  4.  Such  as  were  wholly  independent  of 
all  others,  and  acknowledged  no  superior  whatever.^  In  reality, 
however,  none  but  the  pope,  in  the  height  of  his  supremacy,  can 
with,  propriety  be  said  to  be  dxe(pa2.og  or  avrox8<paXog.  The 
independent  bishops  of  the  Western  church  were  so  only  in  regard 
to  their  archbishops  and  primates ;  and  even  the  archbishop  of  the 
church  of  Ravenna,  who  for  a  long  time  refused  to  surrender  his 
independence,  submitted  at  last  to  the  apostolic  see.^ 

6.  Patriarchs.  Few  topics  of  antiquity  have  been  so  much  the 
subject  of  strife  among  the  learned  as  this,  relating  to  the  patri- 
archs of  the  ancient  church.^  But  it  will  be  sufficient  for  our  pur- 
pose, to  take  only  a  brief  view  of  the  points  in  question. 

This  term  was  originally  applied  to  the  archbishop,  and  to  any 
bishop  as  a  token  of  respect.  It  first  occurs  in  the  Council  of 
Constantinople,  A.  D.  381,  as  an  official  title,  and  again  in  the  Coun- 
cil of  Chalcedon ;  and  in  the  course  of  this  seventy  years,  the 
strict  and  limited  title  was  established ;  but  it  was  not  made  the 
title  of  a  distinct  office  until  near  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century. 
The  title  was  borrowed  from  the  Jews,  who,  after  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem,  styled  the  primates  of  their  church  patriarchs  ;  and 
when  this  office  became  extinct  among  the  Jews,  the  title  was  con- 
ferred upon  the  dignitaries  of  the  Christian  church.  According 
to  Jerome,  the  Montanists  and  Cataphyrians  had  already  appropri- 
ated this  title  previous  to  that  event. ^^ 


SEC.  IV.}  SUPERIOR   BISHOPS.  145 


The  bishops  of  Rome,  Constantinople,  Alexandria,  Antioch,  and 
Jerusalem  particularly  were  called  patriarchs.  Several  councils 
had  bestowed  upon  these  bishops  peculiar  marks  of  distinction," 
which  encouraged  them  proudly  to  assume  this  title.  Agreeably 
to  the  design  of  Theodosius  the  Great,  Constantinople  maintained 
her  proud  prerogative,  and  became  a  second  Rome  in  ecclesiastical 
power  and  dignity.  These  high  pretensions  of  her  rival,  Rome 
herself  reluctantly  saw;  Alexandria  and  Antioch  uniformly  pro- 
tested against  them ;  Jerusalem  retained,  indeed,  her  empty  ho- 
nours, but  not  her  patriarchal  rights  and  privileges.  The  Roman- 
ists are  careful  to  say  that  there  were  at  first  five  patriarchs  in 
the  church,  that  those  of  Rome,  Alexandria,  and  Antioch  were 
deservedly  so  called,  fer  se  et  ex  natura  ;  but  that  those  of  Con- 
stantinople and  Jerusalem  were  by  mere  accident,  per  accidens, 
graced  with  this  title. 

In  the  sixth  century,  Rome  and  Constantinople  engaged  in  a  bit- 
ter strife  for  the  title  of  imperial  patriarch,  Ttatpidp^yjg  Ty]g  oixov- 
^ivy^g,  universalis  ecclesise  papa.  But  the  primate  of  Rome  finally 
ended  the  controversy  by  resigning  the  title  of  patriarch,  and  as- 
suming only  that  of  pope,  papa,  or  pontifex  maximus. 

The  following  summary  of  the  prerogatives  of  the  patriarch  is 
given  by  Bingham,  (book  ii.  chap.  17) :  1.  "  They  were  to  ordain 
all  the  metropolitans  of  their  own  diocese,  and  to  receive  their  own 
ordination  from  a  diocesan  synod.  2.  To  call  diocesan  synods  and 
to  preside  over  them.  3.  To  receive  appeals  from  metropolitans 
and  provincial  synods.  4.  To  censure  metropolitans  and  their  suf- 
fragan bishops,  if  metropolitans  were  remiss  in  censuring  them. 
5.  They  might  delegate  metropolitans,  as  their  commissioners,  to 
hear  ecclesiastical  causes  in  any  part  of  the  diocese.  6.  They 
were  to  be  consulted  by  metropolitans  in  all  matters  of  moment. 
7.  To  communicate  to  their  metropolitans  such  imperial  laws  as 
concerned  the  church,  and  the  metropolitans  were  to  notify  the 
provincial  bishops.  8.  Absolution  of  great  criminals  was  reserved 
to  them.^^    9.  They  were  absolute,  and  independent  one  of  another. 

The  patriarchal  system  was  the  last  stage  in  the  progress  of  the 
hierarchy  previous  to  the  development  of  the  papal  system.  Every 
advance  in  the  centralizing  of  the  power  of  the  episcopate,  from 
an  humble  presbyter  up  to  the  highest  dignitary  of  the  church, 
was  only  a  wider  departure  from  the  primitive  constitution  of  the 
church  as  it  was  framed  by  the  apostles,  and  only  prepared  the 
way  for  that  masterly  and  final  stride  of  priestly  cunning  and 

10 


146  SUPERIOR    ORDERS    OF    THE    CLERGY.  [CHv^P.  VIII. 

usurpation  which  concentrated  all  power,  spiritual  and  temporal,  in 
the  person  of  the  pope  of  Rome.  No  craving  of  the  human  heart 
is  more  strongly  written  than  that  after  power.  The  entire  history 
of  the  constitution  of  the  church,  from  the  simple  form  which  it 
received  at  the  hands  of  the  apostles,  through  the  parochial,  dio- 
cesan, metropolitan,  and  patriarchal,  is  but  a  record  of  these  insa- 
tiable cravings,  until  they  were  consummated  in  the  papal  system. 

§  5.    THE    PAPAL    SYSTEM. 

The  rise  of  this  system  belongs  to  a  pe%od  later  than  that  to 
which  the  antiquities  of  the  Christian  church  is  usually  restricted ; 
but  it  is  so  clearly  connected  with  this  subject  as  to  require  a  brief 
notice.  It  is  the  completion  of  that  centralization  of  spiritual 
power  which  early  began  to  abridge  the  free  and  popular  spirit  of 
the  primitive  church,  and  ultimately  sought  to  concentrate  all 
power,  spiritual  and  temporal,  in  the  pope,  as  the  absolute  and 
supreme  head  of  the  church  on  earth,  and  vicegerent  of  God  him- 
self. 

The  bishops  of  Rome  and  Constantinople  had  begun  an  eager 
and  angry  strife  for  the  mastery,  each  aspiring  with  insatiable  am- 
bition, and  watching  and  striving  with  restless  energy  to  establish 
his  claim,  over  that  of  his  rival,  as  supreme  head  of  the  church. 
The  result  of  this  unworthy  controversy  between  these  dignitaries 
of  the  church  was  the  establishment  of  the  supremacy  of  the  pope 
of  Rome  as  the  head  of  an  absolute  monarch^/  in  the  church — a 
spiritual  despotism  which  completed  the  total  subversion  of  that 
organization  which  the  church  received  from  the  apostles  as  a  free 
and  independent  body. 

This  is  the  important  period  in  history  when  the  first  foundation 
was  laid  for  rendering  the  hierarchy  of  the  church  independent 
both  of  the  clergy  and  of  the  secular  power.  This  period  has  not 
been  noticed  so  particularly  by  historians  as  its  importance  requires. 
They  seem  especially  to  have  overlooked  the  fact  that  the  famous 
Hildebrand,  who  in  the  year  1073  became  Gregory  VII.,  concerted 
these  measures  for  the  independence  of  the  church,  as  the  follow- 
ing extract  will  show :  "  It  was  the  deep  design  of  Hildebrand, 
which  he  for  a  long  time  prosecuted  Avith  unwearied  zeal,  to  bring 
the  pope  wholly  within  the  pale  of  the  church,  and  to  prevent  the 
interference,  in  his  election,  of  all  secular  influence  and  arbitrary 
uower.     And  that  measure  of  the  council  which  wrested  from  the 


SEC.  v.]  THE   PAPAL   SYSTEM.  147 

emperor  a  right  of  long  standing,  and  whicli  had  never  been  called 
in  question,  may  deservedly  be  regarded  as  the  masterpiece  of 
Popish  intrigue,  or  rather  of  Hildebrand's  cunning.  The  conces- 
sion which  disguised  this  crafty  design  of  his,  was  expressed  as  fol- 
lows : — That  the  emperor  should  continue  to  hold,  as  he  ever  had 
held,  the  right  of  confirming  the  election  of  the  pope,  derived  from 
him.  The  covert  design  of  this  clause  was  not  perceived ;  but  it 
expressed  nothing  less  than — that  the  emperor  should  ever  receive 
and  hold,  from  the  pope  himself,  the  right  of  confirming  the  ap- 
point7nent  of  the  pope  !" 

As  might  have  been  expected,  the  lofty  claim  of  the  pope  was 
resisted ;  but  he  had  the  address  to  defend  his  usurped  authority 
against  all  opposition,  and  proudly  proclaimed  himself  "the  suc- 
cessor of  St.  Peter,  set  up  by  God  to  govern,  not  only  the  church, 
but  the  whole  world." 

The  peculiar  costume  of  the  pope  is — 1,  a  white  robe ;  2,  purple 
slippers,  with  a  cross  of  golden  embroidery  inwrought ;  3,  a  hood, 
or  cowl,  falling  over  the  ears ;  4,  a  crimson  surplice ;  5,  a  chasuble ; 
6,  a  girdle ;  7,  the  robe  with  three  crosses  and  ornamented  with 
precious  stones  ;  8,  the  scarlet  mantle  ;  and,  9,  a  mitre. 

The  rights  and  prerogatives  of  the  pope  are  extremely  various 
and  comprehensive,  some  of  which  are  as  follows : — He  claims  the 
right  to  bind  the  church  universal  to  a  strict  unity  in  faith  and 
practice ;  to  hold  all  bishops  and  officers  of  the  church  account- 
able to  him  for  their  faith  and  practice ;  to  send  nuncios  and  dele- 
gates to  any  province  to  take  the  oversight  of  the  church  in  his 
name ;  to  summon  councils,  to  preside  over  them,  and  enforce  their 
decrees ;  to  act  as  a  final  court  of  appeal  in  questions  relating  to 
the  welfare  of  the  church ;  to  excommunicate  heretical  bishops  and 
churches ;  to  institute  new  dioceses  and  take  the  government  of 
vacant  ones  by  his  own  vicars ;  to  absolve  from  obligation  to  obe- 
dience to  previous  decrees  of  popes  and  councils ;  to  establish  the 
fasts  and  festivals  of  the  chm'ch ;  and  to  control  its  missionary  ope- 
rations and  its  finances.  "  The  Roman  pontifi"s  power  is  civil  as 
well  as  ecclesiastical,  extending  both  to  the  church  and  to  the  state ; 
and  legislative  as  well  as  executive,  comprehending  in  its  measure- 
less range  both  the  making  and  enforcing  of  laws.  He  is  clothed 
with  imcontrolled  authority  over  the  church,  the  clergy,  councils, 
and  kings.  He  has  a  right,  both  in  a  legislative  and  executive 
capacity,  to  govern  the  universal  church,  and  to  ordain,  judge,  sus- 
pend, and  depose  bishops,  metropolitans,  and  patriarchs,  through 


148  SUPERIOK    ORDERS   OF   THE    CLERGY.         [CHAP.  VIII. 


Christendom.     These  receive  their  authority  from  the  pope,  as  he 
does  his  from  God." 

Thus  the  beautiful  and  sublime  simplicity  of  the  Christian  system 
has,  for  a  thousand  years,  been  continually  sacrificed  by  attempts 
to  improve — to  build  upon  it.  Thus  its  progress  has  been  continu- 
ally impeded  by  loading  its  movements  with  immeasm'able  additions 
of  man's  invention,  until,  at  length,  at  an  infinite  remove  from  the 
lives  and  teachings  of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  papacy,  that  master- 
piece of  cunning  among  the  inventions  of  men,  rears  aloft  its  im- 
pious head,  the  sole  representative  of  the  church  of  Christ  on  earth ! 

§  6.    OF    PRESBYTERS,    OR   ELDERS. 

1.  Origin  and  meaning  of  the  term. — The  word  presbyter  sig- 
nifies, properly,  an  elder,  that  is,  an  aged  person.  In  the  New 
Testament,  and  by  early  ecclesiastical  writers,  it  is  used  as  a  title 
of  ofiice  or  dignity,  and  denotes  superiority,  not  so  much  in  age  as 
in  office.  It  is  expressive,  not  merely  of  age,  but  preferment  in 
dignity  and  office.  In  the  Jewish  synagogue,  elders  were  chosen, 
not  by  their  age,  but  for  their  wisdom  and  qualifications  for  their 
office.  So,  in  the  Christian  church,  an  elder  oi  presbyter  is  one 
who  is  chosen  or  appointed  to  a  certain  office,  not  by  reason  of  his 
age,  but  of  his  qualifications  for  the  duties  of  the  station  in  which 
he  is  placed. 

This  name  appears,  at  first,  to  have  denoted,  in  the  Christian 
church,  persons  appointed  to  rule,  to  govern.  The  D*^P?,  or  elders, 
in  the  synagogue,  were  rulers,  overseers,  governors.  But  the  duties 
of  a  governor  and  teacher  may  be  easily  combined,  and  were,  in 
fact,  united  in  the  elders  of  the  church.  The  apostles  styled  them- 
selves elders  and  fellow-elders,  (2  John  i. ;  1  Pet.  i.  2 — comp. 
Philip,  ii.  25,)  and  they  were  certainly  rulers  and  teachers.  The 
twofold  nature  of  the  office  of  elders,  or  presbyters,  is  fully  im- 
plied in  that  passage  in  1  Tim.  v.  17,  which  has  been  the  subject  of 
so  much  criticism  and  of  such  various  interpretation:  "Let  the 
elders  that  rule  well  be  accounted  worthy  of  double  honour,  espe- 
cially they  who  labour  in  the  word  and  doctrine." 

It  is  generally  admitted  by  episcopal  writers  on  this  subject  that, 
in  the  New  Testament  and  in  the  earliest  ecclesiastical  writers,  the 
terms  STliazoTtog  and  npeaSvrepog,  bishops,  presbyters  or  elders, 
are  synonymous,  and  denote  one  and  the  same  office.  See  Acts 
XX.  17,  28 ;  Philip,  i.  1 ;  1  Tim.  iii.  1  et  seq. ;  Tit.  i.  5-7  ;  and 


SEC.  vl]  presbyters,  or  elders.  149 


compare  Acts  xv.  2,  4,  c.  xxii.  xxiii. ;  1  Cor.  xii.  28-30 ;    Eph. 
iv.  11. 

The  usage  of  ancient  ecclesiastical  writers,  with  reference  to  the 
original  equality  and  identity  of  bishops  and  presbyters  has  already 
been  duly  indicated.  From  the  earliest  rise  of  episcopacy,  pres- 
byters, in  common  with  bishops,  were  ordained  as  spiritual  teachers ; 
the  succession  and  right  of  ordination  being  claimed  as  the  exclu- 
sive superiority  of  bishops  above  presbyters,  though  the  subordinate 
authority  of  the  latter  was  of  necessity  implied. 

2.  Presbyters  in  the  apostolic  age.  A  just  idea  of  the  office  of 
presbyters  in  the  age  of  the  apostles  will  be  obtained  by  comparing 
it  with  that  of  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue.  The  Christian  church 
was  organized  after  the  model  of  the  Jewish  synagogue ;  and  its 
presiding  officer  was  transferred  to  the  church  with  little  change  in 
his  duties,  privileges,  and  prerogatives.  It  was  the  duty  of  the 
ruler  of  the  synagogue  to  preside  in  its  public  assemblies,  to  dis- 
course upon  their  laws,  and  to  expound  their  sacred  Scriptures,  to 
take  the  oversight  of  the  members  of  the  synagogue,  to  instruct, 
to  reprove,  to  rebuke,  and,  in  connection  with  the  synagogue,  to 
administer  its  discipline.  Such  was  also  the  primitive  duty  of  the 
presbyter.  He  was  the  presiding  officer,  the  pastor  and  instructor 
of  the  church.  He  was  not,  like  an  apostle  and  his  delegate,  an 
itinerating  minister,  having  care  over  several  churches,  but  re- 
stricted to  the  care  of  a  single  church.  So  the  apostle  John,  when 
he  had  retired  from  the  circuit  of  his  labours  in  the  churches,  to 
take  the  stated  charge  of  the  church  at  Ephesus,  styles  himself, 
in  his  two  last  epistles,  the  elder,  the  presbyter^  as  being  now  the 
settled  pastor  of  a  single  church. 

The  office  of  presbyter  was,  undeniably,  identical  with  that  of 
bishop,  as  has  been  shown  above.  He  was  invested  with  the  same 
duties  and  functions  as  those  of  a  primitive  bishop.  Like  the 
bishop,  it  was,  in  the  same  manner  and  for  the  same  reasons,  the 
duty  of  the  presbyter  to  teach  and  to  preach,  to  preside  over  the 
church,  to  administer  its  ordinances  and  its  discipline,  to  ordain, 
and  generally  to  perform  the  duties  and  enjoy  the  prerogatives  im- 
plied in  the  cure  of  souls. 

After  the  usurpation  by  the  bishop  and  concession  to  him  of  su 
premacy  over  presbyters,  the  influence  and  authority  of  the  latter 
became  greatly  abridged.  It  varied  also  at  various  times  and  in 
different  countries.  The  first  characteristic  prerogatives  assumed 
by  the  bishops  were  the  apostolical  succession  and  the  right  to  or- 


150  SUPERIOR   ORDERS    OF   THE   CLERGY.  [CHAP.  VIII. 


dain.  Scultet,  after  labouring  to  show  at  length  that  primitive 
episcopacy  was  not  only  ratified  and  established  in  the  time  of  the 
apostles,  but  confirmed  by  the  very  Son  of  God,  and,  therefore,  is 
of  divine  right,  adds  "  that  episcopacy  had  two  things  peculiar  to 
it — the  privilege  of  succeeding,  and  the  prerogative  of  ordaining : 
all  other  things  were  common  to  them  with  presbyters." 

But  the  bishop  soon  became  the  president  and  director  of  the 
whole  course  of  public  worship,  and  the  administrator  of  all  sacred 
ofiices.  The  presbyter,  in  the  discharge  of  these  offices,  only  acted 
as  the  delegate,  representative,  and  vicar  of  the  bishop,  and  was 
required  to  administer  his  duties  in  strict  subserviency  and  obe- 
dience to  the  authority  of  the  bishop. 

3.  Equality  of  bishops  and  presbyters.  The  original  identity  of 
bishops  and  presbyters  in  the  primitive  church  is  an  historical  fact 
so  clearly  established  as  to  command  the  assent  of  many  Episco- 
palians and  prelatists  of  every  age  almost  since  the  rise  of  the  dis- 
tinction between  these  two  orders  of  the  ministry.  This  position 
has  been  illustrated  in  another  place^  by  a  large  induction  of  au- 
thorities, of  which  the  following  is  but  a  very  brief  summary : 

The  terms  bishops  and  presbyters  are  used  interchangeably  by 
the  apostles  and  by  the  apostolic  fathers  succeeding  them,  whose 
genuine  works  remain  with  us.  This  interchange  of  these  terms, 
as  identical,  continues  far  into  the  second  century,  and  the  same 
honorary  titles  are  applied  to  each  indiscriminately.  When  a  dis- 
tinction begins  to  be  made,  it  is  only  that  of  j^'^'i^nus  inter  jmres — 
chief  among  equals,  like  that  of  a  moderator  of  a  council,  or  pre- 
sident of  a  senate.  Only  tivo  orders  of  officers  are  Tcnown  in  the 
churclt  until  near  the  close  of  the  second  century.  Those  of  the  first 
are  styled  either  bishops  or  presbyters ;  of  the  second,  deacons. 

We  begin  with  Clement  of  Rome,  about  a.  d.  90,  the  earliest  of 
the  apostolic  fathers.  Speaking  of  the  apostles,  he  says,  that, 
"preaching  through  the  countries  and  cities,  they  appointed  the 
first-fruits  of  their  conversions  to  be  bishops  and  deacons  over  those 
who  should  believe,  having  first  proved  them  by  the  Spirit.  Nor 
was  this  any  new  thing ;  since,  long  before,  it  was  written  concern- 
ing bishops  and  deacons." — Ad  Cor.  42.  Bishops  and  deacons  are 
hsere  the  established  ministers  of  the  church.  Again,  section  44, 
in  speaking  of  the  ministerial  office,  he  denominates  it  ^TtiGzoTtr,, 
the  episcopate,  the  oifice  of  the  87iicsxo7tog,  or  bishop ;  and  adds, 
that  the  apostles,  having  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  contentions 
which  would  arise  about  this  office,  appointed  those  whom  he  had 


SEC.  VI.]  PRESBYTERS,  OR    ELDERS.  151 


mentioned  before,  and  gave  direction  tliat,  thenceforward,  when 
they  should  die,  other  approved  men  should  succeed  them  in  their 
office.  "Blessed  are  the  presbyters,'"  he  adds  in  the  same  connec- 
tion, "who  have  been  already  discharged  by  death  from  this  office." 
The  same  men,  whom  he  here  denominates  presbyters,  are  those 
whom  above  he  has  just  styled  bishops. 

Clement  was,  probably,  the  same  whom  Paul  commends  as  one 
of  his  fellow-labourers  "whose  names  are  in  the  book  of  life." 
Nothing  that  is  not  Scripture  can  be  of  greater  authority  than  his 
testimony  on  this  point.  He  knows  no  distinction  between  bishops 
and  presbyters. 

Polycarp,  the  disciple  and  friend  of  St.  John,  is  the  next  in 
order.  This  venerable  apostolic  father  exhorts  the  Philippians,  to 
whom  he  writes,  "to  be  subject  to  the  presbyters  and  deacons  as 
unto  God  and  to  Christ."  Again  :  "Let the  presbyters  be  compas- 
sionate and  merciful  towards  all,  turning  them  from  their  errors."* 
Like  Clement,  he  makes  mention  of  two  orders  of  the  clergy,  of 
whom  one  order  is  that  of  deacons.  The  other  order  is  denomi- 
nated by  the  one,  bishops  ;  by  the  other,  presbyters. 

Justin  Martyr,  the  Christian  philosopher  who  suffered  martyr- 
dom, A.  D.  165,  two  years  before  Polycarp,  recognises  only  two 
orders  of  the  ministry,  deacons  and  the  TtpoecjrcoTeg,  superiors, 
presidents.^ 

Irenfeus  was,  in  his  youth,  a  hearer  of  Polycarp,  and  died  about 
A.  D.  202.  A  native  of  Asia  Minor,  and,  in  the  latter  part  of  his 
life,  pastor  of  the  church  at  Lyons  in  France,  he  must  have  been 
well  acquainted  with  the  Eastern  and  Western  churches.  In  speci- 
fying the  apostolical  succession  of  pastors  over  the  church  at  Rome 
down  to  Victor,  he  styles  them  presbyters.  Again  he  says — "  Obe- 
dience should  be  rendered  by  the  church  to  those  presbyters  whose 
succession  is,  as  we  have  shown,  from  the  apostles,  and  who,  with 
their  episcopal  succession,  have  received  the  unerring  gift  of  truth 
according  to  the  good  pleasure  of  the  Father,  "f  Bishops  and  pres- 
byters, by  this  father,  are  used  interchangeably  as  descriptive  of 


*  Ai6  6iov  arltxf^f'o-''  <*rto  Ttavtuv  'tovtuiv  VTio-taasojxivovi  -foli  ftpsajivtipoii  xm  6ta- 
xofOL^  w;  ©EG)  scat  'Kpt,ati^. — Ad  Phil.  c.  6. 

f  Eis,  qui  iu  ecclesia  sunt,  presbyteris  obaudire  oportet ;  his  qui  successionem 
habent  ab  apostolis,  sicut  ostendimus,  qui  cum  episcopatus  successione  cliarisma 
veritatis  certum  secundum  placitum  Patris  acciperunt. — Irenjeus,  Adv.  Hcer.,  lib. 
IF.  c.  26,  §  2.     Comp.  §§  3,  4,  5;  lib.  iii.  c.  2,  §  2 ;  c.  3,  ||  1,  2. 


152  SUPEKIOR   ORDERS    OP   THE   CLERGY.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

one  and  the  same  office.     They,  if  any,  have  the  true  apostolical 
succession  by  descent  from  Rome  itself. 

Clement  of  Alexandria,  who  died  some  twenty  years  later  than 
Irenseus,  recognises  presbyters  as  invested  with  the  superior  office 
of  the  ministry ;  and  deacons,  with  the  inferior.  Bishop,  pres- 
byter, are  with  him  identical.^ 

Jerome,  who  died  A.  D.  426,  concurs  with  the  foregoing.  "  In 
ancient  authors,  bishops  and  presbyters  are  the  same;  one  title 
being  descriptive  of  dignity  of  office,  the  other  of  age."  "Bishop 
and  presbyter  are  the  same."* 

Augustine,  A.  d.  354,  430 :  "  The  office  of  a  bishop  is  above  that 
of  a  presbyter  [not  by  Divine  authority,  but]  according  to  the 
honorary  names  which  obtain  by  the  usage  of  the  church. "f  Then 
follows  a  modest  acknowledgment  of  the  superiority  of  Jerome. 

Pseudo-Augustin,  a.  d.  384 :  "  That  by  a  presbyter  is  meant  a 
bishop,  the  apostle  Paul  teaches  when  he  instructs  Timothy,  whom 
he  had  ordained  a  presbyter,  what  should  be  the  character  of  him 
whom  he  would  create  a  bishop.''  "What  is  a  bishop  but  the  first 
presbyter,  that  is  to  say,  the  highest  priest  ?"|  "The  first  pres- 
byters were  called  bishops. "§ 

Chrysostom,  f  a.  d.  407,  says  that  the  elders  or  presbyters  were 
formerly  called  bishops  and  servants  of  Chi'ist,  and  that  the  bishops 
were  called  elders.\\ 

Theodoret,  f  a.  d.  458,  styles  both  the  elders  and  the  bishops 
watchmen ;  alleging  that,  at  that  time,  they  were  called  by  both 
names,  d^^'orepa  y(X.^  zi-%ov  xar'  ixEivov  rov  xaipov  ra  ovofiata. 


*  Apud  veteres  iidem  episcopi  et  presbyteri,  quia  illud  nomen  dignitatis  est, 
hoc  aetatis. — Hieronymus,  Epist.  82,  (al.  83,)  ad  Oceanum.  Idem  est  ergo  pres- 
byter, qui  episcopus. — Epist.  101,  ad  Evangelum.  See  under  g  32,  n.  2. — Idem  ad 
Tit.  i.  6. 

•)•  Secundum  honorum  vocabula  quae  jam  ecclesise  usus  obtinuit,  episcopatus 
presbyterio  major  sit. — Epist.  ad  Hieron.  19,  al.  83. 

I  Presbyterum  autem  intelligi  episcopum  probat  Paulus  apostolus,  quando 
Timotheum,  quem  ordinavit  presbyterum,  instruit,  qualem  debeat  creare  epis- 
copum, (1  Tim.  iii.  1.)  Quid  est  enim  episcopus,  nisi  primus  presbyter,  hoc  est 
summus  sacerdos? — Pseudo-Augustxni,  (according  to  the  conjecture  of  the  Bene- 
dictines, HiLARii  DiACONi,)  Qucestiones  Vet.  etJVov.  Tesiamenti  (in  the  Appendix,  torn, 
iii.  p.  ii.  of  the  Benedict,  ed.)  Qnoest.  101. 

§  Primi  presbyteri  episcopi  appellabantur. — Idem  ad  Eph.  iv.  11. 

II  Oi  rtpsfj/Siirspot  to  ria.'Ko.iov  ixa'Kovvto  irtiaxorioi  xai,  6i,uxovoi,  tov  "Xpiatov,  xai 
ol  iTiiaxonoi,  (txaXovvro)  Tfpfo.iBvrtpoi. — Horn.  i.  in  Fhil.  i.  Comp.  Horn.  ix.  ia 
Tim.  iii.  1. 


SEC.  VI.]  PRESBYTERS,  OR   ELDERS.  153 


In  another  passage,  he  also  says,  that  those  who  were  called  bishops 
evidently  held  the  rank  of  presbyters,  elders."^ 

It  is  remarkable  how  long  this  notion  of  the  original  sameness 
of  bishops  and  presbyters  was  retained.  Isidorus  Hispalensis,  A.  D. 
595,  Etymol.  7,  c.  12,  copies  the  first  quotation  given  above  from 
Jerome."* 

Eutychius,  patriarch  of  Alexandria,  about  930 :  "  The  evan- 
gelist Mark  appointed  twelve  presbyters  to  remain  with  the  patri- 
arch ;  so  that,  when  that  office  should  become  vacant,  they  might 
choose  one  of  the  twelve  presbyters,  upon  whom  the  eleven  should 
lay  their  hands  and  bless  him,  and  create  him  a  patriarch.  Nor 
did  this  institution  cease,  down  even  to  the  time  of  Alexander,  pa- 
triarch of  Alexandria.  He  decreed  that,  upon  the  death  of  the 
patriarch,  the  bishops  should  assemble  and  appoint  a  patriarch."! 

Bernaldus  Constantiensis,  about  1088,  the  most  zealous  defender 
of  Gregory  VII.,  after  citing  Jerome  in  his  De  Presbyterorum 
Officio  Tract.,  continues:  "Inasmuch,  therefore,  as  bishops  and 
presbyters  were  anciently  the  same,  they  had,  without  doubt,  the 
same  power  to  loose  and  to  bind,  and  other  things  which  are  now 
the  prerogatives  of  the  bishop. "| 

Even  Pope  Urban  II.,  1091,  says:  "We  regard  deacons  and 
presbyters  as  belonging  to  the  sacred  order.  If,  indeed,  these  are 
the  only  orders  which  the  primitive  church  is  understood  to  have 
had,  for  these  we  have  apostolic  authority.  "§ 

Gratian,  A.  D.  1151,  adopts,  without  hesitation,  all  the  passages 
quoted  above  from  Jerome.  ||  With  whom,  also,  Isidorus  Hispalen- 
sis, of  an  earlier  age,  agreesj  and  to  whom  the  false  decrees  are 
ascribed. 


*  'Oj  slvat  6r]%ov  oti  VTib  -eovtov  itBXovv  ot  iv  ■tc^  rtpootiA-LOi  xXr^^ivtii  irtoaxorioi,  tov 
7tp£(5,3ur£pou  Syp.ovoti,  trjv  roliv  TtXjjpowTfj. — In  Phil.  ii.  25.     Comp.  in  1  Tim.  iii.  1. 

t  Constituit  Marcus  Evangelista  xii.  presbyteros,  qui  nempe  manerent  cum  pa- 
triarcha,  adeo  ut  cum  vacaret  patriarchatus  eligerent  unum  e  xii.  presbjteris, 
cujus  capiti  reliqui  xi.  manus  imponerent,  eique  benedicerent,  et  patriarcham  eum 
crearent. — Eutychius,  (Said  Ibu  Batrik,  about  930.)  Patriarcha  Alex,  ia  Eccle- 
siae  SUDS  Orig.  (ed.  Joh.  Selden,  p.  xxix.)     Comp.  1  Tim. 

J  Quum  igitur  presbyteri  et  episcopi  antiquitus  idem  fuisse  legantur,  etiam 
eandem  ligandi  atque  solvendi  potestatem  et  alia  nunc  episcopis  specialia  habuisse 
non  dubitantur. — Monumentorum  res  Allemannorum  illustrant.  S.  Bias.,  1792,  4to, 
t.  ii.  p.  384  et  seq. 

§  Sacros  autem  ordines  diclmus  diaconatum  et  presbyteratuia.  Hos  siquidem 
solos  primitiva  legitur  ecclesia  habuisse :  super  his  solum  prseceptum  habemus 
apostoli. — Pope  Urban  II.,  in  Cone.  Benevent.  ann.  1091,  can.  1. 

II  Hieron.  ad  Tit.  i.  (Dist.  xcv.  c.  5,)  Upist.  ad  Evangel.  (Dist.  xciii.  c.  21.) 


154  SUPERIOR    ORDERS    OF    THE    CLERGY.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

Nicholas  Tudeschus,  archbishop  of  Panorma,  about  A.  d.  1428, 
says:  "Formerly,  freshyters  governed  the  church  in  common,  and 
ordained  the  clergy,  saeerdotes."* 

It  is,  perhaps,  still  more  remarkable  that  even  the  papal  ca- 
nonist, Jo.  Paul  Launcelot,  A.  D.  1570,  introduces  the  passage  of 
Jerome  without  any  attempt  to  refute  it. 

Gieseler  well  remarks,  "that  the  distinction  between  the  divine 
and  the  ecclesiastical  appointment,  {nstitutio,  was  of  less  import- 
ance in  the  middle  ages  than  in  the  modern  Catholic  church  ;  and 
this  view  of  the  original  identity  of  bishops  and  presbyters  was  of 
no  practical  importance.  It  was  not  till  after  the  Reformation 
that  it  was  attacked.  Michael  de  Medina,  about  a.  d.  1570,  does 
not  hesitate  to  assert  that  those  fathers  were  essentially  heretics, 
but  adds,  that,  out  of  respect  for  these  fathers,  this  heresy  in  them 
is  not  to  be  condemned.  Bellarmin,  A.  D.  1602,  declares  this  is  a 
'very  inconsiderate  sentiment.'  Since  this,  all  Catholics,  as  well 
as  many  English  Episcopalians,  have  maintained  an  original  dif- 
ference between  bishop  and  presbyter." 

4.  Official  duties  of  presbyters.  These  duties  are  comprised 
under  the  following  heads  : 

1.  Before  any  formal  distinction  was  known  between  bishops  and 
presbyters,  the  latter,  especially  those  who  were  styled  7tpoecrT6Jrf$, 
performed  the  duties  of  the  former.  Subsequent  to  the  specific 
division  of  church  officers,  after  the  establishment  of  the  ecclesi- 
astical hierarchy,  they  performed  a  vicarious  ser\4ce  in  the  place 
of  the  bishops ;  but  there  are  occasional  instances  still  later,  when, 
in  special  cases,  or  by  virtue  of  their  ofiice,  they  performed  duties 
which,  according  to  canonical  rules,  belonged  exclusively  to  the 
bishops. 

2.  According  to  the  views  of  the  bishop's  office  which  represent 
him  as  controlling  all  that  relates  to  religious  worship  and  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  ordinances,  the  presbyters  performed  the  com- 
mon religious  services  as  his  representatives  or  assistants.  As 
such,  from  the  beginning,  they  discharged  the  offices  of  teacher 
and  preacher,  which  appropriately  belonged  to  the  bishop.  Even 
deacons  were  frequently  authorized  to  preach.  Hence,  it  appears 
that  both  presbyters  and  deacons  acted  in  this  capacity  by  autho- 
rity delegated  by  the  bishop.     This  state  of  things  must,  however, 


*  Olim  presbyteri  in  communi  regebant  ecclesiam  et  ordinabant  sacerdotes. — 
Ed.  Lugdun.,  1647,  fol.  112  b. 


SEC.  VI.]  PRESBYTERS,  OR    ELDERS.  155 


be  understood  to  have  prevailed  only  in  communities  where  both 
bishops  and  presbyters  "vvere  present,  and  while  the  bishops  were 
still  able  and  disposed,  themselves,  to  perform  the  duties  of  the 
ministry.  Jerome  expresses  his  dissatisfaction  that  presbyters  were 
not  fully  invested  with  the  office  of  the  ministry.^  The  example 
of  Leo  and  Gregory  the  Great,  together  with  the  fact  that  there 
are  still  extant  sermons  from  bishops,  such  as  Origen  and  others,  is 
sufficient  to  show  that  they  continued  to  discharge  the  duties  of 
public  preachers  through  the  first  seven  centuries  of  the  Christian 
era.  From  the  close  of  that  period,  these  duties  devolved  entirely 
upon  the  presbyters. 

3.  The  presbyters  assisted  in  the  administration  of  the  sacra- 
ments. They  are  styled  the  GV/i?.eL'tovp'yoi ,  comministri,  conscer- 
dotales,  of  the  bishop  who,  according  to  the  explicit  rules  of  the 
church,  had  the  control  of  this  service.  That  the  presbyters  acted 
as  the  representatives  and  assistants  of  the  bishops  in  this  ordi- 
nance, may  be  inferred  from  the  circumstance  that  in  the  rites  of 
ordination,  which  belonged  exclusively  to  the  bishop,  they  also 
assisted  in  the  imposition  of  hands. "^  Subsequently,  they  regu- 
larly administered  the  ordinances  and  other  sacred  rites,  such  as 
the  following : 

(a)  They  administered  baptisms,  particularly  after  the  general 
introduction  of  infant  baptism.  The  act  of  confirmation  belonged 
to  the  bishop,  though  there  are  exceptions  to  this  rule. 

(5)  They  administered  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper.  The 
solemnizing  act  in  this  ordinance  is  the  consecration  of  the  ele- 
ments, which  was  performed  by  the  presbyters,  except  when  the 
bishop  was  present,  or  was  in  missa  j^ontificalibus,  as  the  phrase- 
ology was.  Their  duty  was  also,  by  an  ancient  rule,  to  impart  the 
consecrated  bread — the  host,  and  to  pronounce  the  benediction. 
The  administration  of  this  ordinance  was  one  of  the  highest  olficial 
acts  of  the  presbyter.''  With  reference  to  this  part  of  his  office, 
he  was  styled  ^ecr/Tj^g,  mediator,  mediiis.  A  phraseology  deserv- 
edly censured  by  Augustine  as  seeming  to  relate  to  the  office  of 
the  Mediator  of  the  Christian  covenant ;  but  it  was,  probably,  in- 
tended to  denote  the  intermediate  grade  of  the  'presbyter,  between 
the  subordinate  officers  of  the  priesthood  and  the  bishop. 

(c)  The  presbyters  also  took  part  in  acts  of  public  penance^ 
while  that  system  prevailed ;  though  it  was  under  the  general  super- 
vision of  the  bishop.  All  that  related  to  the  regulation  of  penance 
was,  with  certain  reservations,  under  their  immediate  oversight. 


156  SUPERIOR   ORDERS   OP   THE    CLERGY.  [CHAP.  VIII. 


They  were  the  appropriate  penitentiary  priests,  penitentiarii  and 
confessarii. 

{d)  It  belonged  to  them  appropriately  to  solemnize  marriages 
and  to  perform  all  the  nuptial  ceremonies. 

(e)  They  administered  extreme  unction,  after  the  introduction 
of  this  superstition,  and  performed  all  religious  funeral  services. 

(/)  All  the  forms  of  benediction  and  consecration  pertained  to 
their  office,  with  the  exception  of  certain  reserved  rites  which,  from 
the  beginning,  were  exclusively  prescribed  to  the  bishops. 

{g)  The  stated  public  prayers,  7ipoa<pG)Vi^GELg,  sv^n  'ti^v  TtiGtQV, 
and  collects,  emxXyjGeig,  occasioyial  prayers,  were  oflFered  by  the 
bishops  and  presbyters  indiscriminately  f  and  both  had  a  general 
superintendence  of  all  their  ceremonies  of  religious  worship,  to- 
gether with  the  oversight  of  the  deacons  and  lower  officers  of  the 
priesthood. 

4.  In  common  with  the  bishops,  presbyters  indisputably  had  a 
part  in  the  discipline  of  the  church,  both  as  it  related  to  the  clergy 
and  the  laity. ^  This  point  has  been  the  subject  of  much  uncer- 
tainty and  controversy ;  but  it  was  never  denied  that  the  right  of 
concurrence  belonged  to  the  presbytery  collectively,  if  not  to  indi- 
vidual members  of  it.  Subsequently,  it  became  the  right  of  the 
chapters  of  the  cathedral  churches. 

5.  Presbyters,  as  well  as  bishops,  were  admitted  to  deliberate 
and  to  vote  in  the  councils  of  the  church,  as  the  references  sub- 
joined sufficiently  show.^** 

6.  The  most  important  office  of  the  presbyters  remains  to  be 
mentioned,  and  that  is  the  "cure  of  souls,"  specific  and  general, 
cura  animarum,  et  generalis,  et  specialis.  This  has  ever  been  their 
chief  employment  as  pastors,  vicars,  and  parish  ministers.  This 
point  cannot,  in  this  place,  be  discussed  at  length ;  suffice  it  to  say 
that,  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties,  they  had  occasion  to  combat 
with  the  greatest  difficulties.  At  one  time,  through  the  arrogance 
and  tyrannical  power  of  the  bishops,  at  another,  through  the  con- 
tempt of  the  monks,  they  became  martyrs  to  their  high  and  holy 
calling. 

7.  To  presbyters  belonged,  originally,  the  right  to  ordain.  This 
results,  undeniably,  from  the  original  identity  and  equality  of 
bishops  and  presbyters ;  a  fact  which  is  conceded  by  multitudes  of 
churchmen,  and  which  was  universally  admitted  by  the  reformers 
of  the  church  of  England,  until  near  the  close  of  the  sixteenth 
centm-y.     If  to  bishops  belonged,  jure  divino,  the  right  of  ordina- 


SEC.  YI.]  PRESBYTERS,  OR    ELDERS.  157 


tion,  by  the  same  divine  authority  it  belonged  also  to  presbyters 
originally,  for  they  were  identically  the  same  as  bishops.  After 
the  rise  of  episcopacy,  the  right  of  ordination  was  claimed  by  the 
bishop,  and  denied,  with  great  uniformity  and  pertinacity,  to  the 
presbyter.  But  such  assumptions  of  human  authority  aifect  not 
the  right  originally  conceded,  hy  divine  authority,  upon  presbyters 
in  common  with  bishops.  "  There  can  be  no  apostolical  succession 
for  that  which  had  no  apostolical  existence." 

Notwithstanding  all  the  jealousy  with  which  bishops  defended 
their  right  to  ordain,  against  the  invasion  of  it  by  presbyters,  in- 
stances can  be  adduced  in  which  this  right  was  conceded  to  pres- 
byters. The  case  of  the  presbyters  in  the  church  of  Alexandria, 
and  the  authority  of  Jerome  and  Tertullian,  and  many  of  the 
English  church,  have  been  given  in  the  Apostolical  and  Primitive 
Church,  pp.  183-197. 

Paphuntius,  a  presbyter  of  Egypt,  ordained  a  monk  of  his  order, 
who  sustained  the  office  of  deacon,  to  that  of  presbyter,  as  related 
by  Cassian,  in  the  fifth  century.  The  passage  is  cited  below  from 
Stillingfleet,*  who  adds — "What  more  plain  than  that  here  a 
presbyter  ordained  a  presbyter  ?"  Bingham  objects  to  this  as 
"contrary  to  the  rules  and  practice  of  the  church."  But  the 
learned  Boehmer  remarks,  in  reply,  "no  proof  can  be  brought 
from  history  that  this  ordination  was  disowned  by  the  bishops  of 
that  country." 

In  the  age  of  Leo  the  Great,  certain  of  the  clergy,  clerici,  were 
ordained  by  false  bishops,  pseudo-episcopis ;  but,  on  consultation, 
this  bishop  pronounced  the  ordination  valid,  provided  it  was  done 
with  the  consent  of  the  bishops."  Who  were  these  false  bishops 
but  presbyters  ?  The  chor-episcopi,  or  country  bishops,  and  who 
sustained  much  the  same  subordinate  relations  as  presbyters,  were 
uniformly  esteemed  as  bishops,  though  often  forbidden  to  ordain. 
They,  therefore,  who  assumed  the  prerogative  of  the  bishop  in 
ordaining,  may  naturally  be  presumed  to  have  been  presbyters. 
Nothing  in  the  context  appears  in  conflict  with  this  interpre- 
tation. 

The  validity  of  presbyterian  ordination  is  even  authorized  indi- 

*  A.  B.  Paphuntius,  solitudinis  ejusdem  presbytero.  In  tantum  enim  virtutibu? 
ipsius  adgaudebat,  ut  quern  vitge  meritis  sibi  parem  noverat,  coseqfuare  sibi  etiam 
sacerdotii  honore  festinaret.  Siquidem  nequaquam  ferens  in  inferiore  eum  mi  • 
nisterio  diutius  immorari,  optansque  sibimet  successorem  dignissimum  providers, 
superstes  eum  presbyterii  honore  prorexit. — Cass.  Collat.  4,  c.  i. 


158  SUPERIOR    ORDERS    OF    THE    CLERGY.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

rectly  by  the  Council  of  Amyra,  A.  D.  314.*  This  canon  decrees 
that  the  country  bishops  shall  not  be  allowed  either  to  ordain  pres- 
byters or  deacons;  and  then  adds,  "neither  shall  the  city  presby- 
ters [ordain]  in  another  parish,  except  hy  a  written  permission  from 
the  bishop.''  This  exception  distinctly  recognises  the  right  of  a 
presbyter,  on  certain  conditions,  to  ordain  presbyters  and  deacons. 

But,  even  if  no  authentic  instance  were  on  record  of  ordination 
by  presbyters  since  the  rise  of  episcopacy,  we  might  still  fall  back 
to  the  time  when  bishops  and  presbyters  were  identically  the  same, 
and  assert,  with  Neander,  Planck,  and  many  others,  the  right  of 
presbyters  to  ordain. 

A  volume  might  be  filled  with  episcopal  authorities  for  the  right 
of  ordination  as  by  them  conceded  to  presbyters ;  and  yet,  in  the 
face  of  such  authorities,  a  certain  reviewer  has  had  the  hardihood 
to  affirm,  that  "never  was  this  allowed  before  the  Reformation, 
either  in  the  church  or  by  any  sect  however  wild." 

In  reply  to  such  vapouring,  it  is  sufficient  to  refer  to  the  autho- 
rity of  Archbishop  Usher: — "I  have  declared  my  opinion  to  be 
that  episcopus  and  presbyter,  gradu  tantuni  differunt,  non  or  dine  ; 
and,  consequently,  that,  in  places  where  bishops  cannot  be  had,  the 
ordination  by  presbyters  standeth  valid." 

The  learned  Stillingfleet  as  explicitly  affirms  that,  "in  the  first 
primitive  church,  the  presbyters  all  acted  in  common  for  the  wel- 
fare of  the  church,  and  either  did  or  might  ordain  others  to  the 
same  authority  with  themselves."  In  proof,  he  refers  to  the  in- 
stance of  presbyterian  ordination  in  the  church  of  Alexandria, 
as  detailed  in  the  Apostolical  and  Primitive  Church,  pp.  183—186, 
and  then  adverts  to  the  doctiine  of  the  invalidity  of  ordination  by 
presbyters;  "which  doctrine,"  he  adds,  "I  dare  with  some  confi- 
dence assert  to  be  a  stranger  to  our  church  of  England,  as  shall  be 
largely  made  appear  afterwards. "^^f 

tspovi  TioXfuii,  X'^P'-i  *°'J  irtitparCy^vat,  vrcb  t'ov  incaxoTtov  /Mita  ypa^M^a-fcov  iv  irtpq, 
rtapoixi-a. — Bruxs,  Canones,  p.  68. 

f  To  these  authorities  may  be  adiled  that  of  Davenant,  the  learned  bishop  of 
Salisbury: — "-Si  orlhodoxi  presbyteri,  ne  per  eat  ecclcsia,  alios  presbt/teros  rogantur 
ordinare  ego  non  ausim  huju^modi  ordinationes  pronnn!iare  irritas  et  inanes."  In  con- 
firmation of  this  sentiment,  Davenant  adduces  the  authority  of  the  schoolmen, 
Gulielmus  Parisrensis,  Gerson,  Durand,  &c. 

Bishop  Overal,  to  the  same  intent,  cites  the  authority  of  the  schoolmen,  P»ona- 
venture,  Thomas  Aquinas,  Richardus  Armachanus,  Testatus,  Alphonsus  a  Castro, 
Petrus  Canisius.  Domiuicus  Soto,  and  Medina.     The  last  two  were  distinguished 


SEC.  VI.]  PRESBYTERS,  OR   ELDERS.  159 

As  late  as  the  latter  part  of  the  fifth  century,  the  vote  of  the 
people,  at  least  in  connection  with  that  of  the  clergy,  Avas  essential 
to  the  clue  election  of  a  presbyter.  After  this  period,  his  appoint- 
ment became  the  arbitrary  act  of  the  bishop,  as  his  subaltern  and 
servant.  The  necessary  consequence  of  this  dependence  of  the 
presbyter  upon  the  bishop  was  to  make  the  one  a  mere  sycophant 
of  the  other. 

The  canonical  age  for  entering  on  this  office  was,  according  to 
Bingham,  tldrty-five. 

The  usual  times  for  the  consecration  of  the  presbyter  to  his 
office  were  the  fasts  of  the  fourth,  seventh,  and  tenth  months  of 
the  year,  and  the  beginning  and  middle  of  Lent.  These  seasons, 
for  this  purpose,  were  not  regarded  in  the  earlier  ages  of  the 
church. 

members  of  the  Council  of  Trent.  Medina,  in  confirmation  of  his  own  opinion, 
alleged  the  authority  of  Jerome,  Ambrose,  Augustin,  Sedulius,  Primasius,  Chry- 
sostom,  Theodoret,  Theophylact.  These  authorities  are  given  by  Dr.  Bernard, 
the  apologist  of  Usher.  As  a  further  attestation  of  the  acknowledged  validity  of 
ordination  by  presbyters,  Dr.  Bernard  refers  to  a  case  related  by  the  archbishop 
of  St.  Andrews,  in  his  History  of  Scotland,  to  this  effect: — "When  the  Scotch 
bishops  were  to  be  consecrated  by  the  bishops  of  London,  Ely,  and  Bath,  here  at 
London  House,  a.  d.  1609,  he  saith,  a  question  was  moved  by  Dr.  Andrews,  bishop 
of  Ely,  touching  the  consecration  of  the  Scottish  bishops  who,  as  he  said,  must 
first  be  ordained  presbyters,  as  having  received  no  ordination  from  a  bishop.  The 
archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Dr.  Bancroft,  who  was  by,  maintained  that  thereof 
there  was  no  necessity  ;  seeing,  where  bishops  could  not  be  had,  the  ordination 
given  by  presbyters  must  be  esteemed  lawful ;  otherwise,  it  might  be  doubted  if 
there  were  any  lawful  vocation  in  most  of  the  reformed  churches.  This  applauded 
to  by  the  other  bishops,  Ely  acquiesced ;  and,  at  that  day,  and  in  the  place  ap- 
pointed, the  three  Scottish  bishops  were  consecrated  by  the  aforesaid  Englisli 
bishops ;  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury  forbearing  for  another  cause  there  men- 
tioned."— Judgment  of  the  late  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  London,  1657,  pp.  135,  136. 

The  doctrine  of  the  divine  right  of  bishops  and  the  exclusive  validity  of  their 
ordination  was  promulgated  in  the  English  church  by  Dr.  Bancroft,  by  a  sermon 
preached  .Janu.iry  12,  1588.  This  bold  and  novel  assertion  created  a  great  sensa- 
tion throughout  the  kingdom.  "  The  greater  part  even  of  the  prelatical  party  them- 
selves were  startled  at  the  novelty  of  the  doctrine ;  for  none  of  the  English  re- 
formers had  ever  regarded  the  bishops  as  any  thing  else  than  a  human  institution, 
appointed  for  the  more  orderly  government  of  the  church ;  and  they  were  not 
prepared  at  once  to  condemn  as  heretical  all  churches  where  that  institution  did 
not  exist.  Whitgift  himself,  perceiving  the  use  which  might  be  made  of  such  a 
tenet,  said  that  the  doctor's  sermon  had  done  much  good — though,  for  his  own 
part,  he  rather  wished  than  believed  it  to  be  true."*  The  doctrine  was  reaffirmed, 
half  a  century  later,  by  Laud  and  his  partj-;f  and,  from  that  time,  has  been  tlie 
favourite  dogma  of  many  in  the  Episcopal  church. 

*  llctherin^ton's  Hi  tory  of  the  Westminster  Af  st-mhly,  pp.  49,  50. 
I  Uallcms  CoasUtulijiial  His.ory,  tcI.  ii.  pp.  4i0,  HI. 


160  SUPERIOR    ORDERS    OF    THE    CLERGY.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

The  presbyter  was  consecrated  to  his  office  by  the  prayer  of  the 
bishop  and  the  laying  on  of  his  hand,  in  connection  with  those  of 
the  presbytery. 

The  costume  of  the  presbyter  was  a  certain  kind  of  robe,  deno- 
minated ovarium,  planeta,  easula,  ^eXovyjg.  No  mention  of  this 
is  made  earlier  than  the  fifth  century.  The  anointing  with  oil  was 
a  later  device. 

5.  Of  the  different  orders  or  classes  of  presbyters.  Like  the 
bishops,  the  presbyters  were  very  early  divided  into  city  and  rural 
presbyters.  The  latter,  iTti^oj^ioi  7tpeG[3vT^poi,  regionarii,  were 
less  esteemed,  and  accounted  somewhat  lower  in  rank,  than  the 
former.  They  were  not  permitted,  for  example,  to  administer  the 
sacrament  to  a  church  in  the  city  in  the  presence  of  the  bishop,  or 
city  presbyter;  but,  in  the  absence  of  these,  the  duty  devolved 
upon  one  of  them.^^  Neither  were  they  allowed  to  issue  canonical 
epistles.*  Similar  examples  occur  at  all  times  sufficient  to  show 
that  pastors  in  the  country  were  subordinate  to  those  in  the  city ; 
and  yet  there  is  good  evidence  that  all  who  sustained  the  office  of 
the  priesthood  were  accounted,  in  theory,  equal. 

2.  The  ap;^t7tpe(7/?rTfpot  and  TtpoToTtpecr/^i'i'Tepot,  archpresby- 
ters  and  pastores  primarii,  were  the  same ;"  both  are  called  by  the 
same  name.^^  One  who  sustains  the  relation  of  moderator  and 
superior  among  the  priesthood  is  called,  by  Jerome,  archpresbyter, 
to  distinguish  him  from  the  bishop.^^  By  Gregory  Nazianzen  and 
others,  the  oldest  clergyman  was  styled  archpresbyter  ;^^  the  Greeks 
called  him  TtpcjTOTtaTtag.^^ 

As  the  members  of  the  churches  in  the  large  cities  increased  and 
became  too  numerous  to  meet  in  one  assembly,  new  places  of  wor- 
ship were  opened,  where  the  presbyters  ministered :  and,  again,  as 
Christianity  spread  from  a  city  into  the  country  adjacent,  new 
churches  sprang  up,  which  were  supplied  with  presbyters  under  the 
bishop.  These  presbyters  constituted  a  presbytery,  presbyterium, 
synedrium  presbyterorum.  At  a  later  period,  this  college  of 
presbyters  takes  the  name  of  senatus,  or  concilium  ecclesise.  This 
presbytery  were  the  bishop's  council,  who  acted  and  voted  with  him 
in  the  earlier  stages  of  episcopacy.^^  Over  this  college  of  presby- 
ters, it  was  a  rule  of  the  church  that  the  oldest  presbyter  should 


*M>j  rtpfapvrfpovj  toli  iv  taii  jjiopatj  xavoj'ixaj  trtt  5*0X015  6166101,  ^  rtp6$  fiovovi 
toivi  yiitovai  iTtiaxuftovi  ixjitfxnfLv. —  Cone.  Antioch.  c.  8. 


SEC.  Vir.]  RULINa   ELDERS.  161 

preside  as  arcJipreshyter.     Another  part  of  his  duties  is  indicated 
m  the  note  below.* 

The  archpresbyters  enjoyed  the  highest  consideration  between 
the  fifth  and  eighth  centuries,  and  occupied  bishoprics  as  suffragans 
end  vicar-generals.  When  the  bishop's  see  became  vacant,  they 
discharged  his  duties  and  usually  succeeded  him  in  his  office. 
Several  branches  of  administration  they  held  under  their  entire 
control,  and  not  unfrequently  engaged  in  a  spirited  controversy 
with  the  bishops  themselves.""  The  bishops,  on  the  other  hand, 
sought  by  every  means  to  oppose  them,  and  accordingly  favoured 
the  archdeacons  as  a  check  upon  the  archpresbyters.  The  first 
notice  of  this  policy  appears  in  the  Fourth  Council  of  Carthage. 
These  presbyters  were  finally  made  subject  to  the  archdeacon  by 
Innocent  III.,  in  the  twelfth  century. 

3.  The  office  of  dean  was  first  known  in  England,  about  the 
eleventh  or  twelfth  century.  The  word  is  derived  from  decanus, 
^sxaSdp^og,  and  denotes  the  ruler  of  a  decad,  a  body  of  ten  men. 
The  deans  of  cathedral  churches  were  dignitaries  of  importance. 
Rural  deans  were  inferior  officers,  who  finally  became  merely  itine- 
rant visitors,  and  Avere,  at  all  times,  subject  to  the  authority  of  the 
archdeacon. 

4.  Cardinal  preshyters.  These  officials  appeared  about  the  be- 
ginning of  the  seventh  century.  They  have  often  been  confounded 
with  archpresbyters,  but  were  in  reality  distinct  from  them.  Their 
title  denotes  permanency  in  office  rather  than  seniority  in  age.^^ 
They  appeared  first  as  a  creation  of  Gregory  the  Grreat. 

5.  The  word  preshytera,  presbyterissa,  7tpEG(3vrEpa,  TtpfCT/^iirtg, 
is  of  frequent  occurrence  in  ancient  writers ;  and  may  denote  either 
the  wife  of  a  presbyter,  a  female  officer,  or  a  deaconess  in  the 
church ;  sometimes  it  denotes  the  matron  of  a  cloister,  and  an 
abbess. 

§  7.    RULING   ELDERS. 

The  presbyters  of  the  apostolical  churches  might,  with  propriety, 
all  be  denominated  ruling  elders ;  the  duty  of  labouring  in  word 
and  doctrine  being  shared  by  them  in  common  with  others.  Many 
have  even  affirmed  that  to  teach  was  originally  no  part  of  the  pres- 

*  TJt  episcopus  gubernationem  viduaruin  et  pupillorum  et  peregrinorum  nor 
per  se  ipsum,  sed  per  archipresbyterum  aut  per  archidiaconum  agat. — Stat.  Eccles 
Antiq.  c.  17. 

11 


162  SUPERIOR   ORDERS   OF   THE    CLERGY.         [CHAP,  VIII. 


byter's  office.  But  the  apostles  plainly  teach  that  this  was  one  of 
their  most  important  and  appropriate  duties.  They  are  appointed 
overseers  to  "feed  the  church  of  God."  (Acts  xx.  28.)  The  bishop 
or  elder  is  required  to  be  "apt  to  teach ;"  and  they  that  are  such 
are  to  be  "accounted  worthy  of  double  honour."  (1  Tim.  iii.  2; 
2  Tim.  ii.  24 ;  1  Tim.  v.  17.)  It  appears  that  some  gave  them- 
selves especially  to  the  work  of  the  ministry ;  while  others  took 
upon  themselves  the  oversight  and  superintendence  of  the  church, 
according  to  their  several  qualifications  and  gifts,  both  common 
and  miraculous.  The  passage  last  cited  clearly  indicates  a  distinct 
class  of  men  as  ruling  elders.  Was  then  the  office  of  ruling  elder 
a  temporary  and  extraordinary  provision  for  the  edification  of  the 
church,  like  the  miraculous  gifts  of  prophecy,  interpretation,  &c., 
which  soon  ceased ;  or  was  it  designed  to  be  an  ordinary  and  per- 
petual office  in  the  church  of  Christ  ? 

Presbyterians,  in  support  of  the  latter  position,  appeal  to  such 
passages  in  history  as  the  following.  In  their  assemblies,  where 
Christians  met  to  read  the  Scriptures  for  their  mutual  edification, 
and  to  administer  the  divine  censure,  Tertullian  informs  us  that 
certain  approved  elders  presided,  pro'sident  jjrobati  quique  seniores} 
Origen  speaks  both  of  principes  populi  and  elders  of  the  people, 
preshyteri  plebis,  whose  duty  it  is  at  all  times  to  judge  the  people, 
to  put  an  end  to  their  quarrels  and  to  reconcile  the  discordant."^ 
In  these  "approved  elders"  and  these  "elders  of  the  people"  is 
recognised  a  continuation  of  the  office  of  ruling  elders.  Cyprian 
speaks  expressly  of  teaching  elders,  p>reshyteri  docentes,  which  im- 
plies also  the  existence  of  another  class,  who  did  not  teach,  that 
is — ruling  elders.'^  Why  speak  of  teaching  elders,  if  all  teach  ? 
Dionysius,  bishop  of  Alexandria,  A.  D.  261,  called  together,  at 
Arsinoe,  the  elders  and  teachers  of  the  brethren  in  the  villages,  to 
discuss  a  novel  doctrine  respecting  the  millennium.*  Augustin,  on 
one  occasion,  addressed  his  beloved  brethren,  the  clergy,  the  elders, 
seniores,  and  the  whole  church ;  and,  in  other  places,  speaks  of 
these  seniores.^  In  one  instance,  he  speaks  of  them  in  distinction 
from  bishops,  presbyters,  and  deacons.*  Purpurius,  in  Africa, 
directs,  on  one  occasion,  his  fellow-clergy,  concleros,  and  the  elders 
of  the  people,  ecclesiastical  men,  seniores  plebis,  ecclesiasticos  vivos, 
to  make  diligent  inquiry  into  certain  dissensions ;  and  again  ad- 
dresses the  clergy  and  elders,  seniores,  of  Cirta.^ 

*  Vos  Episcopi,  Presbuteri,  Diacones,  et  Seniores. — Contr.  Crescon.  iii.  29. 


SEC.  VIII.]  DEACONS.  163 


These  passages,  distinguishing  a  certain  class  of  elders,  by  a  dis- 
tinct appellation,  seniores,  from  the  clergy,  and  even  from  the  pres- 
byters, preshuteri,  are  considered  as  indicating  a  class  of  ruling 
elders  corresponding  to  those  of  the  apostolic  churches.  And  it  is 
noticed  also  that  these  elders  are  particularly  called  upon  to  give 
attention  to  the  discipline  of  the  church,  to  adjudicate  and  settle 
dissensions  among  the  brethren. 

In  reply  to  this  course  of  reasoning,  it  is  urged  that  these  seni- 
ores plehis  are  limited,  almost  exclusively,  to  the  churches  in  Africa ; 
that  they  are  a  class  peculiar  to  those  churches ;  that  they  are 
carefully  distinguished  from  the  clergy,  and  are  only  aged  laymen 
intrusted  with  certain  duties  there  of  a  local  and  temporary  charac- 
ter, and  not  a  permanent  or  distinct  class  of  ecclesiastical  officers. 

With  this  brief  vicAv  of  the  historical  argument  for  the  office  of 
ruling  elders  in  the  church,  and  the  opposite  conclusions  derived 
from  these  authorities,  the  reader  may  well  be  left  to  his  own  deci- 
sions on  the  subject.  By  what  means  to  submit  the  government 
and  discipline  of  the  church  to  the  direction  and  control  of  its 
members  is  not  so  much  a  question  of  authority  as  of  expediency; 
respecting  which  a  great  difference  of  opinion  may  be  expected 
ever  to  prevail  among  those  who  would  most  carefully  conform  to 
the  institutions  and  offices  of  the  apostolical  churches. 

§  8.    OF    DEACONS. 

The  terms  hiaxovog,  hiaxovia,  hiaxovEuv,  are  primarily  em- 
ployed with  reference  to  every  kind  of  service  and  every  species 
of  assistance,  whether  relating  to  religion  or  not ;  but  they  gene- 
rally denoted  some  specific  office.  They  correspond  with  the  He- 
brew rS^U  and  Pr]Z*D  ',  though  the  Septuagint  does  not  so  inter- 
pret them,  except  in  two  instances.  In  the  New  Testament,  the 
words  are  of  frequent  occurrence,  both  in  a  general  and  specific 
application. 

But  they  are  generally  used  in  a  specific  sense  to  denote  some 
kind  of  service  in  religious  things,  as  in  the  following  passages : 
Siaxovia  rov  Xoyov,  Acts  vi.  4  ;  Siaxovia  Tov  nvEVuarog,  2  Cor. 
iii.  8 ;  Siaxovia  rng  ^.etrovpyiag,  2  Cor.  ix.  12 ;  x/inpog  rrig  Sia- 
xovlag,  Acts  i,  17,  25,  xx.  25,  xxi.  19;  Rom.  xi.  13;  SidxovoL 
xaivng  8ia^/iXi^g,  2  Cor.  iii.  6 ;  Slolxovol  Ssov,  2  Cor.  vi.  4.  Com- 
pare also  1  Pet.  iv.  10,  i.  12 ;  2  Tim.  i.  18  ;  Acts  xix.  22. 

It  is  particularly  important,  however,  to  remark,  that  the  word 


164  SUPERIOR   ORDERS    OF   THE   CLERGY.         [CHAP.  VIII. 


hiCLXovia  has,  in  many  passages,  reference  to  an  office  in  the 
church  instituted  by  the  apostles ;  and  that  the  appellation  of 
Sidxovog,  deacon,  denotes  one  whose  duty  it  is  to  receive  the  chari- 
ties of  the  church  and  to  distribute  their  alms :  Acts  ix.  29,  30, 
xii.  25 ;  Rom.  xvi.  1,  31,  xv.  25 ;  2  Cor.  viii.  4,  ix.  1,  13,  19,  20 ; 
Heb.  vi.  10 ;  1  Tim.  viii.  8,  10,  12,  13 ;  Phil.  i.  1 ;  1  Peter  iv.  10, 
11.  An  explicit  account  of  the  first  appointment  of  deacons  in 
the  church  at  Jerusalem  is  given  in  Acts  vi.  1-7.  Here  it  may  be 
observed,  1.  That  the  appointment  was  made  to  obviate  a  misun- 
derstanding between  the  Jewish  and  Gentile  converts  respecting 
the  distribution  of  the  daily  alms  of  the  church.  2.  This  account 
presupposes  that  there  were  already  almoners  of  the  poor;  but 
that  they  belonged  exclusively  to  the  Jewish  converts.  Mosheim^ 
and  KuinoeP  have  well  observed,  that  the  office  of  deacon  was  de- 
rived from  the  Jewish  synagogue ;  in  which  there  were  three  per- 
sons intrusted  with  the  care  of  the  poor,  who  were  called  D'p^lOj 
pastores.  But,  in  the  church  at  Jerusalem,  seven  of  the  Gentile 
converts  were  appointed  as  deacons,  that  they  might  better  equalize 
the  distribution  between  the  two  parties.  3.  These  seven  were 
Hellenists,  Grecians,  as  both  their  names  and  their  care  of  the 
widows  of  such  sufficiently  indicate.  4.  They  were  inducted  into 
office  by  prayer  and  the  imposition  of  hands ;  and  yet,  though  full 
of  faith  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  they  took  no  part,  officially,  in  the 
ministration  of  the  word.  5.  They  were  not  reckoned  with  the 
priesthood.  By  virtue  of  their  ordination,  they  became  officers  of 
the  church,  and  bore  a  part  in  the  service  of  the  church,  hiaxovia 
rng  /isiTovpyiag,  while  they  had  no  concern  with  the  instruction  or 
discipline  of  the  church. 

"Can  it  be  imagined,"  says  Bishop  White,  "that  an  order,  insti- 
tuted for  the  purpose  of  serving  tables,  should,  in  the  very  infancy 
of  its  existence,  have  the  office  of  the  higher  order  committed  to 
it  ?  I  do  not  deny  either  the  right  or  the  prudence  of  allowing 
what  has  been  subsequently  allowed  to  this  lowest  order  of  the 
clergy.  All  I  contend  for  is,  that,  in  the  first  institution  of  the 
order,  there  could  have  been  no  difference  between  them  and  lay- 
men, in  regard  to  the  preaching  of  the  word  and  the  administering 
of  sacraments."* 

"  The  deacons,  as  we  have  already  remarked,  were  primarily  ap- 
pointed for  a  secular  object ;  but,  in  the  discharge  of  their  special 
duty,  frequently  came  in  contact  with  home  and  foreign  Jews ;  and 
since  men  had  been  chosen  for  this  office  who  were  full  of  Christian 


SEC.  VIII.]  DEACONS.  165 


zeal,  full  of  Christian  faith,  and  full  of  Christian  wisdom  and  pru- 
dence, they  possessed  both  the  imvard  call  and  the  ability  to  make 
use  of  these  numerous  opportunities  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel 
among  the  Jews.  In  these  attempts,  Stephen  especially  distin- 
guished himself."  Philip  also  performed  a  similar  service  :  though 
it  was  no  part  of  his  original  office  to  preach,  it  was  his  privilege, 
in  common  with  other  Christians ;  and  he  had  the  honour  to  gather, 
in  Samaria,  the  first  Christian  church  out  of  Jerusalem.  Such  are 
the  views  of  Neander,  who,  like  Bishop  White,  supposes  that  these 
men  preached  and  taught,  not  by  virtue  of  their  office  as  deacons, 
but  of  their  privilege  as  Christians.^ 

These  officers  continued,  for  a  long  time,  to  perform  only  the 
duties  at  first  ascribed  to  them ;  nor  does  it  appear  that  they  were 
appointed  in  other  churches,  save  that  at  Jerusalem.  It  is,  at  least, 
remarkable,  that  no  trace  of  them  in  other  churches  is  perceptible 
in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  not  even  when  the  apostles  are  making 
arrangements  for  the  due  administration  of  the  church  in  their 
absence,  (chap.  xiv.  23,  comp.  Tit.  i.  5,)  nor  in  the  Epistles  to  the 
Romans,  Ephesians,  Colossians,  and  Thessalonians.  In  Philippians 
i.  1,  mention  is  merely  made  of  them  in  connection  with  bishops ; 
but  no  intimation  is  given  respecting  their  office. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  1  Tim.  iii.  8—13,  instructions  are  given  for 
the  appointment  of  deacons  in  the  church  at  Ephesus,  whose  offices 
are  totally  unlike  those  of  the  seven  whose  appointment  is  recorded 
in  the  sixth  chapter  of  Acts.  1.  They  are  introduced  in  imme- 
diate connection  with  bishops,  of  whom  Luke  makes  no  mention. 
2.  In  Jerusalem,  they  were  chosen  by  the  church  and  installed  into 
their  office.  Here  nothing  is  said  of  their  election.  3.  If  bishops 
and  presbyters  are  classed  together  as  one  in  office,  then  these  dea- 
cons obviously  constitute  a  distinct  class ;  but  if  the  deacons  and 
presbyters  are  identical,  then  it  would  follow  that  there  is  no  men- 
tion of  deacons  in  the  New  Testament  as  constituting  a  third  order. 
The  ancients  adopted  the  first  supposition,  and,  accordingly,  always 
unite  the  terms  bishops  and  deacons.  4.  Many  have  denied  that 
the  deacons  were  entitled  in  any  case  to  preach.*  In  reply  to 
which,  no  further  proof  is  requisite  than  the  words  of  the  apostle — 
("  They  that  have  used  the  office  of  a  deacon  well,  purchase  to  them- 
selves a  good  degree,  and  great  boldness  in  the  faith  ivhich  is  in 
Christ  Jesus,''^  1  Tim.  iii.  9,  13) — and  the  example  of  Stephen 
and  of  Philip.  It  may  still  be  a  question  whether  Philip  preached 
by  virtue  of  his  office  as  deacon,  or  whether  he,  and  others  who 


166  SUPERIOR   ORDERS   OF   THE    CLERGY.         [CHAP,  VIII. 

were  competent  to  this  duty,  preached  as  they  had  occasion,  though 
not  by  virtue  of  their  office  as  deacons  in  the  church. 

The  opinion  of  Neander  is,  that  the  office  of  deacon  comprised, 
even  in  the  apostolical  churches,  other  duties  than  that  one  for 
which  they  were  specifically  appointed  ;  of  which  the  publication 
of  the  gospel  may  have  been  one.  On  the  other  hand,  even  under 
the  hierarchy,  when  they  acted  as  ministers  of  the  church  in  the 
place  of  the  bishop,  "the  fundamental  principle,  as  well  as  the 
name  of  the  office,  remained."  We  find  traces  of  the  distribu- 
tion of  alms  being  considered  as  the  peculiar  employment  of 
deacons.* 

The  most  ancient  authorities  afford  the  fullest  evidence  that  they 
were  strictly  ministers  who  acted  as  the  assistants  of  bishops  and 
presbyters  in  their  religious  services  and  other  official  duties.  To 
use  a  military  phrase,  they  were  the  adjutants  of  the  bishop.  Such 
is  the  uniform  testimony  of  ancient  history.''  "Let  the  deacon," 
says  the  book  of  Apostolical  Constitutions,  "refer  all  things  to  the 
bishop,  as  Christ  did  to  the  Father."  "Such  things  as  he  is  able, 
let  him  rectify,  by  the  power  which  he  has  from  the  bishop,  just  as 
the  Lord  is  delegated  by  the  Father  to  act  and  to  decide ;  but  let 
the  bishop  judge  the  more  important  cases. "'f  Again: — "Let  the 
deacon  be  the  ear,  the  eye,  the  mouth,  the  heart,  the  soul  of  the 
bishop."  They  are  also  styled  his  angels  and  his  prophets.  So 
universally  did  the  bishop  employ  their  service  in  the  discharge  of 
his  duties. 

In  consequence  of  these  relations  to  the  bishop,  they  early  as- 
sumed to  themselves  great  consequence,  and  refused  to  render 
similar  assistance  to  presbyters,  so  that  it  often  became  necessary, 
in  ecclesiastical  councils,  to  admonish  them  of  their  duties  by  such 
decrees  as  the  following: — "Let  the  deacons  observe  their  proper 
place,  knowing  that  they  are,  indeed,  the  assistants  of  the  bishop, 
but  that  they  are  inferior  to  the  presbyters."^  "Let  the  deacon 
know  that  he  is  alike  the  minister  of  the  presbyter  and  of  the 
bishop."^  The  same  council  proceeds  to  admonish  him  of  his  sub- 
ordination, reminding  him  that  he  was  ordained  to  his  office  by  the 
bishop  alone,  without  the  aid  of  presbyters  ;  for  which  they  offer 
the  following  reason  : — Quia  non  ad  sacerdotium  sed  ad  ministe- 

*  Oi  hidxovoi  bicixovovvti^  "to,  -tr^i  ixxX'/jraai  ^pr^uata. — Origen,  In  Math.  i.  §  22. 

f  This  reference  to  the  relations  of  Christ  to  the  Father  was  very  common  in 
the  second  and  third  centuries.  From  the  fourth  century  it  was  avoided,  to  pre- 
vent giving  countenance  to  the  Arian  theory  of  his  actual  subordination. 


SEC.  VIII.]  DEACONS.  167 


rium  consecratur.  Because  he  is  appointed,  not  to  the  sacerdotal, 
but  the  ministerial  office :  he  was  consecrated,  not  as  a  priest,  but 
as  a  minister. 

The  deacons  continued  to  acquire  increasing  consideration  as  the 
bishops  rose  in  power.  From  the  second  to  the  fifth  century  espe- 
cially, the  deacons  had  great  influence  in  the  church.  They  had 
now  become  so  great  that  decrees  in  council  of  the  churches  were 
passed  to  restrict  their  power.  Bishops  began  to  compare  their 
office  with  that  of  the  Jewish  priesthood,  which  sunk  the  deacons 
to  the  condition  of  the  Levites.^''  Those,  particularly,  who  were 
called  archdeacons  gained  great  favour  with  the  bishop,  by  reason 
of  the  assistance  they  rendered  to  him  in  curtailing  the  power  of 
the  presbyters. ^^  The  seven  who  were  originally  appointed  at  Jeru- 
salem, became  a  precedent  for  limiting  their  number  in  other 
churches,  beyond  which  they  were  never  much  increased.  So  that 
they  derived  increasing  consequence  from  the  fact  that  they  were 
so  few.  In  the  churches  of  Alexandria  and  Constantinople,  how- 
ever, this  canonical  number  was  greatly  exceeded.^^  In  the  latter, 
there  were,  in  the  sixth  century,  one  hundred  deacons ;  but  the 
Western  church  adhered  to  the  original  number — seven.  Corne- 
lius, bishop  of  Rome,  in  the  third  century,  had  only  this  number ; 
though  he  had,  at  the  same  time,  forty  presbyters. ^^  Such  was 
also  the  case  in  the  fifth  century.^* 

There  was  another  class  of  persons  whose  duty  it  was  to  perform 
the  loiver  offices  of  deacons,  and  who,  for  this  reason,  were  called 
sub-deacons  and  assistants,  VTtohiaxovoi,  vTtYi^itai.  These  were 
created  a  distinct  class,  when  the  duties  of  the  deacons  became  too 
arduous  for  them,  in  order  that  they  might  not  diminish,  by  the 
increase  of  their  own  number,  the  consideration  which  they  had 
acquired.  Even  these  sub-deacons  are,  in  many  churches,  included 
in  the  superior  order  of  their  officers. 

Deacons  are  sometimes  called  Levites,  and  their  office  levitica 
dignitas,  leviticum  yninisterium.  In  the  councils  of  the  Western 
church,  presbyters  and  deacons  are  indiscriminately  called  by  that 
name.^^ 

From  the  above  statements,  it  appears  that  the  duty  of  the  dea- 
cons was  to  perform  the  services  which  the  bishops  and  presbyters 
were  either  unwilling  or  unable  to  discharge,  with  the  exception  of 
those  which,  according  to  the  rules  and  usages  of  the  church,  could 
not  be  delegated  to  another.  There  were  official  duties  of  his  own 
which  the  bishop  could  not  impose  even  upon  presbyters.     These 


168  SUPERIOR   ORDERS   OF   THE   CLERGY.  [CHAP.  VIIT. 

it  was  equally  unlawful  for  him  to  delegate  to  the  deacons.  Excep- 
tions were  occasionally  made,  especially  in  the  case  of  the  arch- 
deacon, but  they  were  violations  of  established  usage. 

The  consecration  of  the  eucharist  was  one  of  the  reserved  riirhts 
which  could  not  be  delegated  to  the  deacons.^^  Instances  to  the 
contrary  occasionally  occurred,  but  they  were  violations  of  an  es- 
tablished rule.  Baptism,  extreme  unction,  etc.,  they  were  allowed 
to  administer,  as  not  belonging  to  the  most  sacred  offices  of  the 
priesthood.  From  their  performing  only  these  subordinate  minis- 
terial duties,  they  were  early  called  sacerdotes  secundi  vel  tertii 
ordinis,  priests  of  the  second  or  third  order. 

But  there  must  have  been  certain  duties  belonging  to  their  office 
besides  those  which  were  delegated  to  them,  else  they  could  not 
with  propriety  be  regarded  as  a  thi7'd  order  of  officers  in  the  church. 
Of  those  offices,  ttvo  are  generally  specified — that  of  reading  tJie 
Grospels,  and  of  assisting  the  bishop  and  presbyter  in  the  sacrament 
of  the  Lord's  supper}"^  The  deacons  alone  were  permitted  to  read 
the  Gospel  in  the  communion  service.  For  this  reason,  the  pre- 
sentation of  the  Gospel  to  them  was  one  of  the  rites  of  their  ordi- 
nation. 

The  above  were  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of  their  office. 
A  fuller  enumeration  of  their  duties,  after  the  establishment  of  the 
hierarchy,  is  given  below. 

1.  Their  first  duty  was  to  assist  in  the  administration  of  the 
sacrament.  "After  the  benediction  of  the  minister,  and  the  re- 
sponse of  the  people,"  says  Justin  Martyr,  "they,  whom  we  call 
deacons,  distribute  the  consecrated  bread,  and  wine,  and  water  to 
each  one  that  is  present,  and  carry  them  to  those  who  are  absent."^* 
According  to  the  constitutions,  the  bishop  distributed  the  bread, 
and  the  deacons  presented  the  cup  after  the  blessing  of  it  by  the 
bishop.'^  In  the  absence  of  the  bishop,  the  presbyter  invariably 
performed  the  service  of  consecrating  the  cup. 

Connected  with  the  sacramental  service,  certain  other  duties  de- 
volved upon  the  deacons,  (a)  They  publicly  proclaimed  the  name 
of  each  communicant."'^  (6)  They  received  the  contributions  of  the 
communicants  and  delivered  them  to  a  subordinate  officer  for  safe 
keeping,  {c)  They  had  the  charge  of  the  sacred  utensils — the 
chalice,  the  patin  or  plate,  the  napkin,  the  fan  for  repelling  the 
flies,  pItiiSlov,  fiabellum,  etc.~^ 

2.  It  was  their  duty,  previous  to  the  appointment  of  readers,  to 
perform  the  services  of  that  office  in  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures. 


SEC.  VIII.]  DEACONS.'  169 

Subsequently  it  continued  to  be  tbeir  duty  still  to  read  the  Gospels 
in  the  celebration  of  the  eucharist  whenever  the  bishop  did  not  offi- 
ciate in  person,  in  which  case  the  reading  devolved  upon  the  pres- 
byter.^^ At  Alexandria,  the  archdeacon  alone  read  the  Scriptures 
— in  other  churches,  the  deacons,  and  in  many  also  the  presbyters 
performed  this  service,  and  on  feast-days  it  was  discharged  by  the 
bishop  himself.^ 

3.  They  acted  as  monitors  in  directing  the  several  parts  of  reli- 
gious worship,  giving  notice  by  set  forms,  called  npoG^avr.Gsig, 
of  the  commencement  of  each  act  of  worship,  and  calling  the  atten- 
tion of  the  audience  to  it,  commanding  silence  and  preserving  order. 
For  this  reason  they  were  called  the  sacred  heralds  of  the  church, 
hpoxr^puxeg,  XTi^vxEg,  tihicines  sacrz,  precones,  etc.  The  following 
are  examples  of  these  forms :  ^eyj^cofiev,  oremus,  let  us  pray ;  orate 
catechumeni,  let  the  catechumens  pray ;  attendamus,  attention ; 
Jlectamus  genua,  kneel ;  a7tO/li'eO'3e,  you  are  dismissed ;  7tpo8/i^sTe, 
ite,  withdraw  ;  missa  est,  the  service  is  ended ;  sursuin  cor  da,  lift 
up  your  hearts ;  sa^icta  Sanctis,  holiness  becomes  sacred  things ; 
and  the  like.^^ 

4.  They  had  a  general  oversight  of  the  assembly  in  religious  wor- 
ship, to  prevent  disturbance,  and  see  that  every  thing  was  conducted 
with  propriety. 

5.  They  occasionally  preached  in  the  absence  of  the  bishop. 
Chrysostom,  when  deacon  of  the  church  at  Antioch,  preached  for 
his  Bishop  Flavianus,  as  did  also  Ephraim  the  Syrian,  under  similar 
circumstances.  The  right  is  firmly  denied  by  Ambrose,^'  but  ex- 
plicitly authorized  by  the  Second  Council  of  Vaison,  A.  D.  529,  c.  2, 
which  devolves  upon  them  the  duty  of  conducting  the  worship  in 
the  absence  of  the  bishops  and  presbyters,  or  when  they  were  pre- 
vented by  infirmity  from  officiating. 

6.  The  duty  of  giving  catechetical  instructions  stood  on  the  same 
footing.  It  Avas  the  appropriate  duty  of  the  bishop ;  but  the  dea- 
cons were  frequently  intrusted  with  the  service  to  the  candidates 
for  baptism,  especially  when  it  was  continued  for  a  length  of  time. 

7.  They  administered  baptism  by  permission  of  the  bishops  and 
presbyters  as  their  substitutes,  but  not  as  authorized  administrators 
of  the  ordinance."'' 

8.  They  were  not  only  permitted,  but  in  certain  cases  required, 
to  absolve  and  restore  penitent  backsliders.  St.  Cyprian  says,  "  If 
they,  the  sick,  are  seized  by  any  dangerous  disease,  they  need  not 
await  my  return,  but  may  have  recourse  to  any  presbyter  that  is 


170  SUPERIOR    ORDERS    OF    THE    CLERGY.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

present,  or  if  a  presbyter  cannot  be  found,  and  their  case  becomes 
alarming,  they  may  make  their  confession  before  a  deacon,  that  so 
they  may  receive  imposition  of  hands  and  go  to  the  Lord  in  peace." 
— Ep.  13,  ah  18. 

9.  They  had  the  charge  of  the  inferior  orders  of  church  officers 
and  servants,  and,  in  the  absence  of  the  presbyters  might,  at  their 
discretion,  censure  or  suspend  them  for  a  time  for  misconduct. 

10.  They  acted  as  the  representatives  and  proxies  of  their  bishops 
in  general  council.  In  such  cases  they  sat  and  voted,  in  the  Eastern 
church,  not  as  deacons,  but  as  proxies,  in  the  room  and  place  of 
those  that  sent  them.  In  the  Western  church  they  voted  after  the 
bishops,  and  not  in  the  place  of  those  whose  proxies  they  were. 

11.  They  exercised  an  inspection  over  the  life  and  morals  both 
of  the  clergy  and  laity.  They  were  the  justices  and  grand  jury- 
men of  the  church,  and  were  to  make  diligent  inquiry  and  due  pre- 
sentation to  their  bishops.  It  is  in  this  sense  that  they  are  styled 
the  eyes  and  the  ears  of  the  bishop.-''  Their  office  evidently  must 
have  been  one  of  great  respectability ;  but  at  the  same  time  such 
duties  must  have  rendered  it  odious  to  the  community. 

12.  It  was  their  duty  to  receive  and  disburse  the  charities  of  the 
church.  In  the  discharge  of  these  duties  they  were  styled  the 
mouth  and  the  heart  or  soul  of  the  bishop.  In  this  sense  they 
Avere  accounted  the  indispensable  assistants  of  the  bishop,  without 
whom  he  could  do  nothing.^*  Their  duties  increased  with  the  pos- 
sessions of  the  church,  so  that  they  acted  essentially  as  the  account- 
ants and  clerks  of  the  bishop. 

It  appears  from  the  foregoing  specifications,  that  the  original 
duties  of  the  deacons,  the  care  of  the  poor  and  of  the  sick,  con- 
tinued to  adhere  to  them,  and  that  from  time  to  time  other  duties 
were  added  to  these,  which  greatly  modified  the  nature  of  their 
office,  but  never  exempted  them  from  the  discharge  of  their  specific 
duties.  The  Apostolical  Constitutions  make  it  the  duty  of  the  dea- 
con to  visit,  to  minister  to  the  infirm,  to  the  weak, — to  travel  about 
to  minister,  to  serve  and  to  report  to  the  bishop  all  that  are  in  af- 
fliction.^ As  the  riches  of  the  church  increased,  it  is  true,  indeed, 
that  the  bishops  contrived  to  hold  the  principal  control  of  the  funds 
of  the  church,  but  they  cheerfully  submitted  to  the  deacons  such 
duties  as  involved  the  inconvenience  of  providing  for  such  as  were 
objects  of  the  charity  of  the  church. 

The  canonical  age  for  entering  on  the  duties  of  the  deacon's 
office  was  twenty-jive,  but  this  rule  was  not  always  observed. 


SEC.  IX.]  DEACONESSES.  171 


The  official  vestments  of  the  deacons,  under  the  hierarchy,  were 
a  long  white  flowing  robe,  hanging  particularly  on  the  left  side,  and 
extending  down  to  the  feet,  over  which  hung  the  orarium. 

§  9.    OF    DEACONESSES. 

The  office  of  deaconess  may  be  regarded  as  substantially  the 
same  with  that  of  female  presbyters.  They  were  early  known  in 
the  church  by  a  great  variety  of  names,  all  of  which,  with  some 
circumstantial  variations,  denoted  the  same  class  of  persons.  They 
were  helpers,  assistants  to  perform  various  services  in  the  church. 
The  following  are  the  most  frequent  names  by  which  they  are  dis- 
tinguished, 7tpecr/3i'Ti^c$,  hiarMViaaai,  episcopse,  ejyiscojnssse,  an- 
tistse,  j^Tipai,  viduse,  viduatas,  Ttpoxa^r.asvai,  ministrve,  aneillse, 
etc.  Their  most  frequent  appellation  however  is  that  of  deaconess, 
diaconissa,  a  term  which  does  not  occur  in  the  Scriptures,  though 
reference  is  undoubtedly  had  to  the  office  in  Rom.  xvi.  1.  Profane 
writers  use  the  term  r;  ^idxovog,  and  diacona,  to  denote  both  the 
wife  of  a  deacon,  and  an  officer  in  the  church ;  which  has  been  a 
fruitful  soui'ce  of  misunderstanding  respecting  the  nature  of  this 
office. 

The  points  of  inquiry  which  have  been  raised  on  this  subject  are 
arranged  under  the  following  heads  : — 

1.  The  terms  Sidxovai,  %'/;paf,  TtpeCT/Siirepat,  in  many  passages 
distinctly  indicate  that  they  were  appointed  to  perform  the  same 
offices  towards  the  female  sex,  as  the  deacons  discharged  for  their 
sex,  Rom.  xvi.  1,  2,  11 ;  1  Tim.  v.  3,  seq. ;  Titus  ii.  3,  seq. ;  1  Tim. 
iii.  11.  .  No  satisfactory  explanation  has  yet  been  given  of  the 
origin  of  this  office  :  some  suppose  it  to  have  been  derived  from  the 
Jews  ;  others,  that  it  was  peculiar  to  the  Christian  church ;  Paul's 
commendation  of  Phebe,  Rom.  xvi.  1,  2,  however,  refutes  the  hy- 
pothesis that  they  were  appointed  to  administer  exclusively  to  their 
own  sex. 

Hugo  Grotius,  in  his  commentary  on  that  passage,  says  that  "in 
Judea  the  deacons  could  administer  freely  to  the  female  sex.  The 
office  of  deaconess  Avas  accordingly  unknown  among  the  Jews;  but 
in  Greece  no  man  was  allowed  to  enter  the  apartment  of  that  sex, 
which  custom  gave  rise  to  two  classes  of  female  assistants,  one  called 
TtpEGlSi'Ti^sg,  or  npoxa^r^uevai,  who  devoted  their  attention  to  the 
department  of  the  women ;  the  other  Sidxovoi,  Latin  diaconissa:, 
whom  Pliny  in  his  epistle  to  Trajan  calls  ministrde,  attended  to  the 


172  SUPERIOR    ORDERS    OF    THE    CLERGY.         [CHAP.  VIII. 

poor  and  the  sick  of  their  own  sex,  and  provided  for  their  wants." 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  origin  of  the  office,  it  was  evidently 
known  in  the  age  of  the  apostles,  and  continued  unto  the  fourth 
century  in  many  churches  and  various  countries,  if  not  in  all  of 
them. 

One  part  of  their  office  was  to  give  religious  instruction,  which 
undoubtedly  was  merely  catechetical ;  for  the  language  of  Paul, 
1  Cor.  xiv.  34 ;  1  Tim.  ii.  8-12,  forbids  the  supposition  that  they 
ever  usurped  the  place  of  public  teachers ;  but  the  primitive  church 
at  least  agreed  in  permitting  them  to  impart  catechetical  instruc- 
tion to  their  own  sex.  They  were  in  this  way  private  catechists  to 
female  catechumens. 

2.  Satisfactory  evidence  of  the  reality  of  this  office  is  derived, 
not  only  from  the  apostles  and  the  ancient  fathers,  but  from  pagan . 
writers,  particularly  from  Pliny,  who  mentions  them  in  his  account 
of  the  persecutions  of  the  Christians  as  ancillase  quse  ministrse  clice- 
hantur.  They  are  also  mentioned  by  Lucian  of  Samosata,  under 
the  name  of  widows.     P.  38. 

3.  The  requisite  age  for  this  office  was  usually  sixty  years  and 
upward,^  1  Tim.  v.  9 ;  but  the  usage  of  the  church  in  this  respect 
was  not  uniform.  According  to  some  councils  they  were  eligible 
to  this  office  at  forty  f  some  were  chosen  even  at  the  early  age  of 
twenty?  Their  age  probably  varied  with  the  particular  duties  to 
which  they  were  appointed ;  matrons,  venerable  for  age  and  piety, 
being  selected  for  religious  teachers,  and  younger  women  for  alms- 
giving, the  care  of  the  sick,  assistants  at  baptism,  etc.  Neither 
were  widotvs  alone  invariably  appointed  to  this  office.  TertuUian 
however  directs  that  they  should  be  the  widow  of  one  man,  having 
children.  But  Ignatius,  in  his  epistle  to  the  Smyrneans,  salutes 
the  virgins  that  are  called  widows  ;  and  such  were  not  unfrequently 
chosen  to  this  office,^  though  it  must  be  admitted  that  widows  of 
virtuous  character  were  sometimes  denominated  rcap^evoi,  virgins.^ 

4.  The  ordination  of  deaconesses  has  been  the  subject  of  much 
dispute ;  but  there  is  satisfactory  evidence  that  they  were  conse- 
crated to  their  office  by  prayer  and  the  imposition  of  hands.^  This 
form  of  consecration  was  indeed  prohibited  by  certain  councils,'^  but 
even  the  prohibition  of  it  is  evidence  that  it  was  practised.  Their 
consecration,  however,  gave  them  no  power  to  p)^'>'form  any  of  the 
duties  of  the  sacred  office ;  they  were  merely  a  religious  order  in 
the  church.  The  views  of  the  primitive  church  respecting  them 
are  well  expressed  by  Epiphanius,  who  intimates  that  one  part  of 


SEC.  IX. J  DEACONESSES.  173 


their  duty  was  to  perform  such  offices  for  their  sex,  particularly  in 
baptism,  as  the  usages  of  the  church  required,  and  which  could 
not  with  propriety  be  administered  by  the  public  ministers  of  the 
church.*  They  were  also  particularly  necessary  in  the  East,  where 
that  sex  is  carefully  excluded  from  intercourse  with  the  other. 

5.  Their  duties  were,  (a)  To  take  the  care  of  the  poor  and  the 
sick :  this  in  the  apostolic  age  was  their  principal  office — a  ser- 
vice so  commendable  that,  in  imitation  of  it,  even  Julian  the  Apos- 
tate required  the  same.  Under  this  head  may  also  be  classed  the 
duty  of  ministering  to  martyrs,  and  confessors  in  prison. 

(b)  To  instruct  catechumens,  and  to  assist  at  their  baptism.  They 
instructed  female  candidates  in  the  symbols,  and  other  things  pre- 
paratory to  their  baptism.  Their  attendance  at  the  baptism  of 
candidates  of  their  own  sex  was  requisite  to  assist  in  divesting  them 
of  their  raiment,  to  administer  the  unction,  and  to  make  arrange- 
ments for  the  administration  of  the  ordinance  with  all  the  decency 
becoming  a  rite  so  sacred. f 

(c)  To  exercise  a  general  oversight  over  the  female  members  of  the 
church.  This  oversight  they  continued,  not  only  in  all  the  exer- 
cises of  religious  worship,  of  the  sacrament,  and  of  penance,  but  in 
private  life,  imparting  needful  admonition,  and  making  due  reports 
of  them  to  the  presbyters  and  bishop.^ 

6.  This  office  ceased  in  the  church  at  an  early  period,  but  the 
precise  time  cannot  be  determined.  It  was  abrogated  in  France, 
by  the  Council  of  Orange,  A.  D.  441,  and  appears  to  have  gradually 
ceased  from  the  Western  church.  The  Council  of  Laodicea,  a.  d. 
360,  c.  11,  is  supposed  to  have  abrogated  this  office  in  the  Eastern 
church.  Such  is  Bohmer's  interpretation  of  it,  though  he  admits 
that  the  office  continued  in  the  church  at  Constantinople  until  the 
twelfth  century. 

Various  considerations  probably  led  to  the  abrogating  of  this 


*  Koi  o-Ti  fiiv  StaxoMfjawj'  tdyfxa  (^ordo)  iativ  eli  trjv  ixxXr^aiav,  aVK  ovx^  ftj  ifpct- 
"tiviiv,  otfis  T't  f rti.;j;wpfij'  trtiT'ptrtfti',  ivixiv  5c  aifivotTjtoi  rov  yvfaixeiov  yivov;,  ^  6t 
wpav  Xovtpov  rj  irttffxE^*"?  na^ovi  fj  novov  xai,  ote  -yVjUi'to^fi-'j^  aJjua  yviaicv,  iia  |U.jj 
vrto  av^^iujv  tfpoupyovi'T'tor  Jita^fi,'/;,  uXk  vfio  trji  Si.axoi'iffcojj.-^EpiPHAJJ.  Ilaer.  79. 

f  The  custom  of  the  times  was  to  baptize  by  immersion,  and  in  a  state  of  nudity. 
The  duties  of  the  deaconesses  are  duly  set  forth  by  the  first  Council  of  Carthage, 
A.  D.  399.  Viduse  vel  sanctimoniales,  qure  ad  ministerium  baptizandarum  muli 
erum  eliguntur,  tam  instructse  sint  ad  officium,  ut  possint  apto  et  sano  sermone 
docere  imperitas  et  rusticas  mulieres  tempore,  quo  baptizandte  sunt,  qualiter 
baptizatori  respondeant,  et  qualiter  accepto  baptismate  vivant. 


174  SUPEKIOR    ORDERS    OF    THE    CLERGY.  [CHAP.  VIII. 


office,  siicli  as  the  following : — The  services  of  these  women  became 
less  important  after  the  cessation  of  the  agapse  of  the  primitive 
chm-ch  ;  the  care  of  the  sick  and  the  poor,  which  had  devolved  upon 
the  church,  was  in  the  time  of  Constantine  assumed  by  the  state ; 
after  the  general  introduction  of  infant  baptism  in  consequence  of 
the  prevalence  of  the  Christian  religion,*  their  attendance  at  this 
ordinance  became  of  less  importance ;  and  finally,  they,  iii  their 
turn,  became  troublesome  aspirants  after  the  prerogatives  of  office ; 
just  as  the  abbesses  and  prioresses  of  later  times  assumed  all  the 
offices  of  the  bishop,  preaching,  administering  the  communion,  ab- 
solving, excommunicating,  and  ordaining  at  pleasure ;  abuses  which 
it  required  all  the  authority  of  councils,  and  of  the  pope  himself,  to 
rectify  ;  in  a  word,  the  order  was  abolished  because  it  was  no  longer 
necessary.      Cessante  causa,  cessat  effectus. 

There  Avere  fanatical  sects  even  in  the  ancient  church,  such  as 
the  Montanists  and  Collyridians,  who  authorized  and  encouraged 
women  to  speak,  dispute,  and  teach  in  public.  But  the  sentiment 
of  the  church  has  uniformly  been  opposed  to  such  indecencies. 
What  impudence,  says  Tertullian,  in  these  heretical  women  to  teach, 
to  dispute,  to  exorcise,  and  even  to  baptize !  ^  Let  no  woman  speak 
in  public,  nor  teach,  nor  baptize,  nor  administer  the  sacrament,  nor 
arrogate  to  herself  any  office  of  the  ministry  belonging  to  the  other 
sex.^°  Let  not  a  woman,  however  learned  or  holy,  presume  to  teach 
men  in  public  assembly — is  the  injunction  of  the  Council  of  Car- 
thage, iv.  99.  Let  all  the  female  sex,  says  Chrysostom,  forbear  from 
assuming  the  responsibility  of  the  sacred  office  and  the  preroga- 
tives of  men.^^  The  Apostolic  Constitutions  declare  it  to  be  a 
heathenish  custom  ;'^  and  Epiphanius  has  a  particular  dissertation 
in  which  he  shows  at  large,  that  no  woman,  from  the  foundation  of 
the  world,  was  ever  ordained  to  offer  sacrifice  or  perform  any 
solemn  service  of  the  church. 


§  10.    OF   ARCHDEACONS. 

The  policy  of  the  bishop,  in  attaching  to  himself  the  interests  of 
the  deacons  in  opposition  to  the  presbyters,  was  peculiarly  mani- 
fested in  respect  to  the  archdeacon,  who  was  the  firm  adherent  of 


*  Baptisms  were  at  first  necessarily  administered  chiefly  to  adults,  -who  were 
received  into  tlie  church  as  converts  from  paganism.  But  this  circumstance  is  no 
argument  against  the  ordinance  of  infant  baptism. 


SEC.  X.]  ARCHDEACONS.  175 


the  bishop  and  the  bitter  opponent  of  the  archpresbyters.  The 
office,  indeed,  owed  its  chief  importance,  if  not  its  origin,  to  the 
rivalry  between  bishops  and  presbyters  for  dignity  and  power,  and 
was  designed  to  counteract  the  influence,  particularly  of  the  arcli- 
freshyters. 

Contrary  to.  the  general  usage  of  antiquity,  qualifications  for 
office  had  more  influence  in  his  election  than  seniority  of  age  and 
ordination.  Athanasius  of  Alexandria,  while  yet  a  young  man, 
was  invested  with  the  office  of  archdeacon.^  Jerome  also  gives  us 
to  understand  that  the  deacons  chose  from  among  themselves  indis- 
criminately the  most  suitable  candidate  for  the  office,  or,  with  greater 
probability,  the  archdeacon  was  first  chosen  by  the  deacons,  as  at 
Alexandria,  in  the  fourth  century,  and  at  a  later  period  was  at  the 
disposal  of  the  bishop,  as  in  France,  in  the  fourth  century.  Ac- 
cording to  the  same  author,  there  was  one  archdeacon  for  each 
church.  But  while  the  office  was  in  certain  churches  elective,  in 
others  it  was  filled  by  appointment  of  the  bishop.  Indeed,  he 
might  very  naturally  be  expected  to  guard  with  peculiar  jealousy 
the  appointment  of  this  officer  who,  according  to  the  antiquated 
phraseology  of  the  day,  was  to  be  his  own  right  hand,  his  mouth, 
his  ear,  his  eye.  Accordingly,  when  the  rule  of  seniority  prevailed, 
the  bishop  retained  the  right  of  overruling  it  at  pleasure,  leaving 
to  the  candidate  elect  his  rank  and  title,  but  substituting  in  his 
place  another  better  qualified  to  transact  the  business  of  the  office.^ 

The  leading  historical  facts  relating  to  this  office,  are  briefly  as 
follows : — 

1.  The  office  occurs  as  early  as  the  fourth  or  fifth  century,  but 
without  any  distinct  title ;  such  were  Athanasius  of  Alexandria, 
Caecilian  of  Carthage,  and  the  famous  Leo  the  Great  of  Rome. 

2.  The  arrogance  and  ambition  of  the  archdeacons  became,  as 
early  as  the  fifth  century,  the  subject  of  bitter  complaint.*  This 
arrogance,  which  first  evinced  itself  by  an  assumption  of  authority 


*  Audio  quemdam  in  tantam  erupisse  vecordiam,  ut  diaconos  presbyteris,  id  est 
episcopis  anteferret ;  nam  quum  apostolus  perspicue  doceat,  eosdem  esse  pres- 
byteros,  quos  episcopos,  quid  patitur  mensarum  et  viduarum  minister,  ut  supra 
eos  se  tumidus  efFerat,  ad  quorum  preces  Christi  corpus  sanguisque  conficitur, — 
ceterum  etiam  in  ecclesia  Romse  presbyteri  sedent,  et  stant  diaconi ;  licet  pau- 
latim  increbrescentibus  vitiis,  inter  presbyteros,  absente  episcopo,  sedere  diaco- 
num  videi'im,  et  in  domesticis  conviviis  benedictiones  presbytei-is  dare.  Discant, 
qui  hoc  faciunt,  non  se  recte  facere.  Sciant,  quare  diaconi  constituti  sint.  Le- 
gant  Acta  Apostolorum,  recordentur  conditionis  suae.  Hieeon.  Ep.  146,  Ad  Evangel 


176  SUPERIOR    ORDERS    OF    THE    CLERGY.  [CHAP.  VIII. 


over  the  presbyters,   finally  became  troublesome   to   the  bishops 
themselves,  by  whom  it  was  at  first  encouraged. 

3.  They  often  had  the  address  to  become  the  successors  of  the 
bishop ;  they  claimed  to  take  precedence  of  the  presbyters,  and  to 
be  second  in  rank  only  to  the  bishop.^ 

4.  Their  power  became  greatly  extended  through  the  period 
reaching  from  the  seventh  to  the  ninth  centuries,  when  they  were 
not  only  authorized  to  remove  deacons  and  subordinate  officers,* 
but  the  honours  shared  by  them  were  in  some  instances  eagerly 
sought  by  the  presbyters  themselves  f  even  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
bishop  was  disowned  by  them,  with  whom  they  became,  in  a  mea- 
sure, partners  in  office." 

5.  From  the  eleventh  to  the  thirteenth  centuries,  the  bishops 
were  engaged  in  a  fruitless  endeavour  to  curtail  the  grasping  ambi- 
tion of  the  archdeacons,  who  still  had  the  address  to  elude  their 
eiforts  through  the  influence  of  synods,  and  by  allying  themselves 
more  and  more  with  the  secular  j^oiver.  Finally,  they  not  only 
became  independent  of  the  bishops,  but  subjected  them,  in  a  degree, 
to  their  own  control.^  The  establishment  and  the  increase  of  their 
power  was  favoured  at  Rome,  as  the  means  of  weakening  the  hands 
of  the  bishops  and  extending  the  influence  of  the  Romish  see.  So 
that  the  very  order  of  men  that  the  bishops  employed  to  assist  them 
in  gaining  ascendency  over  the  presbyters,  was  now  employed  by  a 
more  aspiring  power  against  themselves. 

6.  In  the  thirteenth  century,  the  archbishops  succeeded  in  put- 
ting an  effectual  check  upon  the  immoderate  power  of  the  arch- 
deacons ;  a  decree  in  council  having  been  finally  obtained  which 
prohibited  the  archdeacon  from  employing  an7/  substitute  tohatever 
in  the  discharge  of  his  office,  or  passing  any  judicial  sentence  for 
grave  off'ences  witJiout  the  permission  of  the  bishop.  The  arch- 
bishops also  required  of  the  bishops  that  they  should  employ,  in  the 
discharge  of  their  duties,  a  new  class  of  officers,  who  should  be 
entirely  distinct  from  the  archdeacons.  These  were  first  appointed 
by  Innocent  IV.,  A.  D.  1250,  and  were  called  vicarii,  officiales,  of- 
ficials, vicars,  and  also  vicar-generals,  because  they  were  intrusted 
with  judicial  authority  and  adjudicated  in  the  name  of  the  bishop. 
This  measure  had  the  desired  eff'ect  to  reduce  the  power  of  the 
archdeacon,  which  in  consequence  became  an  inconsiderable  office. 
In  the  East  it  became  extinct  as  early  as  the  eighth  century. 

The  office  itself  may  be  compared  both  with  that  of  bishop  and 
deacon,  for  it  partook  in  part  of  the  nature  of  both.     The  principal 


SEC.  XI.]  SUBDEACONS.  177 


complaint  against  the  archdeacon  arose  from  the  abuse  of  his  power 
in  assuming  as  his  right  what  was  only  delegated  to  him,  as  has 
been  already  related.  His  various  offices  are  specified  by  Bingham 
in  the  following  summary: — 1,  To  attend  the  bishop  at  the  altar; 
2,  to  assist  him  in  managing  the  church  revenues  ;  3,  in  preaching  ; 
4,  in  ordaining  the  inferior  clergy  ;  5,  he  also  had  power  to  censure 
deacons,  and  the  inferior  clergy,  but  not  presbyters. 

§  11.    SUBDEACONS. 

Tins  office  is  a  creation  of  the  third  century,  which  Cyprian^  is 
the  first  to  mention.  In  the  Eastern  church,  Athanasius,  who 
lived  a  century  later,  first  notices  it,  at  which  time  it  had  become 
common  in  the  churches.  Though  frequently  associated  with  the 
inferior  clergy,  their  office  may  be  considered  in  connection  with 
that  of  deacons. 

The  specific  duty  of  the  subdeacons  was  to  assist  the  deacons  in 
their  duties.  The  number  of  these  was  so  limited  that  it  was  quite 
impracticable  for  them  personally  to  discharge  all  the  duties  of  their 
office.  For  this  reason  they  were  provided  with  the  assistance  of 
the  subdeacons.  Like  the  deacons,  these  were  usually  seven  in  num- 
ber. To  this  number  the  church  of  Rome  adhered  with  singular 
pertinacity.  But  in  order  that  they  might  retain  their  sacred 
number  seven,  and  still  have  the  aid  of  a  sufficient  number  of  as- 
sistants, they  created  thj^ee  several  classes  of  these  officers,  consist- 
ing of  seven  each,  and  called  palatini,  stationarii,  and  regionarii? 
In  the  church  at  Constantinople  there  were  at  one  time  ninety,  and, 
at  another,  seventy  subdeacons. 

Authorities  are  not  agreed  respecting  the  consecration  of  the 
subdeacons.  Some  affirm  that  they  were,  and  others  that  they 
were  not,  ordained  by  the  imposition  of  hands.^  In  the  East  they 
were  uniformly  regarded  as  of  a  subordinate  rank,  and  classed  with 
the  readers.  In  the  West  they  ranked  the  first  in  the  lower  order 
of  the  priesthood,  and  about  the  twelfth  or  thirteenth  centuries  they 
were  transferred  to  the  superior  order.^  The  reason  for  this  pro- 
motion was  that,  on  the  elevation  of  the  episcopate  in  the  increasing 
power  of  the  hierarchy,  the  three  orders  might  still  retain  their 
original  number  and  relative  rank.  The  Eastern  church  adhered 
more  closely  to  the  original  design  for  which  they  were  appointed. 

Before  their  promotion  in  the  Western  church,  their  duties  were 
the  following  : — To  convey  the  bishop's  letters  or  messages  to  foreign 


178  SUPERIOR   ORDERS    OF   THE    CLERGY.  [CHAP.  VIII, 

churches,  and  to  execute  other  commissions  of  the  superior  minis- 
ters ;  to  prepare  the  altar  and  the  sacred  vessels  of  the  altar  for 
public  -worship,  and  to  deliver  them  to  the  deacon  in  time  of  divine 
service ;  to  take  charge  of  the  clerical  vestments ;  to  attend  the 
door  of  the  church  during  the  communion  service,  taking  care  that 
no  one  went  in  or  out  during  the  time  of  oblation ;  and,  perhaps, 
to  conduct  those  who  came  into  the  church  to  their  proper  places.^ 
They  stood  in  much  the  same  relation  to  the  deacons  as  these  to 
the  presbyters  :  as  the  deacons  were  appointed  to  relieve  and  assist 
the  presbyters,  so  the  subdeacons  were  the  assistants  of  the  deacons. 
After  their  promotion  in  the  Western  church,  they  were  per- 
mitted to  assist  in  celebrating  mass.  An  empty  chalice  and  patine 
were  delivered  to  them  at  their  ordination  ;  but  they  were  not  al- 
lowed either  to  consecrate  or  distribute  the  sacred  elements.  As 
it  was  customary  to  deliver  to  the  deacons  a  copy  of  the  Gospels, 
so  to  the  subdeacons  was  delivered  a  copy  of  the  Epistles  also,  at 
their  ordination.  In  a  word,  the  strife  was  to  elevate  their  office 
as  much  as  possible  above  that  of  the  reader,  and  to  attach  to  it  all 
possible  honours.  Contrary  to  all  the  authority  of  the  primitive 
church,  they  were  often  promoted  to  the  highest  honours  and  offices 
of  the  priesthood. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

INFERIOR  ORDERS  OF   THE   CLERGY,  SUBORDINATE   SERVANTS,  AND 
EXTRAORDINARY  OFFICERS   OF   THE   CHURCH. 

Under  this  head  we  enter  upon  an  enumeration  of  the  various 
offices  which  were  created  chiefly  in  the  third  and  subsequent  cen- 
turies, and  were  totally  unknown  in  the  apostolic  churches.  Some 
may  have  become  necessary  as  the  churches  increased,  and  new 
duties  and  responsibilities  arose :  many  more  were  the  result  of 
the  elevation  of  the  episcopal  office,  and  the  careful  distinction  of 
orders  and  offices  under  the  hierarchy :  others  became  necessary  as 
a  part  of  the  ceremonials  of  the  liturgical  service  to  which  the  sim- 
plicity of  primitive  worship  gave  place. 

§  1.    OF   READERS. 

These  occupied  the  first  rank  in  the  lower  order  of  church  officers 
in  the  Greek  church ;  in  the  Roman,  they  were  next  in  rank  to  the 
subdeacons.  They  have  been  frequently  regarded  as  an  order  in- 
stituted by  the  apostles,  and  by  them  derived  from  the  Jewish  syna- 
gogue. Compare  Luke  iv.  16 ;  Acts  xiii.  15,  27 ;  2  Cor.  iii.  14. 
And  it  must  be  admitted  that  reading  formed  a  very  important 
part  of  public  worship  in  the  Christian  church  from  the  beginning. 
Timothy  was  directed  to  give  attendance  to  reading  as  well  as  to 
exhortation  and  to  doctrine.  It  was  a  custom  of  the  synagogue, 
transferred  to  the  church,  to  make  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  a 
part  of  public  worship.  But  the  fact  that  the  Scriptures  were  read 
by  certain  individuals  is  not  proof  that  these  constituted  a  distinct 
order.  Justin,  indeed,  distinguishes  between  the  reader  and  the 
presiding  officer  of  the  church,  and  yet  the  former  may  have  been 
a  presbyter  or  deacon.  The  deacons  were  expressly  required  to 
read  at  the  communion  service,  but  this  is  no  certain  evidence  that 
they  may  not  have  been  at  the  same  time  the  ordinary  readers  in 
the  religious  service.  For  these  reasons  it  is  advisable  to  refer  the 
institution  of  this  order  to  the  third  century.  They  are  first  men- 
tioned by  Tertullian,  who  complains  of  the  heretics  that  they  con- 

179 


180  INFERIOR    ORDERS    OF   THE   CLERGY.  [CHAP.  IX. 

found  all  rule  and  order,  allowing  the  same  person  to  perform 
alternately  the  offices  of  bishop,  presbyter,  deacon,  and  reader."^ 
Cyprian  also  mentions  the  ordination  of  a  reader,  and  remarks  that 
the  readers  are  a  subordinate  class  who  are  candidates  for  promo- 
tion to  the  clerical  office.^ 

The  office  was  at  first  held  in  peculiar  honom\  Cyprian  styles 
the  reader  the  instructor  of  the  audience,  intimating  thereby  both 
the  dignity  of  the  office  and  the  importance  of  the  reading  of  the 
Scriptures  as  a  part  of  divine  worship.  The  church  observed  the 
rules  of  the  synagogue  in  admitting  persons  to  this  office  without 
prescribing  to  them  any  specific  age.  As  with  the  Jews,  so  with 
the  primitive  Christians,  lads  at  an  early  age,  if  duly  qualified, 
might  serve  as  their  readers.  There  are  instances  on  record  of 
children  who,  even  at  seven  years  of  age,  were  employed  in  this 
service  ;  and  others  at  eight,  ten,  and  twelve  years  of  age.  Young 
men  of  noble  birth,  especially,  aspired  to  this  office.'  Chrysostom 
himself  began  his  public  ministry  at  Antioch  as  a  reader,  from 
which  he  was  advanced  to  the  office  of  deacon.  Justinian,  how- 
ever, established  the  canonical  age  of  the  reader  at  eighteen. 

At  the  consecration  of  the  reader,  the  bishop  made  an  address, 
setting  forth  the  duties  of  the  office  and  the  qualifications  of  the 
candidate,  and  delivered  to  him  a  copy  of  the  Scriptures,  saying, 
"  Take  this  roll,  and  be  thou  a  reader ;  and  faithfully  fulfilling  this 
office,  thou  shalt  have  part  with  those  that  minister  in  the  word." 
The  Apostolical  Constitutions  prescribe  a  prayer  on  the  ordination 
of  the  reader.^ 

It  was  his  duty  to  hold  in  safekeeping  the  copy  of  the  Bible, 
especially  in  times  of  persecution ;  and  to  read  the  lessons  in  the 
missa  catechumenorum,  or  first  lesson  to  which  catechumens  attended, 
extending  to  the  prayers  which  preceded  the  communion.  The 
reading-desk  was  at  some  distance  from  the  pulpit.  At  the  latter 
place,  and  in  the  communion  service,  the  reading  of  the  Gospels  was 
not  the  duty  of  the  reader,  but  of  one  of  the  superior  order  of  the 
clergy. 

In  the  AVestern  church  the  subdeacons  soon  sought  means  to 
bring  the  readers  under  subordination  to  them,  and  accordingly 
this  order  finally  ceased  from  the  church.  In  the  cloisters  and 
chapters,  on  the  contrary,  they  acquired  still  increasing  considera- 


*  Hodie  episcopus,  eras  alius ;  hodie  diaconus,  qui  eras  lector ;  hodie  presbT- 
ter,  qui  eras  laicus. — De  Prsescrip.  Ilecret.  c.  41. 


SEC.  I.]  READERS.  181 


tion,  and  at  a  later  period,  as  they  were  withdrawn  from  the  service 
of  the  church,  they  were  transferred  to  the  professorships  of  philo- 
sophy and  theology  in  the  universities  and  other  schools  of  learning. 

The  reading  of  the  Scriptures  constituted  an  important  part  of 
public  worship  from  the  earliest  ages  of  Christianity.  Chrysostom 
asserts  that  "  if  a  man  were  to  frequent  the  church  diligently,  and 
to  listen  attentively  therein,  although  he  read  not  the  Bible  at  home, 
one  year  would  be  sufficient  to  give  him  a  good  knowledge  of  it."^ 

On  other  occasions  he  complains  of  the  inattention  of  the  congre- 
gation to  this  part  of  the  religious  service  in  terms  so  graphic,  that 
a  few  extracts  are  subjoined  to  illustrate  the  custom  of  the  age  and 
the  relative  duties  of  the  reader  and  of  the  deacon  in  the  public 
services  of  the  church  : — 

"  The  deacon  standeth  here,  and  crieth  aloud  in  the  name  of  all, 
'  Let  us  attend.'  He  frequently  repeateth  it ;  for  his  is  as  the  com- 
mon voice  of  the  church,  and  yet  no  one  attendeth.  The  reader 
then  commenceth  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah,  still  no  one  attendeth ; 
notwithstanding  prophecy  is  not  of  man.  Then  he  crieth  aloud, 
so  that  all  can  hear,  '  Thus  saith  the  Lord,'  and  still  no  one  at- 
tendeth." And  in  another  discourse,  in  which  he  reproaches  his 
hearers  with  a  deficiency  of  scriptural  knowledge,  he  says,  "  Never- 
theless, the  Scriptures  are  read  to  you  two  or  three  times  every 
week.  The  reader  ascendeth,  and  first  saith  by  which  prophet, 
apostle,  or  evangelist  the  portion  of  Scripture  which  he  is  about  to 
read  was  written ;  and  he  then  giveth  you  the  heads  of  it,  that  not 
only  the  contents,  but  also  the  occasion  of  the  writing  and  the 
author  may  be  known  to  you."  And  in  another  sermon  he  says, 
"When  the  reader  hath  risen  and  said,  '  Thus  saith  the  Lord,'  the 
deacon,  stepping  forward,  commandeth  every  one  to  be  silent ;  but 
he  doeth  not  this  to  honour  the  reader,  but  to  honour  him  who 
speaketh  through  the  reader  to  all.  We  are  servants,  my  beloved ; 
we  speak  not  our  own  words,  but  the  words  of  God.  The  epistles, 
which  are  daily  read,  came  from  heaven.  Tell  me,  I  pray  you, 
were  now,  while  we  are  all  here  assembled,  a  man  with  a  golden 
girdle  to  enter,  proudly  advancing  and  calling  upon  every  one  to 
give  way  before  him ;  and  were  he  to  declare  that  he  was  sent  by 
an  earthly  king,  and  that  he  brought  a  letter,  addressed  to  our 
whole  city  upon  urgent  matters, — would  ye  not  all  crowd  together  ? 
Would  ye  not,  without  the  summons  of  the  deacon,  maintain  the 
greatest  silence  ?  Methinks  ye  would  ;  for  I  have  heard  letters  of 
the  emperor  read  aloud  here." 


182  INFERIOK    ORDERS    OF   THE   CLERGY.  [CHAP.  IX. 


§  2.    OF   PRECENTORS,  SINGERS. 

The  singing  of  psalms  and  hymns  was  an  important  part  of 
public  worship,  both  in  the  temple  and  synagogue  service  of  the 
Jews,  and  in  the  worship  of  the  apostolic  and  primitive  churches. 
Eph.  V.  19,  20  ;  Colos.  iii.  16.  The  whole  congregation  took  part 
in  this  delightful  service,  employing,  no  doubt,  only  rude  and  simple 
melodies  which  all  could  chant.  The  reading  of  the  Scriptures  was 
diversified  by  intervals  of  psalmody,  in  which  all  were  accustomed 
to  unite  with  one  voice  and  heart.* 

Jerome,  by  his  complaint  of  this  theatrical  style  of  sacred  music, 
gives  sufficient  evidence  that  in  the  last  half  of  the  fourth  century 
such  music  was  to  some  extent  prevalent  in  the  church ;  and  it  is 
remarkable  that  this  part  of  public  worship  was  restricted  by  the 
Council  of  Laodicea,^  A.  D.  320,  372,  to  a  distinct  order  in  the 
church,  styled  by  them  xavovixoi  'xj/tt/ltai,  canonical  singers. 
These  went  into  the  singers'  seats  and  sang  from  a  book,  ano 
Siip^epag.  This  phrase  has  been  understood  by  many  to  refer  to 
a  singing-book,  in  which  were  set  the  notes  of  their  music ;  others, 
with  greater  probability,  understand  by  it  the  collection  of  psalms 
which  was  in  use,  like  a  modern  hymn-book.  The  Psalms  of  David 
were  chiefly  used  in  the  ancient  church.  The  above  restriction 
was  designed  to  correct  abuses  and  suitably  to  regulate  this  part  of 
worship.  The  subjects  of  their  psalmody  were  submitted  to  the 
control  of  the  bishops  or  presbyters.  But  all  that  related  to  the 
performance  of  the  music  as  an  art  was  left  to  the  singers.  But 
these  xavovLXOi  '^{O^tai  were  only  a  temporary  provision  to  regu- 
late and  restore  the  singing  to  some  tolerable  degree  of  harmony, 
and  it  continued  to  be  the  usage  of  the  church  for  the  whole  as- 
sembly to  join  in  singing.^  Choristers  Avere  not  appointed  earlier 
than  the  fourth  century  to  lead  the  singing.  Sometimes  they  and 
the  congregation  sang  alternately  in  responses  ;  again,  they  named 
the  tune  and  sang  a  line,  when  they  were  followed  by  the  congre- 

*  The  following  extract  from  Jerome  expresses  his  strong  aversion  to  an  artistic, 
theati-ical  style  of  music,  which  must  of  necessity  be  limited  to  a  few: — Nee  in 
tragoedorum  modum,  guttur  et  fauces  dulci  medicamine  colliniendas,  ut  in  ec- 
clesia  theatrales  moduli  audiantur  et  cantica ;  sed  in  timore,  in  opere,  in  scientia 
Scripturarum. .  . .  Sic  cantet  servus  Christi  utnon  vox  canentis  sed  verba  placeant, 
quae  leguntur,  ut  spiritus  malus  qui  erat  in  Saule  ejiciatur  ab  his  qui  similiter  ab 
eo  possideutur,  et  nou  introducatur  in  eos  qui  de  Dei  domo  scenam  fecere  popu- 
lorum. — Comment,  in  Eph.  v. 


SEC.  II.]  PRECENTORS,  SINGERS.  183 

gation.  It  was  also  the  duty  of  the  chorister  to  sing  or  chant  the 
benedictions  and  songs  of  praise,  the  sacramental  hymns  and  re- 
sponses, and  whatever  required  peculiar  skill  in  the  art  of  singing. 
The  number  of  choristers  appears  to  have  varied  in  different  churches, 
and,  perhaps,  at  different  times.  The  church  at  Constantinople  had 
at  one  time  twenty  choristers  and  one  hundred  and  ten  readers.^ 

Systems  of  psalmody,  both  plain  and  complicated,  were  early  in- 
troduced into  the  church.  The  singer  in  the  Latin  church  is  some- 
times called  psahnista  or  psahnistanus,  but  7nore  frequently  cantor. 
The  term  VTtolSoXelg  also  occurs  in  connection  with  the  singers,  who 
may  be  styled  psalmi  promuitiatores,  or  succentores,  leaders.  Their 
office  was  to  begin  the  psalm  or  hymn,  and  thus  lead  the  singing, 
so  that  others  might  unite  their  voices  harmoniously  with  them. 

No  special  form  for  the  ordination  of  singers  is  prescribed ;  and 
by  the  fourth  Council  of  Carthage,  c.  10,  the  presbyter  is  authorized 
to  make  the  appointment  without  the  knowledge  or  authority  of  the 
bishop.  This  commission  the  presbyter  delivered  in  these  words  : 
Vide  ut  quod  ore  cantas,  corde  credas  ;  et  quod  corde  credis,  operi- 
bus  comprobes.  See  that  what  thou  singest  with  thy  mouth  thou 
believest  also  with  thy  heart ;  and  that  what  thou  believest  in  thy 
heart,  thou  confirmest  in  thy  life.  In  the  Catholic  church  the 
singers  did  not  constitute  a  separate  class,  and  in  some  other 
churches  they  were  reckoned  with  the  readers. 

But  though  the  singers  have  not  been  uniformly  classed  with  the 
priesthood,  they  have  ever  been  held  in  great  respect,  as  appears 
from  the  establishment  of  schools  of  sacred  music,  and  from  the 
peculiar  attention  which  was  paid  to  them ;  especially  to  the  in- 
structors of  them.  Such  schools  were  established  as  early  as  the 
sixth  century,  and  became  common  in  various  parts  of  Europe,  par- 
ticularly in  France  and  Germany.  These  schools  were  very  much 
patronized  by  Gregory  the  Great,  under  whom  they  obtained  great 
celebrity.  From  them  originated  the  famous  Gregorian  chant,  a 
plain  system  of  church  music  which  the  cljoir  and  the  people  sang 
in  unison.  The  prior,  or  principal  of  these  schools,  was  a  man  of 
great  consideration  and  influence.  The  name  of  this  officer  at 
Rome,  was  archicantor  ecclesise  Romanse  ;  and,  like  that  o^  prelatus 
cantor  in  their  chapters  and  collegiate  churches,  it  was  a  highly 
respectable  and  lucrative  office.^ 


184  INFERIOR    ORDERS   OF   THE   CLERGY.  [cHAP.  IX. 


§  3.    OF   ACOLYTHS,  ACOLYTHISTS,  OR  ACOLYTES. 

The  word  ax6?.ov^og  denotes  a  servant.  The  office  corresponds 
to  that  of  the  Roman  ajjparifor,  or  bedellus,  a  beadle.  The  word 
is  evidently  of  Greek  origin.  Hesychius  defines  it  by  o  vecjtEpog 
Ttalg,  ^epcLTiciV,  o  Tispi  to  GCdiia,  a  servant,  or  personal  attendant. 
This  being  the  origin  of  the  word,  it  is  remarkable  that  the  office 
was,  in  the  opinion  of  Bingham,  for  four  hundred  years  an  office 
of  the  Latin  church,  and  adopted  from  them  by  the  Greek  at  a 
late  period.  This  may  have  arisen  from  the  fact  that  the  subdea- 
cons  in  the  Greek  church  have  a  close  analogy  with  the  acolytes  in 
the  Latin,  and  that  name  was  commonly  retained  in  that  church. 
But  the  term  a?;6/lor3og,  acolyte,  Avas  derived  from  the  Greek 
church,  and  the  office  is  explicitly  mentioned  by  Eusebius,  who  re- 
lates that  an  inconceivable  number  of  presbyters,  deacons,  acolytes, 
and  others,  attended  the  bishops  at  the  Council  of  Nice,'  which  was 
composed  almost  exclusively  of  delegates  from  the  Eastern  church. 
We  may  therefore  reasonably  infer  that  the  office  was  common  to 
both  the  Eastern  and  Western  churches,  though  more  frequently 
mentioned  by  writers  in  the  latter. 

The  acolytes,  as  their  name  implies,  were  the  immediate  attend- 
ants and  followers  of  the  bishop,  especially  in  public  processions 
and  on  festive  occasions,  and  were  employed  by  them  in  errands 
of  every  kind.  Their  duties  in  regard  to  religious  worship,  as  spe- 
cified by  the  Council  of  Carthage,  were  to  light  the  candles,  and  to 
bring  the  wine  and  Avater  for  the  eucharist.^  They  were  constant 
attendants  of  the  bishop  and  his  personal  servants,  at  home  and 
abroad.  Cyprian,  on  one  occasion,  sent  supplies  to  Christian  mar- 
tyrs in  the  mines  by  the  hands  of  a  subdeacon  and  three  acolytes.^ 

In  case  of  communion  in  private  houses,  which  became  quite  fre- 
quent in  the  seventh  century,  their  duty  was  to  take  charge  of  the 
consecrated  elements  and  the  sacramental  vessels  which  were  re- 
quisite for  the  occasion.  The  lights  were  necessary  for  religious 
worship  in  the  evening;  but  it  was  a  custom,  as  we  learn  from 
Jerome,  in  the  fourth  century,  to  light  the  candles  in  the  reading 
of  the  Gospel  as  a  token  of  joy,*  which  is  sufficient  evidence  of  the 
early  introduction  of  the  senseless  rite  of  burning  wax  candles  at 
the  altar,  as  is  still  customary  in  the  Roman  Catholic  churches. 

*  Ad  signum  Isetitiae  demonstrandum. — Cont.  Vigilant,  c.  3. 


?EC.  IV.]  OSTIARII,  OR   DOORKEEPERS.  185 


From  the  writings  of  Cyprian  and  Tertullian,  it  appears  that  the 
office  of  acolyte  was  instituted  as  early  as  the  third  century.  In 
the  Roman  Catholic  church  it  is  still  recognised  in  the  boys  who  are 
seen  in  attendance  upon  the  priest  in  the  celebration  of  the  mass, 
and  the  taper-bearers  in  religious  processions. 

§  4.    OF    OSTIARII,  OR  DOORKEEPERS. 

These,  though  the  last  of  the  lower  orders,  were  of  a  more  ele- 
vated rank  than  the  modern  sexton,  with  whom  they  should  not  be 
confounded.  The  ostiarii  belonged,  in  a  sense,  to  the  clerical  order ; 
while  the  sexton  is  the  attendant  and  waiter  on  the  clergy.  Their 
duties  were  more  comprehensive  than  the  latter,  in  that  they  sepa- 
rated the  catechumens  from  believers,  and  excluded  disorderly  per- 
sons from  the  church.^  They  closed  the  doors  of  the  church,  not 
only  at  the  conclusion  of  religious  worship,  but  during  the  services, 
(especially  after  the  first  part  of  it,)  called  the  onissa  catechumenorum. 
Their  office  was  particularly  needful  during  the  prevalence  of  the 
secret  discipline  of  the  church,  to  guard  the  sacred  mysteries  from 
the  intrusion  of  the  profane.  In  times  of  persecution,  it  was  their 
duty  to  give  private  notice  of  the  secret  assemblies  of  the  church. 
At  a  later  period,  particularly  in  the  Western  church,  they  had  the 
care  of  the  ornaments  of  the  church  and  of  the  altar.  It  after- 
ward became  their  duty  to  ornament  the  church  and  the  altar  on 
festive  occasions ;  to  guard  the  court  of  the  church  and  sepulchres 
of  the  dead ;  to  present  the  book  to  the  preacher ;  to  ring  the  bell ; 
to  sweep  the  church ;  and  on  Thursday  of  passion-week  to  make  pre- 
paration for  the  consecration  of  the  chrism,  or  anointing  oil.^  They 
are  sometimes  called  mansionarii  and  janitores. 

The  most  probable  explanation  of  the  establishment  of  this  order 
is  that  they  were  made  doorkeepers  of  the  Christian  church,  in  imi- 
tation of  those  of  the  Jewish  tabernacle.  It  was  another  of  the 
corrupt  imitations  of  the  Jewish  church  which  became  so  common 
after  the  establishment  of  the  hierarchy.  The  necessity  of  the 
office,  both  in  administering  the  secret  discipline  of  the  church,  and 
in  times  of  persecution,  had  also  its  influence  in  the  institution  of 
this  order.  It  was  established  in  the  third  century,  and  discon- 
tinued in  the  Eastern  church  in  the  seventh  century.  In  the 
"Western  church  it  was  continued  to  a  later  period.  The  churches  of 
Constantinople  had  twenty-five  doorkeepers.  In  Rome  the  number 
was  less,  but  the  office  was  longer  continued,  and  held  in  greater 


186  INFERIOR   ORDERS    OF   THE   CLERGY.  [CHAP.  IX. 

consideration.     Deacons  were  originally  the  doorkeepers  ;  and  dea- 
conesses guarded  the  entrance  to  the  apartments  of  the  women. 

The  customary  forms  of  ordination  are  prescribed  in  the  fourth 
Council  of  Carthage,  c.  9,  and  the  ceremony  of  delivering  the  keys 
is  derived  from  the  book  of  secret  discipline. 

§  5.  OF  THE  SUBORDINATE  SERVANTS  OF  THE  CHURCH  AND  OF 

THE  CLERGY. 

1.  The  copiatse,  undertakers,  grave-diggers,  sextons.^  These 
were  intrusted  with  the  care  of  funerals  and  the  burial  of  the  dead. 
They  are  called  vespillones,  hispellones,  vex^o^dntai ;  also  ordo 
fossariorum^  fossores^  grave-diggers — ?L6XTLxapiOL,^  bearers  of  the 
bier,  and  collegiati,  decani,  collegiates  and  deans. 

The  last  offices  of  affection  to  the  dead  were  at  first  performed 
by  the  friends  of  the  deceased.  But  in  the  fourth  century  this 
order  of  men  was  instituted  by  Constantino  the  Great  to  assist  in 
these  solemnities.^  It  was  the  duty  of  the  copiatse,  both  to  prepare 
the  grave  and  to  act  as  pall-bearers ;  and  generally  to  perform  all 
the  rites  of  interment.  Constantino  limited  their  number  to  eleven 
hundred.  They  were  sometimes  reckoned  as  a  class  of  the  clergy. 
They  received  compensation  from  the  rich  and  from  the  public 
treasury,  and  enjoyed  certain  privileges  of  office. 

2.  The  Paraholani.  Their  office  was  to  take  care  of  the  sick, 
particularly  of  the  poor  who  were  affected  with  contagious  diseases, 
and  to  attend  to  the  interment  of  such  as  died  of  these  diseases — 
duties  which,  in  the  earlier  periods  of  the  church,  the  Christians 
themselves  failed  not  to  perform  at  the  peril  of  their  own  lives. 
The  copiat?e  were  of  great  importance,  especially  during  the  preva- 
lence of  epidemic  diseases.  The  common  belief  is  that  the  para- 
holani took  their  name  from  the  hazardous  office  in  which  they  were 
employed — ipyov  7tapdi3o?MV,  negotium  periculosum.  Others  de- 
rive it  from  7tapd/?0/lot,  in  the  sense  of  bestiarii,  persons  of  great 
courage  and  desperate  character,  who  exposed  themselves  in  combat 
with  the  Avild  beasts.^ 

They  were  chiefly  limited  to  Egypt  and  Asia  Minor ;  where  they 
were  the  more  necessary  by  reason  of  the  contagious  diseases  of 
these  countries.  Still  they  were  regarded  with  jealousy,  as  danger- 
ous distm'bers  of  the  peace ;  and  for  this-  reason,  efforts  were  fre- 
quently made  to  diminish  their  number.^  Very  few  traces  of  them 
appear  in  the  history  of  the  Western  church.     Their  appointment- 


SEC.  VI.]  SUBORDINATE   SERVANTS.  187 


appears  to  have  been  subsequent  to  that  of  the  copiatae,  in  the 
fifth  century.  They  were  a  troublesome  and  dangerous  order,  and 
accordingly  were  soon  discontinued.  They  were  men  from  the 
lower  classes ;  and  acting  in  the  interests  of  the  bishop,  Avere  his 
agents  and  adherents  in  occasional  conflicts  with  the  state.  In 
Alexandria,  they  were  restricted  by  Theodosius,  A.  D.  416,  to  five 
hundred,  and  degraded  from  the  rank  of  the  clergy. 

3.  The  sacrista,  sacristanus,  and  saeristarius  was  much  the  same 
as  treasurer,  the  keeper  of  the  sacred  things,  sacrorum  ciistos,  qui 
ecclesise  seeretum  curat?  They  appear  to  have  been  essentially 
the  same  as  the  cimeliarclis,  the  keepers  of  the  sacred  things 
deposited  in  the  church.  The  office  designated  by  this  appellation 
differed  considerably,  however,  at  different  times.  It  indicates 
those  who  were  intrusted  with  the  care  of  the  churches,  the  sacred 
utensils,  and  all  that  belonged  to  the  church.  Presbyters  were 
usually  chosen  to  this  office. 

4.  The  custos,  custor,  sedituus,  closely  resembled  the  sacristan. 
Sometimes  he  is  called  capellanus,  which  denotes  particularly  the 
keeper  of  the  altar. 

The  name  of  custodes  was  also  given  to  watchmen  who  acted  as 
a  guard  to  large  churches  by  night. 

At  a  later  period  it  became  customary  to  keep  a  guard  in  many 
sacred  places,  particularly  in  Palestine ;  such  as  Bethlehem,  Gol- 
gotha, the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  These  were 
called  custodes  locorum  sacrorum. 

5.  The  campanarii,  campanatores,  were  the  bell-ringers ;  an 
oflBce  which  of  necessity  has  been  instituted  since  the  introduction 
of  bells  in  the  ninth  century.  Their  usual  business  was  to  light 
the  church,  and  ring  the  bell  for  religious  worship. 

6.  The  matricularii  were  intrusted  with  the  care  of  the  church, 
in  which  they  were  accustomed  to  sleep ;  they  also  had  a  specific 
ofifice  to  perform  in  public  processions. 

7.  The  parafrenarii  were  the  coachmen  of  the  higher  clergy,  who 
had  also  the  care  of  their  stables,  horses,  and  coaches.  They  were 
sometimes  reckoned  among  the  number  of  the  clergy,  but  of  an  in- 
ferior order.^ 

§  6.    OF  OFFICERS  OF  THE   CHURCH  NOT   BELONGING  TO  THE  CLERGY. 

Persons  of  this  description  differed  greatly  in  their  rank  and  in- 
fluence respectively,  as  well  as  in  the  time  and  circumstances  of 


188  INFERIOR   ORDERS    OF   THE   CLERGY.  [CHAP.  IX. 

their  appointment.  They  were  chosen  at  one  time  from  the  clergy, 
at  another  from  the  laity.  In  the  service  of  the  church  they  often 
sustained  nearly  the  same  relations  as  did  the  archbishops  and  other 
dignitaries  when  acting  as  ministers  of  state.  They  were  chiefly 
influential  in  Rome  and  Constantinople,  rather  than  in  the  pro- 
vincial dioceses.  The  influence  of  some  of  these  officers  was  often 
greater  even  than  that  of  a  prime-minister,  archbishop,  or  patri- 
arch, just  as  the  most  important  concerns  of  church  and  state  are 
often  controlled  by  a  secretary  or  counsellor.  Officers  of  this  class, 
however,  had  little  or  no  concern  with  the  approj^riate  duties  of  the 
ministry.  And  we  will  treat  of  them  very  briefly  in  the  order  of 
their  importance,  proceeding  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest. 

1.  The  mmisionarii,  steivards,  to  whom  was  intrusted  the  care 
of  the  church-glebes,  styled  also  7tpoa[iovdpioi,  napa[.iovdpiOL. 

2.  OlxovofiOL,  persons  appointed  to  assist  in  managing  the  pos- 
sessions of  the  church.  This  office  was  originally  created  to  check 
the  insatiable  cupidity  of  the  bishops,  and  to  restrain  their  inde- 
pendent control  of  the  revenues  of  the  church.  But  they  soon 
found  means  to  defeat  this  salutary  expedient  by  taking  the  appoint- 
ment of  such  officers  into  their  own  hands,  and  thus  securing  men 
who  were  in  their  interests.  The  mansionarii  were  totally  distinct 
from  the  stewards  of  cloisters,  and  other  similar  establishments  of 
the  middle  ages. 

3.  Cimeliarchs,  XEi^Yf^iapj^ai,  thesauni,  sacelUi,  sacristse,  dif- 
ferent from  the  sacristans  or  sextons  before  mentioned,  treasurers. 
The  cimeliarchs  were  intrusted  with  the  care  of  rare  and  costly 
things  which  belonged  to  the  churches,  whether  acquired  by  pur- 
chase or  by  donations.  The  ^iyag  (yxEV0<pv2.a^,  chancellor  of  the 
exchequer  at  Constantinople,  was  a  dignitary  of  high  rank :  the 
fisyag  aaxeX/ldptog  was  treasurer  of  the  cloisters,  prefect  of  mo- 
nasteries, etc. 

4.  Notarii.  The  Greek  word  voTO.pLoq  was  of  late  origin  in  that 
language.  Previously,  the  corresponding  terms  were  ypa^^atsvg, 
vnoypa^Evg,  vnoho^evg,  6^vypd<pog,  'raxvypd<pog,  etc.,  neither 
of  which  exactly  expresses  the  meaning  of  the  term  notarius.  This 
denotes  a  scribe,  and  always  implies  that  he  acts  in  some  official 
capacity,  as  the  scribe  or  secretary  of  a  deliberative  assembly,  or 
the  clerk  of  a  court.  The  notarii  were  frequently  employed  by 
private  persons,  but  retained  even  then  their  official  character. 
They  were  copyists  and  translators  of  homilies,  records,  etc.^  It 
was  particularly  their  duty  to  write  memoirs  of  such  as  suffered 


SEC.  VI.]  SECULAR    OFFICERS.  189 


martyrdom,^  and  to  record  the  protocols  of  synods  and  doings  of 
councils.^  They  also  acted  the  part  of  a  modern  secretary  of  lega- 
tion/ and  were  again  the  agents  of  bishops  and  patriarchs  in  exer- 
cising a  supervision  over  remote  districts  of  their  diocese.  In  this 
capacity  they  frequently  attained  to  great  influence  and  honour.^ 
Indeed,  the  notary  was  himself  one  of  the  clergy,  and  the  constant 
attendant  of  the  bishop.  The  office  was  instituted  as  early  as  the 
fourth  century.  At  the  Council  of  Chalcedon,  A.  D.  451,  there  was 
one  John,  a  presbyter,  TtpoTog  tcov  voiTapicdV. 

The  various  services  of  a  secretary  or  scribe  in  preparing  writ- 
ings, whether  of  a  judicial  or  extrajudicial  character,  were  chiefly 
performed  by  men  of  the  clerical  order,  because  they  were  the  best 
qualified  for  these  duties. 

5.  A'pocrisiarii,  or  responsales.  They  were  often  the  delegates 
and  representatives,  the  charge  d'affaires,  of  the  bishop  at  the  com-t. 
As  such  they  belonged  usually  to  the  priesthood,  but  there  were 
often  apocrisiarii  of  a  secular  character,  legates  or  ambassadors 
from  one  court  to  another,  like  the  eancellarii,  consiliarn,  sccre- 
tarii,  referendarii,  etc.  The  title  of  apocrisiary  was  appropriated 
particularly  to  the  pope's  deputy  or  agent,  who  resided  at  the  court 
of  Constantinople  to  receive  the  pope's  orders  and  the  emperor's 
answers.  The  existence  of  such  an  agent  at  that  court  has  been 
called  in  question  without  good  reason.  Both  Leo  and  Gregory 
the  Great  once  resided  there  in  that  capacity,  and  there  are  other 
unequivocal  notices  of  the  office  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries.^ 

After  the  re-establishment  of  the  Western  empire,  an  accredited 
agent  of  the  pope  of  a  like  character  was  accustomed  to  reside 
at  the  French  court ;  he  was  sometimes  called  capellanus,  palatii 
custos,  corresponding  to  a  modern  charge  d'affaires. 

The  most  celebrated  cloisters  and  abbeys,  as  well  as  the  arch- 
bishops, had  also  their  agents  at  Rome.  Since  the  ninth  century 
they  have  had  the  name  of  ambassadors.  The  pope's  legate  in 
modern  history  is  but  a  continuation  of  this  under  certain  modifi- 
cations. 

6.  Syncelli,  Cvyxe'XXoi.  The  chief  syncellus  at  Constantinople 
w^as  an  officer  of  high  rank,  and  the  syncelli  were  generally  chosen 
from  the  bishops  and  metropolitans  to  this  office.^  The  prelates  of 
Rome  had  also  their  syncelli ;  but  the  office  in  time  degenerated 
into  an  empty  name.^  Their  business  is  said  to  have  been  origin- 
ally to  attend  upon  the  patriarchs  and  prelates  as  their  spiritual 
advisers,  and  as  witnesses  of  their  deportment  and  the  purity  of 


190  INFEKIOR   ORDERS    OF   THE    CLERGY.  [CHAP.  IX. 

their  manners.  The  origin  of  this  office,  according  to  Klaussing,' 
is  to  be  sought  in  the  corrupt  morals  of  the  bishops,  who  might  be 
hekl  in  check  by  the  presence  of  these  clerical  attendants. 

7.  The  syndici,  Gvvolxoi,  defensores.  Their  business  was  to  re- 
dress the  wrongs  of  the  poor  and  the  injured ;  to  defend  the  rights 
of  the  church ;  to  exercise  a  supervision  over  the  property  of  the 
church ;  to  settle  disputes,  manage  lawsuits,  etc.  They  were 
known  in  the  church  as  early  as  the  fourth  or  fifth  century.  They 
were  the  spiritual  advocates,  the  attorney-generals  of  the  church,  to 
defend  its  legal  rights.  In  the  Western  church  they  belonged  to 
the  laity ;  in  the  Eastern,  to  the  clergy.  Like  every  other  office  of 
the  church,  its  prerogatives  were  often  perverted  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  sinister  ends. 

8.  There  was  still  another  class  of  officers,  who  may  perhaps  be 
styled  patrons,  p)'^'otectors,  or  defenders  of  the  faith.  By  whatever 
name  they  are  called,  they  were  divided  into  three  subdivisions,  and 
in  the  middle  ages,  were  magistrates  of  the  highest  authority  in 
church  and  state.  1.  Learned  men,  knights,  and  counts,  who  were 
patrons  and  guardians  of  different  religious  bodies.  2.  The  agents 
of  the  church,  patrons  who,  especially  in  the  absence  of  the  bishop, 
acted  in  his  place  in  the  administration  of  affairs,  both  of  church 
and  state.  Under  this  head  may  be  classed  those  who,  under  the 
name  of  landlords,  exercised  a  territorial  jurisdiction  in  matters 
relating  to  the  church.  3.  Kings  and  emperors  who  claimed  to  be 
patrons  of  the  church  and  defenders  of  the  faith.  The  Roman 
Catholic  princes  of  Germany  and  the  kings  of  France  have  been 
peculiarly  emulous  of  this  honour. 

§  7.    OF   OCCASIONAL    OFFICERS   OF   THE   CHURCH. 

1.  Catechists.  In  view  of  the  importance  in  which  catechetical 
instructions  were  held,  it  is  truly  surprising  that  none  were  perma- 
nently designated  to  this  office.  The  name  of  catechist,  indeed, 
appears  early  in  the  history  of  the  church,  and  is  of  common  occur- 
rence, but  catechists  did  not  for  some  time  constitute  a  distinct 
order.  Such  instructions  were  given  in  part  by  the  bishops  them- 
selves, who  were,  by  virtue  of  their  office,  the  chief  catechists,  and 
had  the  oversight  of  all  such  exercises  in  which  presbyters,  dea- 
cons, readers,  and  exorcists  bore  a  part.  The  deaconesses,  and 
aged  women  also,  acted  as  catechists  for  their  sex.  But  the  bishops 
gradually  declined  the  duty  of  instructing  the  candidates  for  ad- 


SEC.  VII.]         OCCASIONAL    OFFICERS    OF   THE    CHURCH.  191 


mission  to  the  church,  and  devolved  this  upon  the  subordinate 
orders  of  the  clergy,  who  in  turn  were  relieved  from  it  by  the  in- 
stitution of  a  distinct  order  of  catechists  for  this  jiurpose.  In  the 
church  of  Africa,  and  apparently  also  at  Antioch,  this  duty  was 
transferred  to  such  as  had  distinguished  themselves  as  readers. 
Cyprian  appointed  Optatus,  a  reader,  to  this  office.^  Chrysostom 
was  first  a  reader,  then  a  catechist,  at  Antioch.  At  Alexandria, 
where  men  of  education,  eminent  for  learning,  often  applied  for  in- 
struction and  admission  to  the  church,  it  became  necessary  that 
men  of  like  distinction  for  learning  and  talents  should  be  their 
teachers,  to  solve  the  doubts  and  refute  the  philosophy  of  these 
learned  pagan  catechumens.  This  gave  importance  to  the  office  of 
catechist  at  Alexandria,  and  was  the  occasion  of  the  famous  theo- 
logical school  in  that  place.  The  catechists  of  that  school,  by 
their  talents  and  learning,  soon  gathered  about  them  a  body  of 
the  learned,  toward  whom  they  sustained  the  relations  rather 
of  a  modern  lecturer  or  theological  professor  than  of  a  common 
catechist. 

2.  Exorcists.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  nature  of  the  malady 
denominated  demoniacal  possession,  it  is  undeniable  that  this  mani- 
festation was  of  common  occurrence  in  the  early  ages  of  the  church, 
and  was  ascribed  solely  to  the  influence  of  malignant  spirits  molest- 
ing the  bodies  and  the  minds  of  men.  Instances  of  this  nature 
were  so  frequent,  that  these  demoniacs  constituted  a  distinct  class 
of  Christians.  The  evil  spirits  by  which  they  were  molested  were 
believed  to  be  subject  to  the  authority  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  the  pri- 
mitive Christians  believed  themselves  to  be  invested  with  authority 
\  and  power,  by  calling  upon  Christ  and  adjuring  the  evil  spirits  in 
his  name,  to  expel  them  and  heal  the  demoniacs,  as  did  our  Lord 
when  on  earth.  With  entire  confidence  they  appealed  to  their  bit- 
terest enemies  in  attestation  of  the  reality  of  these  demoniacal  pos- 
sessions, and  of  the  cure  of  them  efiected,  by  no  magical  art,  but 
simply  through  faith  in  Christ.  They  appealed  confidently  to  this 
their  power  over  unclean  spirits,  as  one  of  their  strongest  argu- 
ments for  the  reality  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  employed  it  as 
one  powerful  means  of  winning  converts  to  their  faith.  Justin 
Martyr,  about  the  middle  of  the  second  century,  says,  in  his  Apology 
addressed  to  the  enemies  of  Christianity  —  "Many  Christians 
throughout  the  world,  and  even  in  your  oivn  city,  simply  by  call- 
ing upon  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  was  crucified  under  Pontius 
Pilate,  and  without  any  other  adjuration  or  charm,  have  healed 


192  INFERIOR    ORDERS    OF   THE    CLERGY,  [cHAP.  IX. 

many  that  were  possessed  of  evil  spirits ;  and  still  continue  to  heal 
such."^  Irenreus,  a  little  later  in  the  same  century,  says  "  that 
many,  through  grace  received  from  the  Son  of  God,  who  was  cruci- 
fied under  Pontius  Pilate,  heal  the  sick,  cast  out  devils,  and  raise 
the  dead ;  that  multitudes  throughout  the  whole  world  daily  exer- 
cise these  gifts,  without  any  magic  charm  or  secret  art,  merely  by 
calling  upon  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesue  Christ."  In  the  same 
connection  he  also  says,  that  many  who  have  been  healed  of  un- 
clean spirits  have  been  brought  to  believe  in  Christ  and  become 
members  of  the  church.^  Tertullian  of  Carthage,  in  the  beginning 
of  the  third  century,  appeals  to  Scapula,  the  Roman  governor  of 
that  province,  that  he  has  even  in  his  own  board  of  officers  those 
who  have  received  these  kind  offices  from  Christians,  however  they 
may  exclaim  against  them;  "for  the  secretary  himself  is  one  who 
has  been  delivered  from  an  evil  spirit.  One  may  thank  a  Christian 
for  the  healing  of  a  relative ;  another,  for  that  of  a  son.  And 
many  honourable  men  there  are  (for  of  those  of  the  common  people 
we  will  not  speak)  who  have  been  healed  of  unclean  spirits  or  of 
diseases."* 

The  credulity  and  superstition  of  the  church  increased  continu- 
ally the  cases  of  these  demoniacs  so  called,  as  the  instances  of 
actual  possession  diminished,  if,  indeed,  there  were  such  at  any 
time  subsequent  to  the  age  of  the  apostles.  Demoniacs,  energumens, 
became  in  large  cities  a  distinct  class  of  Christians,  subject  to  pe- 
culiar discipline.  The  care  of  these  gave  rise  to  a  new  order  of 
officers,  the  exorcists,  whose  duty  was,  in  general,  to  watch  over 
and  take  care  of  these  unfortunate  beings,  to  whom  a  particular 
place  was  assigned  in  the  church ;  certain  services  were  performed 
with  particular  reference  to  them ;  and  from  others  they  were  ex- 
cluded. Their  food,  their  clothing,  their  daily  employment,  and 
the  means  used  for  their  restoration  to  health  were  under  the 
charge  of  these  exorcists. 

Man  in  his  unrenewed  state,  and  especially  the  idolatrous  nations, 
were  supposed  also  to  be  under  the  peculiar  power  of  Satan.  Ac- 
cordingly, on  the  reception  of  candidates  into  the  church  by  bap- 
tism, it  became  customary,  in  process  of  time,  to  require  of  them  a 
formal  renunciation  of  the  world  and  of  the  devil,  in  connection 
with  certain  forms  of  exorcism  which  were  administered  by  exor- 
cists. These  baptismal  exorcisms  were  a  later  ordinance  than  those 
of  the  energumens,  and  continued  after  the  latter  had  ceased. 

Exorcists,  as  an  inferior  order,  are  supposed  to  have  been  insti- 


SEC.  VII,]  OCCASIONAL    OFFICERS    OF   THE    CHURCH.  193 

tuted  near  the  beginning  of  the  third  century,  in  the  age  of  Ter- 
tullian,  Origen,  and  Cyprian.  The  exorcisms  of  the  energumens, 
and  even  this  class  of  Christians,  ceased  in  the  Eastern  church  as 
early  as  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century,  and  in  the  Western 
church  somewhat  later.  In  the  church  in  Spain  they  continued 
longest.  But  the  order  of  exorcists  remained  much  longer  in  the 
church  ;  and  in  the  Roman  Catholic  church  continues,  under  certain 
modifications,  unto  the  present  time,  as  is  seen  not  only  in  the  su- 
perstitious use  of  holy  water,  but  in  the  formalities  of  baptism. 
The  Nestorian  church  very  early  discontinued  all  exorcisms.  They 
are  now  discontinued  in  the  Greek  church,  and  have  gradually  dis- 
appeared from  the  reformed  churches,  though  Luther  and  Me- 
lancthon  retained  them. 

3.  Interpreters,  Ep[.iyjvEVTai.  This  office  is  supposed  to  have 
arisen  among  the  Jews  of  Palestine,  who  spoke  the  Syrochaldaic 
language.  "  Their  ancient  Scriptures  were  in  the  Hebrew  language, 
and  those  of  the  New  Testament  in  the  Greek.  Both  in  the  syna- 
gogue and  in  the  Christian  church,  therefore,  it  was  equally  neces- 
sary, Avhen  their  Scriptures  were  read,  to  translate  them  into  the 
language  of  the  common  people.  The  primitive  church  would  not, 
like  the  Romish,  worship  in  a  tongue  unknown  to  the  people. 

The  duty  of  the  hermeneutai  was  to  translate  from  one  tongue 
into  another,  where  people  of  difi'erent  languages  were  commingled  ; 
like*  the  Greek  and  Syriac — Latin  and  Punic.  They  had  a  seat 
also  with  the  bishop,  to  assist  in  translating  the  correspondence  of 
the  church  into  difierent  languages  —  to  interpret  synodical  re- 
cords, etc. 

Readers  and  deacons  were  employed  as  interpreters  for  the 
preacher,  when  they  were  competent  for  the  discharge  of  such 
duties;  but  whoever  performed  this  service,  must  of  necessity  be 
regarded  as  acting  the  part  of  a  religious  teacher,  and,  in  this 
sense,  as  belonging  to  the  priesthood.  The  bishop's  assistant  trans- 
lators might  be  chosen  from  among  the  laity,  when  no  suitable  per- 
son belonging  to  the  clergy  could  be  found ;  and  though  he  was 
little  else  than  a  notary  or  scribe,  he  was  honom-ed  with  a  place 
among  the  clergy. 

These  interpreters  are  to  be  carefully  distinguished  from  that 
class  of  persons  of  whom  Paul  speaks,  1  Cor.  xii.  10 ;  xiv.  26,  as 
endowed  with  miraculous  gifts  for  the  interpretation  of  what  was 
spoken  in  an  unknown  tongue.  These  hei-meneutai  belonged  only 
to  the  apostolic  churches,  and  must  have  ceased  with  the  cessation 

13 


194  INFERIOR    ORDERS    OF    THE    CLERGY.  [CHAP.  IX. 

of  that  gift  of  tongues  wliicli  made  that  office  necessary.  But  the 
name  may  have  been  retained  and  transferred  to  another  totally 
distinct. 

4.  Capellani.  The  name  is  derived  from  capella,  which  primarily 
means  a  certain  kind  of  hood.  In  the  fifth  century  it  became  the 
name  of  oratories  or  j^fi^^^t^  churches,  "which  were  built  about  that 
time  in  France,  and  afterward  became  common  in  the  West.  The 
first  instance  of  this  form  of  private  worship  occurs  in  the  life  of 
Constantine,  who  constituted  his  military  tent  a  place  for  religious 
worship  in  the  open  field.  Probably  the  ^aprvpiov  STti  iivtmyi 
TGiV  (inoar67i(j)v,  which,  according  to  Eusebius,  was  erected  by  Con- 
stantine, was  a  sort  of  court-church.  Certain  it  is  that  we  read  of 
the  cleriei  pallatn,  sacelli  regit,  court-preachers,  under  the  succeed- 
ing emperors.  The  chief  among  these  were  called  Ttdrcag  Toi) 
naXariov,  etc.,  answering  to  the  capellani,  regii,  archi-capellani, 
summi  sacellani,  etc.,  under  the  monarchs  of  France,  Germany,  and 
England.  The  capellanus,  then,  was  the  chaplain  or  minister  of 
these  private  or  court  chapels. 

After  the  crusades,  multitudes  of  places  where  sacred  relics  were 
preserved  were  also  called  chapels,  and  the  persons  who  had  the 
care  of  these  relics  received  also  the  name  of  chaplains,  though 
they  had  no  stated  ministerial  office,  but  occasionally  officiated  by 
special  permission. 


CHAPTER  X. 

OF  ELECTIONS   TO  ECCLESIASTICAL  OFFICES. 

This  subject  has  been  discussed  at  length  in  another  work,*  and 
must  in  this  place  be  treated  with  greater  brevity ;  but  it  belongs 
to  the  archgeology  of  the  Christian  church  to  specify  the  different 
forms  of  election  and  appointment  by  which  its  offices  were  filled. 

§  1.    OF    ELECTION    BY    LOT. 

It  is  customary  to  class  under  this  head  the  first  appointment 
to  ofiice  that  was  made  in  the  church — that  of  Matthias,  to  supply 
the  place  of  the  apostate  Judas.  Acts  i.  15—26.  "  They  gave  forth 
their  lots,  and  the  lot  fell  upon  Matthias."  But  it  may  well  be 
doubted  whether  this  selection  was  made  by  actual  casting  of  lots. 
Mosheim  has  shown  that  the  phrase  eSaxav  x?i,r,povg  dvrojv  may 
indicate  an  elective  vote  by  the  assembly.^  Resort,  however,  was 
occasionally  had  to  the  lot,  in  elections,  but  the  use  of  this  and  of 
all  magical  arts  was  discontinued  by  the  church.  This  form  of 
election  was  neither  peculiar  to  any  sect,  nor  prevalent  at  any 
given  time,  nor  applicable  to  any  one  case ;  but  was  adopted  as 
occasion  required.  The  election  was  little  else  than  a  decision  be- 
tween several  rival  candidates. 


§  2.    OF   ELECTIONS    BY   VOTE   OF   THE   CHURCH. 

Even  the  appointment  of  Matthias  was  with  the  consent  and  co- 
operation of  the  church,  if  not  by  their  elective  vote.  "  Peter,"  says 
Chrysostom,  "did  not  appoint  him:  it  was  the  act  of  all."'  And 
such  is  the  opinion  of  many  learned  men.  The  seven  deacons  con- 
fessedly were  chosen  by  the  church.  Acts  vi.  1-6.  The  delegates 
of  the  churches  were  chosen  by  the  churches.  One  such  Paul  dis- 
tinctly specifies  as  xeipoTovTi^eig  vno  rcov  tzx/iyjaicjv,  chosen  by 

*  Apostolical  and  rrimitivc  Church.     Chap.  iv.  pp.  53-86. 

195 


196  ELECTIONS   TO    ECCLESIASTICAL   OFFICES.  [CHAP.  X. 


the  churches  "  ivith  the  lifting  up  of  hands,''  as  it  is  in  the  margin. 
2  Cor.  viii.  19.  Such  being  the  rule  of  the  church,  that  elections 
shall  be  made  by  the  united  body  of  believers,  it  is  to  be  presumed 
that  the  apostles  themselves  acted  in  conformity  ■with  it.  even  when 
they  are  said  to  have  made  the  appointment  of  presbyters  and 
teachers.  Acts  xiv.  23  ;  2  Tim.  ii.  1 ;  Tit.  i.  5.  Such  appointment 
or  nomination  by  no  means  excludes  the  consent  and  vote  of  the 
church.  The  advice  and  consent  of  the  churches  were  demanded  on 
other  occasions.  Acts  xv.  1  et  seq. ;  1  Cor.  v.  2  ;  2  Cor.  ii.  7  et  seq. 

Clemens  Romanus  is  the  best  interpreter  of  the  apostle's  senti- 
ments, and  the  earliest  witness  that  can  be  obtained  on  this  subject. 
This  Avritcr  informs  us  that  the  apostles  appointed  and  ordained 
the  first  ministers  of  the  church,  and  "  then  gave  directions  how, 
when  they  should  die,  other  chosen  and  approved  men  should  suc- 
ceed to  their  ministry."  Wherefore  we  cannot  think  those  may 
justly  be  thrown  out  of  their  ministry  who  were  either  appointed 
by  them,  or  afterward  by  other  eminent  men,  u'ith  the  consent  of 
the  whole  church,  avvevSoxy;aday;g  rrig  sxxT^yjGiag  ndarig.^  Those 
persons  who  received,  in  this  manner,  the  concurring  suffrages  of 
the  church,  were  to  be  men  of  tried  character,  and  of  good  report 
with  all,  fiefiaprvpy^uivovg  re  no>X6ig  ^povoig  vno  Ttavrav. 
This  concurrence  of  the  whole  church,  based  upon  their  previous 
acquaintance  with  the  candidates,  evinces  clearly  the  co-operation 
of  the  church  in  the  appointment  of  its  ministers;  and  that  this 
intervention  of  the  church  was  not  merely  a  power  of  negativing 
an  appointment  made  by  some  other  authority.* 

The  fullest  evidence  that  bishops  and  presbyters  were  chosen  by 
the  people,  is  also  derived  from  Cyprian.  It  was,  according  to  his 
authority,  a  rule  of  Divine  appointment  that  a  minister  should  be 
chosen  in  the  presence  of  the  people,  and  should  be  publicly  ac- 
knowledged and  approved  as  worthy  of  the  office. f  He  further 
says,  that  the  act  of  ordination  should  in  no  instance  be  solemnized 

*  The  apostles  appointed  bishops  and  deacons, — Kat  futo^v  Brtivo^riv  SfStoxacrtr, 
orttoj  iav  xotjUj;!^u)fTiv,  StaSf'lui'T'ai  fVf poi  StSoxi^aoiJUvoi  av8pf 5  fr^v  ?.f cYovpytai'  a/vriov. 
Toi)j  olv  xaraTra^Erfa;  V7t  ixiuvoiv,  rj  jxcfa^v  v^  fftfx^v  iXXoyif^iov  arSpuiy,  avvtvio- 
xrjsdafji  tr;?  txxXraiai  rtuar^i,  xai,  T^iirovpyr^aavtai  a^us'/xrtrwj  rci  rtotaiaw  tov  Xpiff-rov 
/tsTa  'ra.rtcivo^po(jvv]ri,  y;ovz'^i  '=<*'-  ajSaiuiauf,  ixf/^aprvpr;y.ivovi  ti  noXXoi^  xf^voii  vno 
Ttdvtiov,  tovtovi  oi)  Sixatuij  vouL^ofxiv  drto^ayJo^at  tr^i  Xfirorpytaj. — Clem.  Rom. 
Ep.  1,  ad  Corinth.  ?  44. 

f  Plebe  presente  sub  omnium  oculis  deligatur,  dignus  atqne  idoneus  publico 
judicio  ac  testimonio  comprobetur. — Epist.  68.     Comp.  Epist.  52,  33. 


SEC.  II.]  ELECTIONS    BY   VOTE    OF   THE    CHURCH.  197 

without  the  knowledge  and  assistance  of  the  people,  so  that  the 
crimes  of  the  bad  may  be  detected,  and  the  merits  of  the  good 
made  known.  In  this  manner  the  ordination  becomes  regular  and 
■mlid,  ju8ta  et  legitima.  Such,  he  observes,  was  the  example  of  the 
apostles,  not  only  in  the  appointment  of  bishops  and  ministers,  but 
also  of  deacons.  And  all  this  was  done  to  prevent  the  intrusion 
of  unworthy  men  into  the  sacred  oflBce.^  Again,  he  says  of  Cor- 
nelius, '*  that  he  was  made  bishop  agreeably  to  the  will  of  God  and 
of  Christ,  by  the  testimony  of  almost  all  the  clergy,  and  the  suf- 
frage of  the  people  then  present."^ 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  original  word  x^ipo'tovELV,  which 
the  apostle  uses  in  several  instances,  signifies,  both  in  classical 
and  ecclesiastical  wi'iters,  to  vote  by  upilifted  hands.  Demosthenes, 
in  his  oration  for  the  crown,  says  that  the  people  6  mi^og  elected 
him  f;|^e<poT6j'>7(Tai',  as  a  commissary.  On  another  occasion  he 
makes  use  of  the  same  terms  in  saying  that  they  chose  him  to  de- 
liver an  oration  over  those  who  fell  at  Chersonea ;  and  the  word  he 
several  times  uses  to  express  an  election  by  vote  of  the  people.^ 
Antisthenes,  ridiculing  the  people  of  Athens  for  appointing  their 
generals  by  popular  vote,  without  reference  to  their  qualifications, 
advises  the  Athenians  to  vote  '^^iGaG^ai  that  asses  are  horses, 
which  would  be  no  more  absurd  than  that  men  without  experience 
should  become  generals  merely  by  election — [lovov  os  ^eipoTovi^- 

Ignatius  directs  the  church  at  Philadelphia  to  choose  a  deacon, 
and  the  church  at  Smyrna  to  choose  a  delegate  to  go  to  Antioch, 
in  both  instances  using  the  same  word  ^eLpotovr.Gai  to  express  this 
election  by  a  popular  vote.  In  all  these  instances,  and  such  ex- 
amples might  be  multiplied  indefinitely,  the  word  cannot  possibly 
denote  a  consecration  or  induction  into  office  by  the  laying  on 
of  hands,  as  prelatists  contend  is  its  meaning,  but  it  indicates  a 
popular  vote  by  uplifted  hand. 

That  the  appointment  of  the  clergy  to  their  office  was  dependent 
upon  the  choice  of  the  people,  is  confirmed  by  the  evidence  from 
the  example  of  Alexander  Severus,  who  reigned  from  A.  D.  222 
to  235.  Whenever  he  was  about  to  appoint  any  governor  of  a  pro- 
vince or  receiver  of  the  public  revenue,  he  publicly  proposed  their 
names,  desiring  the  people  to  make  evidence  against  them,  if  any 
one  could  prove  them  guilty  of  any  crime,  but  assuring  them  that 
if  they  accused  them  falsel}^  it  should  be  at  the  peril  of  their  lives  ; 
for  he  said  "  it  was  unreasonable  that,  when  the  Christians  and 


198  ELECTIOXS   TO   ECCLESIASTICAL   OFFICES,  [CHAP,  X. 

Jei08  did  this  in  proijounding  tJwse  whom  they  ordained  their  priests 
and  ministers,  the  same  should  not  be  done  in  the  appointment  of 
governors  of  provinces,  in  whose  hands  the  lives  and  fortunes  of 
men  were  intrusted."^  i| 

It  may  perhaps  be  said  that  all  this  is  only  proof  of  a  negative 
or  testimotiial  choice  on  the  part  of  the  people,  and  that  this  pro- 
pounding of  the  candidates  presupposes  a  previous  appointment 
of  which  the  people  were  only  invited  to  express  their  approba- 
tion. True,  indeed,  the  clergy  or  the  presbytery,  or  the  bishop  or 
presbyter,  on  resigning  his  office,  often  took  the  lead  in  these  elec- 
tions, by  proposing  or  nominating  the  candidate ;  but  then  followed 
the  vote  of  the  people,  which  was  not  a  mere  testimonial  suffrage, 
but  really  a  decisive  and  elective  vote. 

Besides,  there  are  many  instances  when  the  people  made  choice 
of  some  one  as  bishop  or  presbyter  without  any  preliminary  nomi- 
nation or  propounding  of  the  candidate.  Athanasius  of  Alexandria, 
A.  D.  326,  was  chosen  to  his  office  by  the  suffrages  of  all  the  people, 
'^/i^Gi  rov  ?Mov  navrogJ  Eusebius  of  Caesarea  was  made  arch- 
bishop against  his  own  will,  A.  D.  314,  before  he  had  even  been 
baptized,  the  people,  6  Sr,[xog  cCTtag,  compelling  the  bishops  to  con- 
secrate him  to  the  office.^  Ambrose  was  thus  appointed  bishop  of 
Milan  by  joint  acclamation  of  all.^  Martin  of  Tours  was  appointed 
by  the  people  against  his  own  will  and  that  of  the  bishops."'  And 
the  same  is  true  of  Eustathius  at  Antioch,"  Chrysostom  at  Con- 
stantinople,^^ Eraclius  at  Hippo,^^  and  Meletius  at  Antioch,"  etc. 

The  evidence,  indeed,  is  full,  that  the  people  co-operated  in  the 
election  of  presbyters,  and  numerous  instances  of  such  co-opera- 
tion occur  in  ecclesiastical  history.  Even  the  Apostolical  Consti- 
tutions ordain  that  a  bishop  must  be  "a  select  person  chosen  hy 
the  people."^^ 

So  also  the  fourth  Council  of  Carthage  decreed*  "  that  as  the 
bishop  might  not  ordain  clergymen  without  the  advice  of  his  clergy, 
so  likewise  he  should  obtain  the  consent,  co-operation,  and  testi- 
mony of  the  people." 

Sometimes,  when  the  opinions  of  the  people  were  divided  between 
several  candidates,  it  would  seem  that  the  people  were  called  to  a 
formal  vote,  styled  ^r,TY;Gig,  '\l.r,(piG^a,  o^Tjc^og,  scrutiniiim}^  But 
the  common  method  was  by  acclamation.     The  people  exclaiming 


*  Ut  episcopus  sine  consilio  clericorum  suorum  clericos  non  ordinet:    ita  ut 
civium  adsensum  et  conniventiam  et  testimonium  qua3rat. 


SEC.  III.]  RESTRICTIONS    OF   THE    ELECTIONS.  199 

d^iog,  fit;  or  dva^tog,  uvfit.  The  Apostolical  Constitutions^^  direct 
that  inquiry  be  three  times  made  whether  the  candidate  is  worthy  of 
the  office,  and  that  the  uniform  and  concurring  response  be.  He  is 
worthy.  In  the  Latin  church  the  acclamation  was  dignus  est  et 
Justus}^ 

How  long  the  churches  continued  to  exercise  the  right  unim- 
paired of  electing  their  own  spiritual  teachers  and  rulers  cannot  be 
clearly  defined.  Cyprian,  the  assertor  of  episcopal  prerogatives 
in  his  age,  in  the  middle  of  the  third  century,  cautiously  guards 
against  the  infringement  of  this  right,  but  encroachments  began  to 
be  made  upon  it  soon  after  this  period.  Even  in  the  fourth  and 
fifth  centuries  instances  occur  in  which  the  appointment  of  bishops 
was  effectually  resisted  by  the  people.  But  as  early  as  the  fifth 
century  these  elections  had  degenerated  into  a  tumultuous  and  un- 
equal contest  with  a  crafty  and  aspiring  hierarchy,  who  had  found 
means  so  to  trammel  up  and  control  the  elective  franchise  as  prac- 
tically to  direct  at  pleasure  all  ecclesiastical  appointments.  To 
what  a  pitch  these  tumultuous  elections  were  carried  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  fifth  century  may  be  seen  from  a  remarkable  descrip- 
tion of  them  by  Chrysostom : — "  Go  witness  a  popular  assembly 
convened  for  the  election  of  ecclesiastical  officers.  Hear  the  com- 
plaints against  the  minister,  manifold  and  numerous  as  the  indi- 
viduals of  that  riotous  multitude  Avho  are  the  subjects  of  church 
government.  All  are  divided  into  opposing  factions,  alike  at  war 
with  themselves,  with  the  moderator,  and  with  the  presbytery. 
Each  is  striving  to  carry  his  own  point ;  one  voting  for  one,  and 
another  for  another ;  and  all,  equally  regardless  of  that  which  alone 
they  should  consider — the  qualifications,  intellectual  and  moral,  of 
the  candidate.  One  is  in  favour  of  a  man  of  noble  birth ;  another 
of  a  man  of  fortune  who  will  need  no  maintenance  from  the  church  ; 
and  a  third,  one  who  has  come  over  to  us  from  the  opposite  party. 
One  is  wholly  enlisted  for  some  friend  or  relative,  and  another  casts 
his  vote  for  some  flatterer.  But  no  one  regards  the  requisite  quali- 
fications of  the  mind  and  the  heart."  ^^ 

§  3.    OF    RESTRICTIONS    OF    THE    ELECTIONS. 

The  Council  of  Laodicea,  a.  d.  360,  denied,  indeed,  the  right  of 
suffrage  to  the  rabble,  toig  o^T^oig.  But  they  carefully  distin- 
guished between  these  and  the  people,  to  7mco,  to  whom  they  did 
not  deny  the  right.     An  effort  was  made,  particularly  in  the  Latin 


200  ELECTIONS   TO    ECCLESIASTICAL   OFFICES.  [CHAP.  X. 


church,  to  correct  the  disorders  of  popular  elections  without  taking 
awaj  the  rights  of  the  people.  This  they  did  by  the  agency  of  an 
interventor,  who  was  sent  among  the  people  to  endeavour  to  unite 
their  votes  upon  a  given  person,  and  thus  to  secure  his  election 
without  division  or  tumult.  Symmachus  and  Gregory  the  Great 
encouraged  this  procedure  ;  ^  but  it  was  received  with  little  appro- 
bation, and  was  soon  discontinued,  never  having  been  generally 
adopted.  The  measure,  as  Bingham  justly  remarks,  gave  the 
visitor  a  fair  opportunity  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  people,  and 
promote  his  own  interests  among  them  instead  of  those  of  the 
church. 

The  Council  of  Aries,  a.  d,  452,  c.  54,  ordered  the  bishops  to 
nominate  three  candidates,  from  whom  the  clergy  and  the  people 
should  make  an  election  to  the  vacant  office. 

Justinian,  A.  D.  528,  for  a  similar  purpose,  restricted  the  right 
of  suifrage  to  a  mixed  aristocracy  in  the  city.  By  his  laws  it  was 
provided,  "  that  when  a  bishop  was  to  be  ordained,  the  clergy  and 
chief  men  of  the  city  should  meet  and  nominate  three  persons, 
drawing  up  an  instrument,  and  swearing  in  the  customary  forms 
of  an  oath  upon  the  IToly  Bible,  that  they  chose  them,  neither  for 
any  gift,  nor  promise,  nor  friendship,  nor  for  any  other  cause ;  but 
only  because  they  knew  them  to  be  of  the  catholic  faith,  of  virtuous 
life,  and  men  of  learning.  Of  these  three,  the  ordaining  person 
was  required  to  choose,  at  his  own  discretion,  that  one  whom  he 
judged  best  qualified."^ 

The  Council  of  Barcelona,  A.  d.  593,  ordered  the  clergy  and  the 
people  to  make  the  nomination,  and  the  metropolitan  and  bishops 
to  determine  the  election  by  lot. 

But  these  efforts  to  restore  or  retain  in  some  measure  the  right 
of  suffrage,  only  show  to  what  extent  it  was  already  lost  to  the 
people.  Thus  the  right  of  suffrage  was  wrested  from  the  people, 
and  was  shared  in  part  by  the  rulers,  and  in  part  by  the  priest- 
hood, who,  either  by  their  bishops  and  suffragans,  or  by  collegiate 
conventions,  often  exercised  the  right  without  any  regard  to  the 
people. 

But  the  clergy,  who  were  the  first  to  usurp  the  rights  of  election 
which  belonged  to  the  church,  were  in  turn  compelled  to  surrender 
them  to  the  civil  authority.  They  sometimes  protested  earnestly 
against  this  encroachment  of  the  secular  power,  but  in  vain.  The 
Council  of  Paris,  a.  d.  557,  decreed  that  "  no  bishop  should  be  con- 
secrated contrary  to  the  will  of  the  citizens,  alleging  in  vindication 


SEC.  IV.]  CERTAIN    UNUSUAL   FOKMS   OF   ELECTION.  201 

of  tliis  measure  the  neglect  of  ancient  usage  and  of  tlie  ordinances 
of  the  church.  Nor  should  he  attain  to  that  honour  who  had  been 
appointed  by  the  authority  of  the  rulers,  and  not  by  the  choice  of 
the  people  and  of  the  clergy,  and  whose  election  had  not  been  rati- 
fied by  the  metropolitan  and  other  bishops  of  the  province."  Who- 
ever entered  upon  his  office  merely  by  the  authority  of  the  king, 
they  commanded  the  other  bishops  not  to  acknowledge,  under 
penalty  of  being  themselves  deposed  from  office. 

But  such  attempts  to  restore  the  apostolical  and  canonical  forms 
of  election  were  but  seldom  made,  and  were  followed  by  no  lasting 
result.  In  Spain,  the  appointment  of  a  bishop,  as  early  as  the 
seventh  century,  was  made  dependent  entirely  upon  the  king.^ 
Under  the  Carlovingian  dynasty  in  France,  it  was  divided  between 
the  rulers  and  the  bishops,  without  entirely  excluding  the  people. 
Innocent  III.,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  excluded  entirely  the  peo- 
ple, and  made  the  election  dependent  only  on  the  chapter  of  the 
cathedral.*     In  the  East  the  people  were  excluded  much  earlier.^ 

•  §  4.    OF    CERTAIN    UNUSUAL    FORMS    OF    ELECTION. 

The  examples  on  record  of  this  description  relate  only  to  the 
appointment  of  bishops.  The  appointment  by  lot,  as  above  de- 
scribed, may  with  propriety  be  classed  among  the  unusual  forms  of 
election  in  question.     To  this  may  be  added, 

1.  Elections  by  Divine  authority  and  Providential  manifestations. 
To  this  class  belong  the  appointments  which  the  apostles  made  by 
the  Divine  authority  with  which  they  were  invested.  Tradition  in- 
forms us  that  many  churches  were  planted  by  them,  besides  those 
which  are  mentioned  in  their  writings.  John,  the  apostle,  after 
his  return  from  Patmos,  is  said  by  Clemens  Alexandrinus  to  have 
taken  charge  of  the  churches  of  Asia  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Ephesus ;  "in  one  place  appointing  bishops,  in  another  taking 
upon  himself  the  regulation  of  whole  churches,  and  in  another, 
choosing  by  lot  one  from  such  as  had  been  designated  by  the 
Spirit.'"^  Then  follows  a  list  of  young  men  whom  he  committed 
to  the  instruction  of  the  bishop  whom  he  had  ordained,  together 
with  an  account  of  the  wonderful  conversion  of  these  youths. 

Ancient  history  abounds  with  similar  examples  of  Divine  inter- 
position in  such  appointments.^  Various  Providential  circumstances 
were  regarded  as  Divine  designations,  such  as  remarkable  tokens  of 
Divine  approbation,  visions,  the  lighting  of  a  dove  on  the  head  of 


202  ELECTIONS   TO   ECCLESIASTICAL   OFFICES.  [CHAP.  X. 

the  candidate,  and  the  unexpected  concurrence  of  a  discordant  peo- 
ple in  a  candidate,  as  in  the  case  of  Martin,  bishop  of  Tours,  and 
Ambrose,  bishop  of  Milan,  whose  elections  were  carried  by  the 
sudden  and  unanimous  acclamation  of  the  multitude.  Vox  j)0])uli, 
vox  Dei  ! 

2.  It  was  at  times  submitted  to  some  one  who  was  universally 
respected,  to  settle  a  contested  election  by  his  own  nomination  of 
a  bishop.  Alexander,  bishop  of  Comana,  was  elected  thus  by 
Gregory  Thaumaturgus,  who  is  said  to  have  been  directed  by 
special  revelation.^  Bishops  were  also  appointed  by  nomination, 
for  distant  provinces  and  unorganized  districts.^ 

3.  Whenever  a  bishop  resigned  his  office,  or  was  removed  to  an- 
other diocese,  he  very  frequently  nominated  his  successor ;  but  in 
all  such  cases  on  record,  the  concurrence  of  the  people  was  either 
presupposed  or  expressly  obtained.'^  The  Council  of  Antioch,  a.  d. 
441,  c.  23,  forbade  such  nominations  :^  still  they  were  sometimes 
made,  and  a  Divine  intimation  plead  in  justification.  The  church 
at  Rome,  on  the  contrary,  in  the  year  503,  conceded  to  the  bishops 
the  right  of  nominating  their  successors  before  their  decease,  ^his 
was  however  a  recommendation  of  the  candidate  rather  than  an 
election,  but  it  was  as  influential  as  the  direct  presentatiori  of  a 
candidate  on  the  part  of  a  patron.  It  laid  the  foundation  in  part 
of  ecclesiastical  benefices,  that  crafty  expedient  by  which  so  many 
canonized  rights  have  been  usurped.  Thus  every  thing  was  gradu- 
ally changed.  The  church,  from  being  a  society  of  brethren  in  the 
mutual  enjoyment  of  common  principles,  came  first  under  the 
government  of  an  ambitious  oligarchy  of  the  priesthood  and  of 
the  cinl  authority,  and  finally  yielded  up  all  religious  freedom  to 
an  absolute  monarchy ;  a  spiritual  despotism  in  total  contrast  both 
with  the  first  organization  of  the  church  and  with  the  teaching  of 
the  apostles,  yet  claiming  apostolical  authority  for  its  usurpations. 

§  5.    OF    CHURCH    patronage.^ 

The  subject  of  patronage  lies  quite  beyond  the  appropriate  limits 
of  Christian  archaeology,  but  it  connects  itself  so  intimately  ydih. 
the  history  of  the  church  as  to  require  a  passing  notice. 

Clerical  patronage  was  another  indication  of  a  corrupt  worldly 
spirit  in  the  church,  and  an  efficient  means  of  increasing  the  evil. 
The  revenues  of  the  church  had  become  very  great,  the  control  of 
which  the  bishops  had  assumed  to  themselves.     The  right  to  pre- 


SEC.  v.]  CHURCH    PATROXAGE.  203 


sent  tlieir  o"wn  favourites  as  candidates  became,  under  these  circum- 
stances, a  dangerous  prerogative,  the  exercise  of  which  tended  to 
secularize  yet  more  the  clergy,  to  bring  the  church  under  a  corrupt 
priesthood,  and  to  debase  the  sacred  relations  of  a  pastor  toward 
his  people. 

The  prevalent  opinion  is,  that  the  origin  of  the  right  of  patron- 
age ought  to  be  referred  back  to  the  fifth  century ;  and  with  truth, 
for  the  subject  of  church  and  state  rights  began  at  this  period  to 
be  publicly  asserted  and  discussed,  but  the  right  in  question  was 
both  asserted  and  exercised  at  a  date  still  earlier.  The  Council  of 
Orange,  A.  D.  441,  ordered  that  any  bishop  who  should  build  a 
church  out  of  his  diocese  should  be  allowed  to  present  any  candi- 
date to  that  living,  referring  the  right  of  consecration  to  him  in 
whose  diocese  it  was  erected,  and  instructing  him  to  ordain  any  one 
to  the  clerical  office  whom  the  founder  might  nominate  to  officiate  in 
the  church,  and  requiring  of  him  a  quiet  acquiescence  in  the  nomi- 
nation, if  the  person  presented  had  already  been  ordained.  But  at 
the  same  time  it  was  provided  that  the  entire  government  of  the 
church  should  be  submitted  to  him  in  whose  territory  the  church 
was  built.^ 

It  appears  from  Chrysostom  that  what  is  called  secular  j^atron- 
age  prevailed  in  the  church  at  a  date  still  earlier.^  He  speaks  of 
naming  the  founders  of  churches  in  the  prayers  of  the  congrega- 
tion. In  Justinian's  Novels,  123,  c.  18,  a.  d.  540,  the  right  of 
lay-patronage  is  confirmed  and  perpetuated  by  inheritance.  The 
bishop  is  required  to  ordain  the  person  nominated,  unless  disquali- 
fied by  virtue  of  the  canons.  Justinian,  however,  revoked  this  ordi- 
nance, fourteen  years  afterward,  only  allowing  to  the  founder  of  the 
church  the  right  to  nominate  to  the  bishop  certain  candidates  for 
the  foundation,  from  whom  the  bishop  should  select  and  ordain  one 
of  their  number.  From  the  fifth  century  the  name  of  patron  be- 
comes familiar  in  public  documents,  indicating  the  relation  of  a 
landlord  to  his  dependants,  in  consequence  of  his  having  settled  a 
parsonage  and  glebe  upon  churches  Avhich  he  had  built ;  but  the 
whole  system  of  church  patronage  in  conferring  benefices,  etc.,  was 
not  established  until  about  the  eighth  or  ninth  century.  Tho- 
massin  takes  notice  of  several  distinct  stages  in  the  progress  of 
this  system.  1.  The  right  of  patronage  and  presentation  extend- 
ing through  five  centuries.  2.  Ecclesiastical  and  lay-patronage 
from  Clovis,  A.  D.  496,  to  Charlemagne,  A.  d.  800.  3.  Through 
the  dynasty  of  Charles  and  his  descendants.     4.  From  the  year 


204  .         ELECTIONS   TO   ECCLESIASTICAL   OFFICES.  [CHAP.  X. 

1000.  The  whole  he  sums  up  in  the  following  remark  : — "  It  ap- 
pears, therefore,  that  ecclesiastical  patronage  was  fii'st  introduced 
in  the  Western  church,  and  lay-patronage,  at  least  so  far  as  related 
to  the  conferring  of  benefices,  began  first  in  the  Eastern  church ; 
and  that  the  limited  exercise  of  lay-patronage,  in  the  first  centuries 
after  its  introduction,  was  abundantly  compensated  by  the  control- 
ling influence  which  the  laity  had  in  the  election  and  ordination  of 
bishops  and  other  incumbents." 

In  most  of  the  Lutheran,  and  some  of  the  Reformed  churches, 
the  members  of  the  church  possess  a  negative  vote  concerning  the 
presentation  of  a  minister,  but  nothing  more. 

The  practical  effect  of  the  changes  which  have  been  specified  in 
this  chapter  was  to  corrupt  the  church  by  centralizing  influence, 
wealth,  patronage,  and  power  of  every  kind  in  the  person  of  the 
bishop.  The  right  of  the  people  to  elect  their  own  spiritual  teach- 
ers is  the  great  safeguard  of  the  church.  He  who  has  a  living  at 
his  disposal  may  be  ignorant  of  the  true  character  of  his  candidate, 
and  indifferent  respecting  it.  But  the  rich  and  quiet  livings  of  an 
establishment  will  ever  be  eagerly  sought  by  men  unworthy  of  the 
office  of  the  sacred  ministry ;  so  that  the  effect  of  concentrating 
power  and  wealth  in  the  clergy,  is  to  afflict  the  church  with  a  grace- 
less ministry.  "Make  me  a  bishop,"  said  an  ancient  idolater, 
"make  me  a  bishop,  and  I  will  surely  be  a  Christian." 


CHAPTER  XL 

OF  ORDINATION. 
§  1.    OF   THE    ORIGIN   OF   THE    RITE. 

The  solemn  consecration  of  a  religious  teacher  to  his  office,  as 
an  institution  of  religion,  is  derived  from  the  ordinances  of  the 
synagogue,  as  they  were  constituted  after  the  Babylonish  captivity. 
The  presidents  and  readers  of  the  synagogue  were  at  first  appointed 
to  their  office  by  the  formal  imposition  of  hands.  Afterward  was 
added  the  anointing  with  oil,  the  investiture  with  the  sacred  gar- 
ments, and  the  delivery  of  the  sacred  utensils.  This  was  called 
1*  N 70.  the  filling  of  the  hands,  Ex.  xxix.  24 ;  Lev.  xxi.  10 ; 
Num.  iii.  3. 

The  first  instance  on  record  of  an  ordination  in  a  Christian 
church  is  that  of  the  seven  deacons  at  Jerusalem,  in  Acts  vi.  1-7. 
These,  though  not  appointed  to  the  office  of  religious  teachers,  were 
set  apart  by  prayer  and  the  laying  on  of  hands.  The  consecration 
of  religious  teachers  and  officers  of  the  church  is  also  mentioned  in 
the  following  passages,  Acts  xiii.  1-4 ;  xiv.  23 ;  1  Tim.  iv.  14 ; 
V.  22 ;  2  Tim.  i.  6.  In  these  passages  three  particulars  are  men- 
tioned, fasting,  prayer,  and  the  laying  on  of  hands. 

The  historical  fact  is  undeniable,  that  the  church  has,  at  all 
times,  observed  some  prescribed  mode  of  inducting  into  the  sacred 
office  those  who  were  appointed  to  serve  in  that  capacity.  Many 
of  the  existing  offices,  being  subsequently  created,  were,  indeed,  un- 
known in  the  first  organization  of  the  church,  as  well  as  the  differ- 
ent rites  of  ordination  and  installation.  But  the  injunction  that 
all  things  should  be  done  decently  and  in  order,  the  ministry  of  the 
word,  and  the  laying  on  of  hands,  of  which  the  apostle  so  often 
speaks,  all  imply  a  consecration  to  the  sacred  office  by  peculiar  re- 
ligious rites.  The  most  ancient  liturgies  also,  both  of  the  Eastern 
and  Western  church,  prescribe  at  length  the  mode  of  consecration 
to  this  office,  and  in  this  manner  illustrate  the  solemnity  of  the 

transaction  in  the  estimation  of  the  ancient  fathers  of  the  church. 

205 


206  ORDINATION.  [CHAP.  XI. 


It  is  also  worthy  of  observation,  that  the  various  religious  sects, 
schismatics  and  heretics,  almost  without  exception,  observed  the 
rites  of  ordination. 

Until  the  time  of  Constantine  the  Great,  the  church  appears  to 
have  adhered  to  the  sublime  simplicity  of  the  apostolic  rites  of  ordi- 
nation. The  specifications  which  follow  relate  to  the  regulations 
of  the  hierarchy  respecting  this  ordinance. 

§  2.    OF   DISQUALIFICATIONS  AND    QUALIFICATIONS   FOR   ORDINATION. 

Many  precautions  were  exercised  by  the  church  to  guard  against 
the  introduction  of  unworthy  or  unsuitable  persons  into  the  ministry. 
Several  classes  of  persons  were  accordingly  excluded  from  ordina- 
tion, such  as  the  following : — 

1.  Women?  This  rule  was  in  conformity  with  the  apostolical 
precept,  1  Cor.  xiv.  34,  35  ;  1  Tim.  ii.  11  et  seq.  The  appointment 
of  deaconesses  was  no  exception  to  this  rule.  They  were  not  ap- 
pointed to  bear  rule  or  to  teach,  but  to  perform  certain  offices 
which,  from  a  due  sense  of  decency  and  propriety,  were  restricted 
to  their  own  sex.*  They  were  ordained  with  the  usual  formalities 
in  the  early  periods  of  the  church,^  but  the  custom  was  afterward 
discontinued.^ 

2.  Catechumens.  To  this  rule  there  were  a  few  exceptions,  as  in 
the  case  of  Ambrose,  Nectarius,  etc.,  but  in  general  it  was  observed 
with  great  strictness. 

3.  Neophytes,  novices  ;  men  who  were  deficient  in  age,  or  know- 
ledge, or  Christian  experience, f  1  Tim.  iii.  6. 

4.  Eyiergumens ;  including  all  who  were  subject  to  severe  mental 
or  bodily  infirmities. 

5.  Penitents  ;  all  who  for  any  offence  had  fallen  under  the  cen- 


*  Kai  oft  yiiv  ^laxoviaaCjv  tdyixa  iariv  ftj  t'jjv  exxT^rjaiav,  aXX  ovx^  d?  Toifparti^fW', 
ov8i  ii  irtiX'^pfi'V  ifii.tf>imt,v,  'ivixtv  8«  acfivotrjtoi  toy  yvvaixctov  yu'ov'j,  rj  fit  dipai/ 
7~.(yv'tpov,  r;  frttoxi^fw?  rtci^ovj,  fi  rtovov,  xcd  on  yvfivui^ti.ri  aCoixa  yvvaLOv,  iva  firj  vrtb 
avSpdiv  Upovpyovvtuv  ^cTj^cirj,  aXK  vrtb  rrj  iiaxovovorjs. — Epiph.  Haeres.  79,  n.  3. 

t  M?7  hiiv  Tipoa^a/tov  [npocrifdT'wf]  ^(^tio^ivta^  rtpoooyfu^tu  iv  tayfia-ti  itpatix^. 
Cone.  Laodic.  can.  3.  Conveniens  non  est,  nee  ratio,  nee  disciplina  patitur,  ut 
temere  vel  leviter  ordinetur,  aut  episcopus,  aut  presbyter,  aut  diaconus,  qui 
neopliytus  est.  .  .  .  Sed  hi,  quorum  per  longum  tempus  examinata  sit  vita,  et 
merita  fuerint  comprobata. — Cone.  Sardic.  c.  10;  Conf.  Gregor.  M.  Episi.  lib.  iv. 
ep.  50-,  lib.  vii.  ep.  3;  Justin.  A'"ov.  G,  c.  1  ;  Nov.  137,  c.  1;  Cone.  Faris.  a.  d. 
829,  can.  5. 


SEC.  II.]  DISQUALIFICATIONS   FOR   ORDINATION.  207 

sure  of  the  churcli,  even  though  they  had  been  fully  restored  to  the 
privileges  of  its  fellowship  and  communion. 

6.  AjJostates.  All  who  lived  a  vicious  life  after  baptism."*  Of- 
fences committed  previously  were  not  alleged  as  a  disqualification.^ 

7.  All  ivho  were  devoted  to  theatrical  j^ursuits,  or  any  occupa- 
tions which  disqualified  them  from  receiving  baptism.* 

8.  Slaves  and  freedmen  who  were  still  under  some  obligation  to 
their  former  masters.  This  restriction  was  made,  not  by  reason  of 
their  humble  condition,  but  because  such  persons  could  not  be  sup- 
posed to  act  with  the  freedom  and  independence  which  became  the 
ministerial  ofiice. 

9.  Soldiers  and  military/  men  of  every  description  ;  for  reasons 
substantially  the  same  as  those  which  are  mentioned  in  the  preced- 
ing article. 

10.  Lawyers  and  civilians.  Men  bearing  civil  offices,  or  in  any 
way  entangled  with  the  afiairs  of  state,  were  incapacitated  for  the 
sacred  office.  Cavendum  ab  Ms  est,  (says  Innocent  I.,)  propter 
tribulationem  quod  ssepe  de  his  ecclesise  pi'ovenit.  The  power  of 
Rome  at  times  overruled  this  regulation,  but  the  church  uniformly 
sought  to  separate  herself  wholly  from  all  connection  with  the  state.® 

11.  All  ivho  loere  maimed,  especially  eunuclis.\  To  this  rule 
there  were  exceptions.'^ 

12.  Persons  who  had  cojitracted  a  second  marriage.  This  rule 
is  based  on  an  erroneous  interpretation  of  1  Tim.  iii.  2,  and  Tit. 
i.  6.  To  these  views  of  the  church  may  be  traced  the  ancient  sen- 
timents respecting  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy,  which  prevailed  as 
early  as  the  fourth  century,  and  in  the  twelfth  required  of  them 
the  vow  of  celibacy  in  the  Roman  Catholic  church. 

The  celibacy  of  the  clergy  was  not  strictly  enforced  even  in  the 
church  of  Rome  until  the  eleventh  century,  under  Hildebrand. 
From  the  fourth  to  the  sixth  century  the  opinions  of  different 
parties  were  greatly  divided.  Many  bishops,  particularly  in  the 
Eastern  church,  continued  to  live  in  the  marriage  relations  into 
which  they  had  entered  before  their  consecration.  The  decrees  of 
councils  on  this  subject  are  contradictory,  some  requiring  the  ce- 
libacy of  the  clergy,  and  others  allowing  the  contrary  course. 


*  Puto  nee  majestati  divinae,  (says  Cyprian,)  nee  evangeliese  disciplinse  cod- 
gruere,  ut  pudor  et  honor  ecclesiac  tam  turpe  et  infami  contagione  foedetur. 

I  Non  injirmitatem,  (says  Ambrose,)  sed  firmitatem ;  non  vjctos,  sed  vietores, 
postulat  eeclesia. 


208  ORDINATION.  [CHAP.  XI. 


13.  Those  who  had  received  baptism  upon  their  beds  in  extreme 
sickness,  or  under  any  urgent  necessity,  when  they  might  be  sus- 
pected of  having  acted  not  voluntarily  but  by  constraint.^ 

14.  Thei/  who  had  been  baptized  by  heretics.  An  exception, 
however,  was  made  in  favour  of  the  Novatians  and  Donatists.^ 

15.  Persons  who  had  been  guilty  of  simoniacal  conduct,  i.  e.,  of 
using  bribery  or  any  unfair  means  of  obtaining  ordination.  This 
species  of  iniquity,  the  buying  and  selling  of  appointments  to 
spiritual  offices,  and  the  obtaining  of  them  by  any  unfair  and  dis- 
honourable means,  was  severely  censured  by  the  church.  The 
penalty  was  deposition  from  office,  both  on  the  part  of  him  who 
was  invested  with  holy  orders,  and  of  those  who  had  assisted  in  his 
ordination.  The  laws  of  Justinian  also  required  the  candidate  elect 
to  make  oath  that  he  had  neither  given  nor  promised,  nor  would 
hereafter  give  any  reward,  directly  or  indirectly,  as  a  remuneration 
for  aiding  in  his  appointment.^*' 

The  exceptions  above  mentioned  are  comprised  in  the  following 
lines : — 

Aleo  ;  venator ;  miles  ;  caupo  ;  aulicus  ;  erro  ; 

Mercator ;  lanius  ;  pincerna ;  tabellio ;  tutor, 

Curator ;  sponsor ;  conductor ;  conciliator ;   [pronexeta] 

Patronus  causae  ;  procuratorve  forensis  ; 

In  causa  judex  civili  vel  capitali, 

Clericus  esse  nequit,  Canones  nisi  transgrediantur. 

Besides  the  foregoing  negative  rules,  there  were  others  of  a 
positive  character,  prescribing  the  requisite  qualifications  for  ordi- 
nation. 

1.  The  candidate  was  required  to  be  of  a  certain  age.  The  rules 
by  which  this  canonical  age  was  determined  were  undoubtedly  de- 
rived from  the  Jewish  rituals.  The  deacons  were  required  to  be  of 
equal  age  with  the  levites — twenty-five  years.  The  canonical  age 
of  presbyters  and  bishops  was  the  same  as  that  of  the  priests  of  the 
Jews — thirty  years.  The  Apostolical  Constitutions  prescribe  fifty 
years  as  the  canonical  age  of  a  bishop.  This  was  afterward  re- 
duced to  thirty.  In  some  instances,  persons  were  introduced  into 
the  ministry  at  an  age  still  earlier."  Both  Siricius  and  Zosimus 
required  thirty  years  for  a  deacon,  thirty-five  for  a  presbyter,  and 
forty-five  for  a  bishop.'" 

The  age  at  which  our  Lord  entered  upon  his  ministry  is  fre- 
quently alleged  as  a  reason  for  requiring  the  same  age  in  a  pres- 
byter and  bishop.     That  was  usually  the  lowest  canonical  age.^' 


SEC.  II.]  QUALIFICATIONS    FOR    ORDINATION.  209 


Children  were  sometimes  appointed  readers.  The  age  of  siibdea- 
cons,  acolyths,  and  other  inferior  officers,  was  established  at  differ- 
ent times,  at  fifteen,  eighteen,  twenty,  and  twenty-five  years. 

2.  Tliey  were  subject  to  a  strict  examination  'previous  to  ordina- 
tion. This  examination  related  to  their  faith,  their  morals,  and 
their  worldly  condition.  They  were  especially  subjected  to  the 
severest  scrutiny  in  regard  to  the  first  particular.  It  was  the  duty 
of  the  bishop  and  subordinate  officers  of  the  clergy  to  conduct,  for 
the  most  part,  the  examination ;  but  it  was  held  in  public,  and  the 
people  also  took  a  part  in  it  in  the  early  periods  of  the  hierarchy. 
No  one  would  be  duly  ordained  without  the  concurrence  of  the  peo- 
ple in  this  examination,  and  the  united  approbation  both  of  them 
and  the  bishop.*  Cyprian  also  insists  upon  the  concurrence  of  the 
people  in  the  selection  of  a  pastor,  and  offers  as  a  reason  the  con- 
sideration that  they  were  more  familiarly  acquainted  with  the  life 
and  conversation  of  the  candidate. ^^  The  names  of  the  candidates 
were  published,  in  order  that  they  might  be  subjected  to  a  severer 
canvass  by  the  people. ^^  By  a  law  of  Justinian,  the  candidate  was 
required  to  give  a  written  statement  of  his  religious  faith  in  his  own 
handwriting,  and  to  take  a  solemn  oath  against  simony. ^"^ 

The  extracts  in  the  margin  show  how  carefully  the  church  ob- 
served the  apostolic  injunction  to  lay  hands  suddenly  on  no  man.f 


*  Nullus  clericus  ordineter  non  prohatus  vel  episcoporuvi  examine,  vel  populi  iesti- 
monio. — Con.  Carthage,  iii.,  A.  D.  397,  c.  22. 

j-  Qui  episcopus  ordinatus  est,  antea  examinetur :  si  natura  sit  prudens,  si  do- 
cilis,  si  moribus  temporatus,  si  vita  castus,  si  sobrius,  si  semper  suis  negotiis 
vacans,  [al.  cavens,]  si  bumilis,  si  aifabilis,  si  misericors,  si  literatus,  si  in  lege 
Domini  instructus,  si  in  Scrii^turarum  seusibus  cautus,  si  in  dogmatibus  ecclesi- 
asticis  exercitatus,  et  ante  omnia,  si  fidei  documenta  verbis  simplicibus  aiferat 
[asserat.]  Quoerendum  etiam  ab  eo ;  si  novi  vel  veteris  Testamenti,  id  est  legis 
et  proplietarum  et  apostolorum,  unum  eundemque  credat  auctorem  et  Deum ;  si 
Diabolus  non  per  conditionem  sed  per  arbitrium  factus  sit  mains. — Cone.  Carth. 
iv.  A.  D.  398,  c.  1.  Quando  episcopus  ordinationes  facere  disponit,  omnes,  qui  ad 
sacrum  ministerium  accedere  volunt,  feria  quarta  ante  ipsam  ordinationem  evo- 
candi  sunt  ad  civitatem,  unacum  archipresbyteris,  qui  eos  reprsesentare  debent. 
Et  tunc  episcopus  a  latere  suo  eligere  debet  sacerdotes  et  alios  prudentes  viros, 
gnaros  divinaa  legis,  exercitatos  in  ecclesiasticis  sanctionibus,  qui  ordinandorum 
vitam,  genus,  patriam,  oetatem,  institutionem,  locum  ubi  educati  sunt,  si  sint  bene 
literati,  si  instruct!  in  lege  Domini,  diligenter  investigent,  ante  omnia  si  fidem 
catholicam  firmiter  teneant,  et  verbis  simplicibus  asserere  queant.  Ipsi  autem, 
quibus  hoc  committitur,  cavere  debent,  ne  aut  favoris  gratia,  ant  cujuscmique 
muueris  cupiditate  illecti  a  vero  devient,  et  indignum  et  minus  idoneum  ad  sacros 
gradus  suscipiendos  episcopi  manibus  applicent. — Cone.  Namnelense,  a.  d.  658,  c. 
11.     Presbyterum  ordinari  non  debet  ante  legitimum  tempus,  hoc  est,  ante  xxx 

14 


210  ORDINATION.  [CIIAP.  XI. 


No  formal  provision  was  made  for  the  instruction  of  candidates 
for  the  sacred  office  in  the  ages  immediately  succeeding  that  of  the 
apostles.  John,  and  some  other  apostles,  are  supposed  to  have  had, 
like  our  Lord,  certain  disciples  who  resorted  to  them  as  attendants 
and  followers,  and,  by  habitual  intercourse  with  them,  became  quali- 
fied to  assume  the  office  of  a  teacher  in  the  church.  It  is  asserted 
by  authors,  though  without  sufficient  evidence,  that  the  church  con- 
tinued for  several  ages  to  be  supplied  in  this  manner  with  spiritual 
teachers.  The  Council  of  Vaison,  however,  in  the  sixth  century, 
required  the  presbyters  to  observe  this  custom  of  our  Lord,  which 
they  alleged  to  be  common  in  Italy. 

Christian  parents  and  friends  themselves  became  the  instructors 
of  their  children,  not  only  in  the  knowledge  of  the  Christian  reli- 
gion, but  in  the  usual  branches  of  learning.  Thus  Origen  was 
taught  by  his  father,  and  Gregory  of  Nyssa  by  his  sister.  After 
the  establishment  of  churches,  schools  were  sustained  in  connection 
with  them  for  the  education  of  the  children ;  and  buildings  were 
erected  adjacent  to  these  churches  for  tliis  purpose. 

The  first  theological  school  was  the  famous  catechetical  school  at 
Alexandria ;  which  became  distinguished  in  the  third  century,  and 
continued  until  the  fifth.  After  this,  sprang  up  other  celebrated 
schools  in  different  countries ;  as  at  Antioch,  Csesarea,  Edissa, 
Nisilis,  &c. 

History  affords  no  positive  evidence  that  candidates  for  the 
ministry,  at  their  ordination,  were  subjected  to  an  examination 
respecting  their  literary  qualifications  and  doctrinal  knowledge  pre- 
vious to  the  fourth  century.  Even  at  tliis  period  there  were  igno- 
rant and  idle  pretenders  to  the  teachings  of  the  Spirit,  who,  while 
they  affected  to  despise  all  human  attainments,  aspired  to  assume 
the  sacred  office  of  the  ministry.  Against  such  enthusiasts  and 
indolent  aspirants  Augustin,  Jerome,  Gregory  Nazianzen,  and 
Chrysostom  inveigh  Avith  just  severity.^^ 

3.  JVo  person  could  regularly/  he  appointed  to  the  higher  offices 
of  the  church  without  having  passed  through  the  subordinate  grades. 
To  this  nde  there  were  frequent  exceptions,  but  the  principle  was 
strenuously  maintained,  in  order  that  no  one  should  assume  the 


setatis  annum ;  scd  priusquam  ad  presbyteratus  consecrationem  accedat,  maneat 
in  episcopio  discendi  gratia  officium  suum  tarn  diu,  donee  possint  et  mores  et 
actus  ejus  animadverti;  et  tunc,  si  dignus  fuerit,  ad  sacerdotium  promoveatur. — 
Cone.  Turon.  3,  A.  D.  813,  c.  12. 


SEC.  III.]  ADMINISTRATION   OF   THE    RITE.  211 


ministerial  office  until  lie  had  in  this  way  become  practically  fa- 
miliar with  the  whole  system  of  ecclesiastical  discipline  and  policy.*^* 

4.  Every  one  ivas  to  he  ordained  to  some  special  charge.^  This 
was  supposed  to  be  the  apostolical  rule.  Acts  xiv.  33 ;  Tit.  i.  5 ; 
1  Pet.  V.  2.  Exceptions  sometimes  occurred,  though  very  rarely, 
and  always  against  the  decided  sentiments  of  the  church.  Non- 
resident clergy,  who  are  in  this  way  removed  from  the  watch  and 
discipline  of  the  church,  receive  no  favour  from  the  ancient  canons 
and  early  ecclesiastical  writers. 

5.  Every  minister  ivas  required  to  remain  in  the  diocese  over 
whicJi  he  was  ordained ;  and  no  one  could,  at  the  same  time,  be 
invested  with  more  than  one  office. ^^  Plurality  of  livings  were  un- 
known to  the  ancient  church. 

6.  A  clerical  tonsure  was  made  requisite  about  the  fifth  or  sixth 
century.  No  mention  is  made  of  it  before  the  fourth,  and  it  is  first 
spoken  of  with  decided  disapprobation.^'^ 

§  3.    OF    THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    THE    RITE. 

The  duty  of  administering  the  rite  devolved,  ex  officio,  upon  the 
bishop  alone.  This  is  abundantly  implied  in  the  canons  of  coun- 
cils, and  often  expressly  asserted  by  ecclesiastical  writers.^  Ordi- 
nation by  a  presbyter  is  frequently  declared  to  be  null  and  void.^ 
The  office  of  the  presbyter  in  the  rites  of  ordination  was  to  assist 
the  bishop  in  ordaining  a  fellow-presbyter. | 

The  ordination  was  solemnized  in  the  church  and  in  the  presence 
of  the  assembly.     Private  ordinations  were  severely  censured.^ 

*  Ut  ex  laico  cid  gradum  sacerdotii  ante  nemo  veniat,  nisi  prius  in  officio  lecto- 
rati  vel  subdiaconati  disciplinam  ecclesiasticam  discat,  et  sic  per  singulos  gradus 
ad  sacerdotium  veniat. — Cone.  Bracar.  2,  a.  d.  563,  c.  20.  Varia  habendu  est 
ordinatio  quaj,  nee  loco  fuudata  est  nee  auctoritate  munita. — Leo  M.  Ep.  32,  ad 
Rustic,  c.  1. 

t  AI}j§«'a  a.Tlo'KfXvfjLivu^i  (absolute)  x^^^otoviio'^a.i,  firsts  7(p(cl^vt((>ov,  ixriYe  Sidxovoi', 
^rjrs  oXuij  Tiva  tCov  sv  sxx^r^aLaotixcfi  ■tdyfuatt  li  firi  tSixdij  (specialiter)  iv  (xx%rjrn.a 
Tto'KstJi,  r;  xcojiHjj,  rj  (xaptvpia,  -q  fiovaa'tr^plcf,  o  ;i;sipo'i'OK>i;^£i/oj  tTtoxtjpvttot.'to.  Touj 
5s  anoXvtu)^  Xfipotovovfjiivovi  (Zpiaiv/j  ayia  awoSoj  axvpov  t;tfii'  r^v  ■roiavfi'jv  %iipo^(- 
Oiav,  xai,  fXT^dafiov  Bvvaa^M  ivepynv  i^'  vjipei,  tov  ;t£''P0'fQ'''Jc'*'''f°5' — Cone.  Chalced. 
A.  D.  451,  e.  6;   Conf.  Cone.  Valent.  c.  6. 

;|;  Presbyter  cum  ordinatur,  episcopo  eura  benedicente  et  mauum  super  caput 
ejus  teneute,  etiam  omnes  presbyteri  qui  prtesentes  sunt,  manus  suas  juxta  manum 
episcopi  super  caput  illius  teneant. — Cone.  Carlh.  iv.  c.  4.  Presbyteros  quoque  et 
diaconos  sola  nianuum  impositione  ordiuabant;  sed  suos  presbyteros  quisque  epis- 
copus  cum  prcsbyterorum  coUegio  ordinabat.     Quanquam  autem  idem  agebant 


212  OKDINATION.  [CHAP.  XI. 


During  the  first  four  centuries  the  ordination  was  solemnized  at 
any  season  of  the  year,  as  occasion  required,  and  on  any  day  of  the 
week.  It  afterward  became  a  rule  of  the  church  that  the  ordina- 
tion should  be  performed  only  on  the  sabbath,^  sometimes  in  the 
morning,  sometimes  in  the  evening,  but  usually  in  connection  with 
the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  supper.^ 

Baptism  was  also  connected  not  unfrequently  with  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  rite  in  question.  A  preference  was  manifested  for 
the  holy  days  of  the  church  in  which  to  solemnize  the  ordinance, 
particularly  on  the  great  festival  of  Easter,  and  on  the  principal 
fast-days  of  the  church. 

Candidates  for  ordination  were  accustomed  uniformly  to  observe 
a  season  of  fasting  and  prayer  preparatory  to  this  ordinance,''  and 
to  receive  the  sacrament. 

The  first  and  most  significant  act  in  the  rite  of  ordination  was 
the  imposition  of  hands.  This  has  been  from  the  beginning  an  uni- 
form and  expressive  rite  in  the  consecration  of  one  to  the  service 
of  the  sacred  ministry ;  and  in  this,  accompanied  with  prayer,  the 
act  of  ordination  essentially  consisted.  By  many  this  is  supposed 
to  differ  from  the  common  imposition  of  hands  at  baptism,  confirm- 
ation, and  absolution.  The  manner  of  performing  the  ceremony 
has  difiered  at  difi'erent  times. 

About  the  ninth  century  it  became  customary  in  the  Romish 
church  to  anoint  the  candidate  for  holy  orders. 

In  the  Eastern  church  this  custom  never  became  general.  The 
oil  was  applied  to  the  head  and  hands  of  the  bishops,  but  only  to 
the  hands  of  the  presbyters. 

The  investiture — the  custom  of  delivering  the  sacred  vessels, 
ornaments,  and  vestments — was  introduced  in  the  seventh  century. 
But  some  mention  is  made  of  it  at  an  earlier  date.  The  badges 
and  insignia  varied  with  difi'erent  persons,  according  to  the  nature 
of  their  office. 

In  the  ordination  of  a  bishop,  an  open  Bible  was  laid  upon  his 
head — sometimes  delivered  into  his  hands — to  indicate  that  he  was 
continually  to  consult  this  for  direction  in  duty.  A  ring  was  put 
upon  his  finger  as  a  token  of  his  espousal  to  the  church,  and  a  staff" 
in  his  hand  as  the  shepherd  of  the  flock.     The  mitre  was  added  in 

omnes,  quia  tamen  prteibat  episcopus  et  quasi  ejus  auspiciis  res  gerebatur,  ideo 
ipsius  dicebatur  ordinatio.  Unde  veteres  hoc  SEepe  habent,  non  differre  alia  re  ab 
episcopo  presbytei'um,  nisi  quia  ordinandi  potestatera  non  liabeat. — Calvin, 
Imtit.  Eel.  Ckr.  lib.  Iy.  c.  4,  g  15. 


SEC.  III.]  THE   ADMINISTRATIOX   OF   THE   RITE.  213 


the  tenth  century,  and  the  glove  was  also  introduced,  but  at  what 
time  does  not  appear. 

The  presbyter  received  the  sacramental  cup  and  plate  in  token 
of  his  service  in  administering  the  sacrament. 

Upon  the  deacon  the  bishop  laid  his  right  hand  and  delivered  to 
him  a  copy  of  the  Gospels,  to  indicate  that  he  was  to  act  as  the 
agent  and  organ  of  the  bishop. 

The  su.bdeacon  received  an  empty  paten  and  cup,  with  an  ewer 
and  napkin ;  the  reader  received  a  copy  of  the  Scriptures ;  the 
acolyth,  a  candlestick  with  a  taper ;  and  the  ostiarii  the  keys  of 
the  church. 

The  person  ordained  was  signed  with  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and 
after  his  ordination  received  the  kiss  of  charity  from  the  ordaining 
minister  and  his  assistants.^ 

The  following  is  the  prayer  which  is  prescribed  by  the  Apostoli- 
cal Constitutions  to  be  used  in  the  ordination  of  a  bishop : — 

"  0  eternal  and  almighty  Lord  God,  the  only  unbegotten  and 
supreme,  who  art  from  eternity,  before  all  time  and  all  things ; 
thou  who  hast  need  of  nothing,  and  art  exalted  far  above  all  cir- 
cumstances and  events ;  thou  who  art  the  only  true,  the  only  wise, 
the  highest  over  all ;  whose  nature  is  inscrutable,  and  whose  know- 
ledge is  without  beginning ;  thou  who  alone  art  good,  and  with 
whom  no  one  may  compare ;  thou  who  knowest  all  things  before 
they  come  to  pass ;  thou  from  whom  no  secrets  are  hid,  whom  no 
one  can  approach  unto,  whom  no  one  can  command ;  0  thou  God 
and  Father  of  thine  only-begotten  Son,  our  Lord  and  Saviour ; 
thou  who  through  time  hast  created  all  things,  and  who  upholdest 
all ;  thou  father  of  mercy,  and  God  of  all  consolation ;  thou  who 
dwellest  in  the  highest,  and  regardest  the  things  that  are  below  ; 
thou  who  hast  given  to  the  church  its  bounds  by  the  incarnation  of 
thy  Christ,  with  the  testimony  of  the  Comforter,  by  thine  apostles, 
and  by  the  bishops  here  present  by  thy  grace ;  thou  who  from  the 
beginning,  amongst  the  first  men,  didst  for  the  good  of  thy  people 
appoint  priests,  even  Abel,  Seth,  Enos,  Enoch,  Noah,  Melchizcdek, 
and  Job ; — thou  who  didst  choose  thy  faithful  servants  Abraham 
and  the  other  patriarchs,  Moses,  Aaron,.  Eleazar,  and  Phineas,  and 
didst  appoint  from  among  them  princes  and  priests  for  the  service 
of  the  covenant ;  who  didst  make  Samuel  both  priest  and  prophet, 
who  didst  not  leave  thy  sanctuary  without  ministers  and  attendance, 
and  didst  show  favour  unto  those  whom  thou  didst  cause  to  minister 
to  thy  glory ; — we  beseech  thee  to  pour  out  now  through  us,  by  the 


214  ORDINATION.  [CHAP.  XI. 

mediation  of  thy  Christ,  the  power  of  thine  almighty  Spirit,  which 
is  given  through  thy  beloved  Son  Jesus  Christ,  and  which  he  im- 
parted to  thine  holy  apostles  according  to  thy  will,  0  eternal  God. 
Grant,  0  thou  searcher  of  the  heart,  that  this  thy  servant,  whom 
thou  hast  chosen  to  the  office  of  a  bishop,  may  feed  thy  holy  flock 
in  thy  name,  and  may  serve  thee  unblamably  as  thine  high  priest, 
day  and  night ;  and  that  he,  propitiating  thy  countenance,  may 
gather  unto  thee  the  number  of  those  who  shall  be  called,  and  may 
present  the  offerings  of  thy  holy  church.  Grant  unto  him,  0  Lord 
Almighty,  by  thy  Christ  and  the  communication  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
that  he  may  have  power  to  remit  sins  according  to  thy  command- 
ment, to  confer  orders  [oLooj'ai  xXr^^ovg)  according  to  thy  appoint- 
ment, and  to  loose  every  bond  (Ttdvta  GvvoeOfiov)  according  to 
the  power  which  thou  didst  grant  unto  thine  apostles.  Grant  that 
he  may  please  thee  by  meekness,  purity  of  heart,  constancy,  sin- 
cerity, and  a  blameless  conversation ;  that  so  he  may  offer  unto 
thee  the  pure  and  unbloody  sacrifice  which  thou  hast  appointed  by 
Christ  in  the  sacrament  of  the  new  covenant,  and  as  the  offering  of 
a  sweet-smelling  savour,  through  thy  dear  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  our 
God  and  Saviour,  through  whom  be  unto  thee  glory,  honour,  and 
adoration,  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  now  and  for  ever.     Amen." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

OF    CLERICAL   PREROGATIVES. 
§  1.    OF    THE    RANK    OF    THE    CLERGY. 

The  pride  of  rank  was  wholly  unknown  in  tlie  age  of  the  apostles 
and  of  their  immediate  successors  ;  and,  indeed,  until  the  establish- 
ment of  Christianity  as  a  state  religion  under  Constantine.  The 
ministerial  office  neither  conferred  any  personal  superiority  nor 
claimed  any  official  distinction.  The  representations  which  the 
Scriptures  and  the  primitive  fathers  so  frequently  make  of  the 
dignity  and  worth  of  religious  teachers  have  no  reference  to  this 
subject.  They  only  represent  these  teachers  as  the  servants  and 
stewards  of  God,  and  their  office  as  one  in  the  highest  degree  ele- 
vated and  heavenly.  Such,  indeed,  was  the  real  estimation  in 
which  some  of  the  most  eminent  Christian  bishops  were  held  by 
the  world  in  the  first  three  centuries,  that  one  might  fitly  say  of 
them — the  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  was  the  least  of  all 
men. 

The  famous  Origen  was,  in  regard  to  rank,  one  of  the  lesser  lights 
in  the  church,  invested  at  first  with  only  the  humble  office  of  cate- 
chist,  and  afterward,  informally,  with  that  of  deacon,  or,  according 
to  some,  with  that  of  presbyter.  Yet  had  he  more  influence  and 
authority  than  any  dignitary  of  the  church  in  his  time.  Clemens 
Alexandrinus  and  TertuUian  were  never  bishops ;  but  they  were 
held  in  the  highest  estimation  both  by  their  contemporaries  and  by 
posterity.  Jerome  was  only  an  itinerating  presbyter,  but  he  was 
honoured  as  the  dictator  of  the  church.  And  still  later,  even  when 
the  aristocracy  of  the  church  Avas  fully  established,  there  occurred, 
at  times,  instances  of  men  who,  by  their  talents,  rose  superior  to 
all  the  distinctions  of  rank  and  of  office.  On  the  other  hand,  even 
the  bishops  of  Rome,  Antioch,  Alexandria,  Carthage,  and  others, 
notwithstanding  their  high  office,  were  often  treated  with  the  great- 
est indignity. 

°      ^  215 


216  CLERICAL    PREROGATIVES.  [CHAP.  XII. 

The  relations  of  rank  must  have  existed  among  the  priesthood 
themselves  previous  to  the  time  of  Constantino,  even  from  the  time 
"when  they  began  to  be  regarded  as  a  distinct  order,  and  to  be  di- 
vided into  different  classes,  superior  and  inferior.  But  it  was  a 
long  time  before  even  these  relations  became  so  distinct  as  they 
have  been  since  the  establishment  of  the  Eastern  and  Western 
hierarchy  in  the  eighth  century.  After  the  organization  of  the 
episcopal  government,  however,  as  a  religious  establishment,  a  long 
and  bitter  strife  began  between  the  different  orders  for  preferment 
and  distinction  one  above  another.  The  primitive  presbyters  sus- 
tained an  arduous  conflict,  first  against  the  pretensions  of  bishops 
to  superiority ;  and  then  again  against  the  order  of  deacons,  and 
especially  of  the  archdeacons,  who  arrayed  themselves  on  the  side 
of  the  bishops.  The  result  of  this  increasing  conflict  was  the  final 
subjugation  of  the  presbyters  to  the  authority  of  the  bishops,  so 
that  only  a  few  ventured  occasionally  to  remonstrate  against  the 
usurpation  of  the  episcopate.  And  the  bishops  again  sustained  a 
struggle,  arduous  and  disastrous  to  themselves,  with  the  archbishops, 
primates,  and  patriarchs.  With  the  latter,  particularly,  a  long  and 
obstinate  strife  for  the  mastery  was  maintained,  which  finally  re- 
sulted in  the  popish  supremacy  ;  but  the  conflict  ceased  not  so  long 
as  one  remained  to  sustain  it. 

Previous  to  the  reign  of  Constantino  no  outward  relations  of  rank 
were  established  among  the  clergy.  But  as  in  both  the  Jewish  and 
Roman  states  the  priesthood  were  invested  with  peculiar  honours, 
so  this  monarch  sought  to  transfer  the  same  to  the  Christian  minis- 
try. Thus  these  forms  of  the  Jewish  priesthood  perpetuated  them- 
selves in  the  Christian  church  after  the  overthrow  of  the  religion  to 
which  they  at  first  belonged.^ 

The  bishops,  especially,  profited  by  this  reference  to  the  priest- 
hood of  Jewish  and  pagan  systems  of  religion,  claiming  that  the 
Christian  bishops  ought  at  least  to  be  equal  in  rank  to  the  Jewish 
patriarchs.^  It  was  an  expedient  to  elevate  a  depressed  priesthood 
hj  investing  them  with  new  honours,  just  as  Julian  the  Apostate 
sought  afterward  to  overthrow  them  by  reinstating  the  pagan  priest- 
hood in  their  ancient  rank.^  And  agoin,  Constantino  himself  sus- 
tained a  certain  relation  to  the  priesthood.  Eusebius  declares  him 
to  have  been  a  bishop  duly  constituted  by  God.^  And  he  styles 
himself  bishop,  tciv  sxrog  vTto  ^eov  xa^eotauevov  emoxonov — 
u  phrase  of  similar  import  with  'pontifex  maximus,  which,  after  the 
example  of  the  Boman  emperors,  he  solemnly  assumed  in  the  year 


SEC.  II.]  PRIVILEGES    OF   THE   PRIESTHOOD.  217 


325.^  The  Emperor  Gratian,  f  383,  was  the  last  who  bore  this  title. 
But  so  long  as  it  was  retained  it  had  the  effect  to  elevate  tliC  office 
both  of  bishops  and  emperors  in  the  estimation  of  the  people,  and 
to  justify  the  intervention  of  secular  power  in  ecclesiastical  coun- 
cils and  in  the  elections  of  bishops. 

The  priesthood  of  the  Christian  church,  after  its  union  with  the 
state,  in  the  fourth  century,  were  the  constituted  guardians  of  the 
morals  of  the  community,  as  civil  as  well  as  ecclesiastical  magis- 
trates, and  in  this  relation  had  a  decided  superiority  to  the  pagan 
and  Jewish  priesthood.  Even  the  highest  magistrates  and  princes 
were  not  exempt  from  their  sentences  of  suspension  and  excommu- 
nication. Theodosius  the  Great  submitted  himself  to  this  disci- 
pline, A.  D.  390,  and  his  example  was  imitated  by  many  of  his 
successors,  down  to  the  time  of  Henry  IV. "^  Gregory  Nazianzen, 
in  speaking  on  this  subject,  says,  "  The  law  of  Christ  subjects  you 
to  my  control.  For  we  also  are  in  authority,  and  I  will  add,  an 
authority  greater  and  more  perfect  than  yours,  inasmuch  as  the 
carnal  is  inferior  to  the  spiritual — the  earthly  to  the  heavenly."'^ 
Multitudes  of  passages  of  similar  import  are  found  in  the  writings 
of  Chrysostom,'"*  Ambrose,^  and  other  of  the  fathers.^" 

Notwithstanding  the  high  consideration  in  which  the  clergy  were 
held,  we  are  still  left  in  ignorance  of  their  relative  rank  in  civil  life. 
But  on  the  re-establishment  of  the  Western  empire,  their  civil  and 
political  relations  were  clearly  defined ;  and  under  the  dynasty  of 
Charlemagne,  in  the  eighth  century,  the  bishops  obtained  the  rank 
of  barons  or  lords,  and  as  such  became  civil  magistrates  and  coun- 
sellors in  the  state,  and,  as  civil  dignitaries,  took  part  in  all  political 
and  ecclesiastical  concerns  of  importance.  They  were  regular 
members  of  all  imperial  diets,  which  were  in  reality  ecclesiastical 
synods.  At  a  later  period,  bishops,  archbishops,  and  abbots  were, 
by  statute  laws,  made  princes  of  the  empire  and  electors.  And  the 
last  mentioned  were  often  involved  in  conflicts  with  the  Roman 
cardinals  for  superiority.  This  organization  was  continued  until 
the  dissolution  of  the  German  confederacy  subsequent  to  the  French 
Revolution,  and  became  a  pattern  for  other  lands. 

§  2.    OF  THE  IMMUNITIES,  PREROGATIVES,  AND   PRIVILEGES   OF  THE 

PRIESTHOOD. 

Previous  to  his  conversion,  Constantino  merely  gave  to  the 
clergy  of  the  Christian  church  equal  privileges  with  the  pagan  and 


218  CLERICAL   PREROGATIVES.  [CHAP.  XII. 

Jewish  priests.  These  acts  of  toleration  were  followed  by  others 
conferring  upon  the  clergy  of  the  church  certain  specific  privileges, 
which  were  confirmed  and  increased  by  his  sons.  And  what  was 
lost  by  the  intervention  of  Julian  the  Apostate  was  fully  regained 
under  the  propitious  reigns  of  Valentinian  III.,  Gratian,  Theodo- 
sius  the  Great,  Honorius,  etc.  For  a  full  account  of  the  several 
grants  of  the  early  emperors,  see  references.^ 

The  principal  rights  and  privileges  of  the  priesthood  were  as 
follows : — 

1.  Exemption  from  all  civil  offices  and  secular  duties  to  the  state.^ 
Such  exemption  was  granted  by  Constantino,  A.  D.  312  ;  and  in 
•319  and  330,  it  was  extended  to  the  inferior  order,  and  the  reason 
assigned  for  conferring  this  privilege  was,  that  "  the  clergy  might 
not,  for  any  unworthy  pretence,  be  called  off  from  their  religious 
duties,"  ne  sacrilego  livore  quorundam  a  divinis  obsequiis  avo- 
centur,  or,  as  Eusebius  expresses  it,  "  that  they  might  have  no  false 
pretence  or  excuse  for  being  diverted  from  their  sacred  calling,  but 
rather  might  rightfully  prosecute  it  without  molestation."  By  this 
right  they  were  excused  from  bearing  burdensome  and  expensive 
municipal  offices.  The  Jewish  patriarchs  and  pagan  priests  en- 
joyed a  similar  exemption.^ 

2.  Exemption  from  all  sordid  offices^  both  predial  and  personal. 
This  right  was  also  granted  by  Constantino  and  confirmed  by  Theo- 
dosius  the  Great  and  Honorius.*  The  right  relieved  them  from 
the  necessity  of  furnishing  post-horses,  provisions,  etc.,  for  public 
officers,  and  sometimes  from  that  of  constructing  and  repairing 
public  highways  and  bridges.^ 

3.  Exemption  from  certain  taxes  and  imposts.  The  clergy  were 
not,  indeed,  totally  exempt  from  taxation.  Their  property,  real 
and  personal,  was  taxed,  but  this  exemption  has  reference  to  certain 
other  assessments,  such  as  (a)  the  census  capitum — analogous  to 
poll-tax ;  but  the  learned  are  not  agreed  respecting  the  precise 
nature  of  it.  {h)  The  aurum  tironium — an  assessment  for  military 
purposes,  a  bounty  paid  as  a  substitute  for  serving  in  the  army. 
[c]  The  equus  cano7iicus,  the  furnishing  and  equipping  of  horses 
for  military  service,  {d)  Chrysargyrum,  ;)^pi>crdp^upor,  commerce- 
money,  duties  on  articles  of  trade  assessed  every  five  years,  and 
paid  in  silver  and  gold,  [e)  The  metatum,  a  tax  levied  for  the  en- 
tertainment of  the  emperor  and  his  court  as  he  travelled,  or  for 
judges  and  soldiers  in  their  journeys.     (/)  The  collatio  superindicta 


SEC.  II.]  PRIVILEGES    OF   THE    PRIESTHOOD.  219 


et  extraor din  aria,   a  direct  tax  levied    on    special    emergencies.^ 
Certain  taxes  on  real  estate  they  were  required  to  pay.^ 

4.  Exemption  from  military  duty.  This  right  is  not  expressly 
stated,  but  fairly  inferred  from  many  considerations.  The  maxim, 
ecclesia  non  sitit  sanguinem,  was  always  recognised  by  the  state. 

5.  Exemption  iyi  certain  civil  and  criininal  prosecutions.  They 
were  not  required  to  appear  in  court,  nor  to  give  testimony  under 
oath.^  Neither  were  they  required  to  make  oath  to  affidavits,  but 
instead  thereof,  they  attested  the  truth  of  their  testimony  on  the 
Bible  at  home.^  Sacerdotes,  ex  levi  causa,  jurare  non  dehent. 
This  was  a  concession  to  the  dignity  of  the  bishop ;  but  presbyters 
were  summoned  to  appear  in  court  to  give  testimony.  The  more 
the  bishops  exalted  themselves  above  the  presbyters,  the  more  were 
the  latter  subject  to  indignities  from  their  superiors.  In  this  in- 
stance external  influence  from  the  state  was  so  employed  as  to  ex- 
hibit the  presbyter  in  humiliating  contrast  with  the  bishop. 

The  rank,  immunities,  and  privileges  of  the  clergy,  especially  those 
of  the  bishops,  were  powerful  incentives  to  bad  men  to  aspire  after 
ecclesiastical  offices,  and  equally  efficacious  in  corrupting  the  minis- 
try. Taxation  and  war,  under  a  despotic  government,  impose 
grievous  burdens  on  the  people,  from  which  multitudes  would  gladly 
escape  by  entering  into  clerical  orders. 

The  spirit  of  Christians  at  this  time,  in  contrast  with  that  of  pri- 
mitive Christians,  is  forcibly  exhibited  by  Sulpicius  Severus,  f  A.  D. 
420,  who  says,  "  that  then  a  glorious  martyrdom  was  sought  more 
eagerly  than  now  men  with  depraved  ambition  aspire  to  a  bishop- 
ric.'"" 

6.  JVo  ecclesiastical  matters  were  to  he  tried  before  secular  courts.^^ 
Of  this  nature  were  all  questions  of  faith  and  practice,  which  came  ap- 
propriately under  the  cognizance  of  presbyteries,  bishops,  or  synods, 
together  with  all  such  acts  of  discipline  as  belonged  to  individual 
churches,  in  which  the  clergy  were  allowed  a  controlling  influence. 

The  primitive  church  had  originally  no  other  authority  than  that 
of  deposing  from  office,  excommunicating,  and  pronouncing  their 
solemn  anathema.  But  after  the  church  became  dependent  upon 
the  civil  authority,  that  power  was  often  exercised  to  redress  the 
offences  of  the  church.  Heretics  especially  Avere  thus  brought  be- 
fore courts  of  justice.  For  it  is  undeniably  evident  that  heresy 
was  regarded  as  an  actionable  offence,  deserving  severe  punish- 
ment. Off"ences  of  a  graver  character  were  at  all  times  punishable, 
not  in  ecclesiastical,  but  in  secular  courts  of  justice. 


220  CLERICAL    PREROGATIVES.  [CHAP.  XII. 

7.  Bishops,  like  the  Jewish  patriarchs,  were  often  requested  to 
settle  disputes  and  act  as  arbitrators  and  umpires  in  civil  matters. ^^ 
They  were  also  common  intercessors  in  behalf  of  criminals  for  their 
reprieve  or  pardon  when  condemned  to  death. ^^ 

§  3.    OF   CLERICAL   LETTERS. 

The  generous  hospitality  of  the  primitive  Christians,  of  which 
mention  has  been  made,  was  so  frequently  abused  by  impostors, 
that  it  became  necessary  at  an  early  period,  to  give  to  all  Chris- 
tians who  travelled  beyond  the  range  of  their  acquaintance,  testi- 
monials of  their  character,  commending  them  to  the  confidence  and 
fellowship  of  Christian  brethren  Avherever  they  might  travel.  As 
synodical  councils  began  to  be  held,  they  gave  occasion  for  the  fre- 
quent exchange  of  letters.  Soon  after  the  establishment  of  the 
episcopate,  the  bishops  were  accustomed  to  communicate  to  other 
dioceses  their  own  acts  of  discipline,  and,  to  give  more  eflfect  to  their 
discipline,  none  was  allowed  to  reverse  the  bans  or  remove  the 
censure  but  he  with  whom  the  sentence  originated.  None  of  the 
subordinate  clergy  could  officiate  in  another  church  unless  duly 
accredited  by  the  testimonials  of  his  bishop.  These  regulations 
gave  occasion  for  frequent  missives  from  the  bishops.  Whatever 
was  the  nature  of  these  official  communications,  they  were  uniformly 
sent  from  diocese  to  diocese  by  special  messengers,  and  usually  by 
the  hands  of  the  subdeacons,  as  the  trusty  agents  of  the  bishop. 
This,  indeed,  was  for  some  time  the  most  responsible  duty  of  the 
subdeacons.  Cyprian,  on  one  occasion,  ordained  a  new  subdeacon 
to  take  charge  of  his  letters  to  Rome,  because  those  in  office  could 
not  be  spared  for  this  service.^ 

These  regulations  invested  the  bishop  again  with  dangerous  pre- 
rogatives;  they  placed  "the  power  of  the  keys"  in  his  hands,  to 
open  and  shut  at  his  pleasure  or  caprice  the  church  of  Christ,  so 
that  the  character  of  every  communicant  and  the  privileges  of 
communion  and  fellowship  were  at  the  disposal  of  the  bishop. 
Banishment  or  removal  offered  no  relief  to  one,  however  unjustly  he 
might  be  under  censure.  Without  the  testimonial  of  his  bishop,  the 
church  of  Christ  was  barred  against  him  abroad  as  well  as  at  home, 
for  none  but  the  bishop  was  allowed,  on  any  occasion,  to  issue  let- 
ters missive  of  any  character  from  one  church  to  another — a  pre- 
rogative the  power  of  which  the  bishops  well  understood  and 
guarded  with  peculiar  jealousy. 


SEC.  IV.]  CLERICAL   COSTUMES.  221 

These  clerical  letters  were  known  by  different  names,  according 
to  the  various  occasions  on  which  they  were  written.  They  were 
styled,  in  general,  literse  formatse,  yp^i^ata  tv7tcd[j.£va,  with 
such  qualifications  as  the  following:  xavovizd,  xoLVC^vixd,  eipyivixd 
GvaratLxd,  ano/ivrLxd,  sv^poinGrLxd,  comniunicatorise,  pacificse, 
dimissorise,  etc.  The  explanation  of  the  character  of  these  letters 
is  given  in  the  words  of  Bingham  : 

"  They  are  generally  of  three  kinds,  the  epistolse  commendatorise, 
comniunicatorise,  and  dimissorise.  The  first  Avere  such  as  were 
granted  only  to  persons  of  quality,  or  else  persons  whose  reputa- 
tion had  been  called  in  question,  or  to  the  clergy  who  had  occasion 
to  travel  into  foreign  countries.  The  second  sort  were  granted  to 
all  who  were  in  the  peace  and  communion  of  the  church ;  whence 
they  were  also  called  pacijicse,  and  ecolesiasticse,  and  sometimes 
canoniese.  The  third  sort  were  such  as  were  only  given  to  the 
clergy,  when  they  were  to  remove  from  their  own  diocese  and  set- 
tle in  another  ;  and  they  were  to  testify  that  they  had  their  bishop's 
leave  to  depart ;  whence  they  were  called  dimissorise,  and  some- 
times pacificse  likewise.  All  these  went  under  the  general  name 
of  formatse,  because  they  were  written  in  a  peculiar  form,  with 
some  particular  marks  and  characters^  which  served  as  special  sig- 
natures to  distinguish  them  from  counterfeits.  By  all  ancient 
canons  this  privilege  is  reserved  entirely  to  bishops,  and  this  set 
their  authority  very  high  in  the  church,  for  no  one,  either  clergy 
or  laity,  could  communicate  in  any  church  besides  his  own  without 
these  testimonials  from  his  bishop ;  as  may  be  seen  in  the  Councils 
of  Carthage,^  and  Agde,^  and  many  others." 

§  4.    OF   CLERICAL    COSTUMES. 

In  a  religion  like  that  of  the  Old  Testament,  which  estimates 
every  thing  relating  to  the  kingdom  of  God  by  outward  forms,  and 
relies  for  its  effect  chiefly  upon  specific  external  rites,  the  high- 
priest  of  its  awful  mysteries  might  be  expected  to  appear  before  the 
people  in  imposing  clerical  vestments.  But  such  a  vestiture  is  in- 
compatible with  the  simplicity  and  spirituality  of  Christian  wor- 
ship. Nothing  is  known  of  ofiicial  vestments  either  in  the  New 
Testament  or  in  the  earliest  writings  of  the  fathers.  There  are, 
indeed,  traditions  of  the  linen  robe  of  James ;  of  the  golden  front- 
lets of  Mark,  and  James,  and  John ;  and  of  the  splendid  mantle  of 
Bartholomew  ;^  but  these  are  regarded  as  unworthy  of  credit.     No 


222  CLERICAL    PREROGATIVES.  [CHAP,  XII. 

authentic  notice  of  any  clerical  vestments  appears  on  the  page  of 
ancient  history  earlier  than  the  fourth  century.  They  were  as- 
sumed as  a  part  of  the  imposing  forms  of  episcopal  Avorship,  on 
the  substitution  of  these  for  the  simplicity  of  primitive  worship. 
Constantino,  in  the  fourth  century,  presented  a  splendid  robe, 
inwrought  with  gold,  to  the  bishop  of  Jerusalem.-  And  many  dis- 
tinguished Koman  Catholic  writers,  together  with  most  of  the  Pro- 
testant authors  who  have  treated  on  this  subject,  concur  in  assigning 
to  this  century  the  origin  of  the  custom  of  investing  the  clergy  with 
an  ofBcial  costume.  The  bishops  of  the  Eastern  church  were  the 
first  to  adopt  these  badges  of  office,  of  which  the  principal  was  the 
robe  G)iJ.O(p6piov. 

This  episcopal  badge,  denominated  pallium  super  Jiwnerale,  pec- 
torale,  is  supposed  to  have  been  introduced  into  the  Western  church 
at  a  later  period.  The  Roman  Catholic  writer,  Pellicia,  affirms 
that  the  clergy  were  not  distinguished  from  the  laity  in  their  dress 
until  the  sixth  century.^  But  the  Council  of  Aries,  A.  D.  314,  c. 
23,  and  the  Council  of  Carthage,  a.  d.  398,  c.  41,  passed  decrees 
respecting  some  of  the  inferior  orders  of  the  clergy,  from  which 
it  appears  that,  in  the  churches  of  Africa  and  Gaul,  the  clergy  had 
assumed,  in  the  fourth  century,  a  distinctive  habit.  On  the  con- 
trary, there  is  extant  an  epistle  from  Cselestin,  bishop  of  Rome, 
A.  D.  428,  addressed  to  the  bishops  of  Vienna  and  Narbonne,  in 
which  he  complains  that  certain  priests  in  the  church  of  Gaul  had 
begun  to  distinguish  themselves  from  the  laity  by  wearing  the  robe 
and  girdle.  To  this  custom  he  strongly  objects  as  a  dangerous  in- 
novation, which  may  be  the  occasion  of  introducing  vain  supersti- 
tions.* These  objections,  however,  are  supposed  by  many,  to  have 
been  urged  by  Cgelcstin  against  change  of  the  bishop's  robe  for  the 
garb  of  a  monk. 

The  robe  was  originally  a  white  woollen  fabric,  hanging  loosely 
from  the  shoulders.^  Durandus  describes  it,  at  a  later  period,  as 
changed,  like  every  thing  else,  from  its  original  simplicity,  and 
decked  out  Avith  many  superstitious,  fantastic  ornaments,  to  which 
mysterious  meanings  were  attached.  It  was  made  of  the  fleece  of 
the  sheep,  because  that  animal  is  an  emblem  of  harmless  innocence. 
It  was  gathered  into  a  circle  upon  the  shoulders,  emblematical  of 

*  Disccrnendi  a  plebe  sumus  doctrina,  non  veste ;  conversatione,  non  habitu ; 
mentis  puritate,  non  cultu.  Si  incipimus  studere  novitati,  traditum  nobis  a  patri- 
bus  ordinem  calcabimus,  ut  locum  supervacuis  superstitionibus  faceamus. — -£/>. 
2,  ad  Gall.  c.  1. 


SEC.  IV.]  CLERICAL   COSTUMES.  223 

the  fear  of  God  whicli  restrains  us  within  appointed  bounds.  It  had 
two  stripes,  in  front  and  on  the  back,  significant  of  an  active  and 
a  contemphitive  life.  It  had  double  foldings  on  the  left,  to  indi- 
cate the  patient  endurance  of  the  trials  of  this  life ;  and  a  single 
one  on  the  right,  to  express  the  single  aspiration  of  the  soul  after 
the  rest  that  remains  to  the  people  of  God  in  heaven.  It  had  four 
purple  crosses ;  one  on  the  breast,  one  on  the  back,  and  one  on 
either  side,  emblematical  of  the  four  virtues — justice,  fortitude, 
prudence,  and  temperance  ;  purple,  to  show  that  these  virtues  must 
be  dyed  in  the  purple  blood  of  the  cross  before  they  can  commend 
us  to  the  favour  of  Heaven  ; — and  finally  into  this  robe  were  inserted 
three  golden  pins.^  Such  were  some  of  the  puerile  superstitions 
that  encumbered  the  ritual  of  the  church  in  the  middle  ages. 

It  appears  from  Socrates,^  that  a  black  robe  early  became  a  part 
of  the  clerical  costume  ;  but  whether  worn  in  public  or  in  private  is 
not  apparent  from  the  passage.  Besides  black  and  white  colours, 
others,  such  as  red,  blue,  green,  and  violet,  were  sometimes  adopted. 

The  form  of  the  robe  was  also  varied  at  times,  according  to  which 
it  received  different  names,  as  ovarium,  sudarium,  dalniatica  alba, 
Cto\r,j  7tEpi(36?.aiov,  &c. 

The  principle  ornament  for  the  head  was  the  tiara  or  mitre. 
This  was  a  species  of  turban,  similar  to  the  antique  mitre  or  crown 
of  ancient  kings ;  and,  like  that,  was  a  symbol  of  power  and  au- 
thority. Gregory  Nazianzen,  in  the  fourth  century,  speaks  of  it 
under  the  name  of  cidaris.*  But  we  have  not  satisfactory  evi- 
dence of  the  use  of  it  until  a  later  period.  John  of  Cappadocia, 
who  lived  in  the  sixth  century,  is  represented  to  have  had  a  crown 
embellished  with  gold  and  precious  stones. 

After  the  sixth  century,  the  ring  and  the  staff  became  also  badges 
of  the  bishop,  to  which,  as  usual,  mysterious  meanings  were  at- 
tached. The  latter,  especially,  was  forked  at  the  bottom,  and 
wrought  into  fantastic  shapes,  for  which  the  most  whimsical  rea- 
sons were  assigned  by  the  superstition  of  the  age. 

Chirothecse,  gloves,  as  a  part  of  the  costume  of  the  bishop,  are 
mentioned  as  early  as  the  fifth  and  sixth  century ;  for  the  use  of 
which,  reasons  are  assigned,  drawn  from  Matt.  vi.  1-4. 

We  have  yet  to  add  to  the  equipment  of  the  bishop  his  boots  and 
his  sandals,  caligse  and  sandalia  ;  to  which  also  a  mystical  mean- 
ing was  attached. 

*  Capitique  cidarum  imponis. 


224  CLERICAL    PREROGATIVES.  [CHAP.  XII. 

August!  refers  the  origin  of  a  clerical  costume  back  to  a  higher 
antiquity  than  the  fourth  century,  in  which  opinion  he  is  followed 
by  many  others.  In  support  of  his  opinion,  he  appeals  to  the  origin 
of  Christianity  as  only  a  modification  of  Judaism.  The  minister, 
therefore,  of  the  new  religion,  may  be  presumed  to  retain  some 
clerical  vestments  similar  to  those  of  the  high-priest.  But  in 
reply  it  is  urged,  that  there  is  not  in  the  New  Testament  the  least 
indication  of  any  clerical  costume ;  neither  were  the  rites  of  the 
church  derived  from  the  temple-service,  but  from  that  of  the  syna- 
gogue, where  no  sacrificial  rites  were  performed  nor  clerical  oflSces 
required. 

He  further  cites  some  equivocal  traditions  respecting  certain 
vestments,  and  ornaments  or  badges,  of  some  of  the  apostles.  These 
traditions,  however,  ev-en  if  true,  do  not  necessarily  imply  that  they 
were  any  part  of  a  clerical  costume. 

Augusti  also  supposes  that  such  a  costume  would  be  a  natural, 
if  not  an  indispensable  part  of  the  imposing  rites  of  the  secret  dis- 
cipline of  the  church ;  but  this  discipline  can  hardly  claim  a  higher 
antiquity  than  the  fourth  century.  For  the  same  reason,  all  that 
relates  to  the  costume  of  the  candidates  for  baptism,  as  taught  by 
Cyril  in  his  catechism,  and  prescribed  in  the  Apostolical  Constitu- 
tions, is  to  be  rejected  as  of  no  higher  antiquity  than  the  fourth  or 
fifth  century.  And  even  Augusti  admits  that  "  the  most  ancient 
history  knows  nothing  of  any  peculiar  costume,  either  for  him  that 
administers  or  those  that  receive  baptism." 

Indeed,,  ancient  history  makes  no  intimation  of  any  clerical  cos- 
tume previous  to  the  fourth  century.  Constantino  presented  Ma- 
carius,  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  a  sacred  robe,  lepav  GtoTir.v,  to  be 
worn  in  the  administration  of  the  ordinance ;  and  toward  the  latter 
part  of  this  century  the  bishops  began  to  discuss  the  propriety  of 
different  colours  for  their  robes.^ 

The  fom'th  Council  of  Carthage,  A.  D.  399,  has  an  ordinance, 
c.  44,  respecting  the  tonsure  of  the  clergy,  and  another  on  the  use 
of  the  white  surplice  by  the  deacons. 

These  appear  to  be  the  earliest  indications  of  an  ofiicial  clerical 
dress  both  in  the  Eastern  and  AV^estern  churches,  A  clerical  cos- 
tume is  a  fiction  of  the  hierarchy,  a  desire  to  magnify  the  office  of 
the  priesthood,  to  separate  them  from  the  laity,  and  to  give  efi'ect 
to  the  ceremonials  of  religious  worship. 

Peculiar  attention  was  paid  to  the  head-dress  both  of  bishops  and 
priests.     The  clerical  tonsui'e  was  introduced  between  the  sixth  and 


SEC.  v.]  REVENUE  OF  THE  CLERGY.  225 

eighth  centuries,  and  continued  an  essential  requisite  of  the  clergy, 
while  the  other  ornaments  of  the  head  were  endlessly  varied,  both 
in  the  Eastern  and  Western  churches.  The  use  of  the  wig  is  of  a 
date  still  later,  and  was  totally  unknown  in  the  primitive  church. 
It  was  universally  adopted  by  the  clergy,  against  all  precedent,  and, 
although  often  prohibited,  was  for  a  long  time  retained,  and  then 
again  passed  into  disuse.  In  the  Protestant  church  it  was  again 
introduced  in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  and  became 
alternately  the  badge  of  orthodoxy,  heresy,  and  neology. 

§  5.    OF   THE   REVENUE   OF   THE    CLERGY. 

Nothing  like  the  provisions  of  the  levitical  law,  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  priesthood,  was  known  in  the  primitive  church.  Neither 
was  there  any  distinction  between  the  property  of  the  church  and 
of  the  parish.  The  duty  of  the  church  to  maintain  her  religious 
teachers  is  presupposed,  however,  and  implied  in  the  writings  of 
the  New  Testament.  "The  workman  is  worthy  of  his  meat,"  says 
Christ,  to  which  the  apostle  appeals.  Even  so  hath  the  Lord 
ordained  that  they  which  preach  the  gospel  should  live  by  the  gos- 
pel, 1  Cor.  ix.  14 ;  which  the  apostle  had  previously  shown  to  be 
not  only  an  obvious  conclusion  from  the  words  of  Christ,  but  from 
the  common  understanding  of  men,  and  from  the  Mosaic  laws,  vs. 
7-13.  All  this  he  is  careful  to  show  is  said,  not  for  his  own  sake, 
vs.  15-18,  for  he  uniformly  preached  the  gospel  and  served  the 
church  gratuitously, — Acts  xx.  33-35  ;  2  Thess.  iii.  7  et  seq. :  2  Cor. 
xi.  7,  8 ;  xii.  13 ;  Phil.  iv.  16-18 ;  1  Tim.  vi.  7  ;  Tit.  i.  11 ;  Acts 
xviii.  3  ;  xxiv.  17,  etc., — but  to  exhibit  the  duty  of  the  church  toward 
her  teachers.  The  example  of  the  apostle  was  the  general  rule  of 
the  apostolic  age.  The  church  possessed  no  property,  and  exacted 
no  tithes ;  but  her  wants  were  supplied  by  voluntary  offerings  and 
contributions. 

The  ordinary  maintenance  of  the  clergy  consisted  merely  in  the 
supply  of  their  personal  wants.  2  Thess.  iii.  8  ;  1  Cor.  xi.  20  ;  xxii. 
33 ;  Jude  xi.  12.  For  this  end  the  clergy  Avere  accustomed  to 
retain  a  due  portion  of  the  contributions  which  were  made  at  the 
agapae,  or  love-feasts  of  the  church.  But  Tertullian  severely  cen- 
sured this  custom,  together  with  other  abuses  connected  with  this 
festival.' 

Whatever  was  given  for  the  relief  of  the  poor,  and  for  the  sup- 
port of  religious  worship,  was  altogether  voluntary  on  the  part  of 

15 


226  .    CLERICAL    PREROGATIVES.  [CHAP.  XII. 

the  church.  Acts  xi.  29 ;  Rom.  xv.  26  ;  1  Cor.  xvi.  1  et  seq.  Ter- 
tullian  particularly  informs  us  that  they  were  accustomed  once  a 
month,  or  at  any  time,  to  deposit  in  a  charity  box  whatever  any 
one  was  able  and  willing  to  give,  and  adds,  "  No  one  is  compelled ; 
it  is  a  voluntary  offering."^  Justin  Martyr  also  makes  mention 
of  monthly  offerings,  which,  however,  were  chiefly  applied  to  sup- 
ply the  M'ants  of  the  needy.  These  charities  were  expended  in 
providing  for  the  support  and  burial  of  the  poor ;  of  orphans,  of 
aged  domestics,  of  the  disabled  and  infirm ;  and  for  the  brethren 
in  bonds.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  in  all  this  no  mention  is 
made  of  the  clergy  as  a  distinct  class ;  but  they  are  included  among 
the  aged  and  the  poor. 

In  addition  to  the  monthly  contributions  already  mentioned,  it 
was  customary  to  take  up  collections  at  the  celebration  of  the  love- 
feasts,  and  of  the  Lord's  supper.  These  were  celebrated  every 
Sabbath,  and,  at  times,  even  daily. 

The  payment  of  tithes  to  the  church  became  customary,  also,  as 
early  as  the  third  century.  Such  voluntary  contributions  were  en- 
couraged by  the  clergy,*  and,  finally,  in  the  sixth  century  were  re- 
quired by  specific  decrees  of  synods. 

Special  contributions  were  often  made  for  charitable  objects,  and 
for  the  clergy  themselves. 

The  resources  of  the  church  for  the  maintenance  of  the  clergy, 
and  for  all  charitable  purposes,  were  wholly  contributed  on  the 
voluntary  principle ;  and-  when  at  length  specific  provision  was 
made  for  the  support  of  the  clergy  and  of  religious  Avorship,  it  was 
not  by  any  ordinance  of  the  church,  but  by  the  law  of  the  state, 
after  the  union  of  church  and  state  in  the  fourth  century.  This 
disbursement  of  the  revenues  of  the  church  is  frequently  the  sub- 
ject of  remark  in  the  history  of  the  times  f  but  no  law  or  ordinance 
of  the  church  appears  coercing  an  involuntary  contribution  or  tax 
to  sustain  these  revenues.  Fees  paid  to  the  clergy  for  services 
rendered,  were  called  sportse,  sportellse,  and  sportulse  ;  probably  in 
allusion  to  the  bringing  of  the  first  fruits  in  a  basket,  sportula.* 
Deut.  xxvi.  1-12.  They  surely  were  not  the  same  as  the  jura 
stolse,  fees  for  ministerial  services,  Avhich  were  totally  unknown  in 
the  primitive  church.  It  was  an  established  rule  that  no  fees  should 
be  received  for  religious  services.     The  Council  of  Illibiris,  A.  D. 

*  Majores  nostri  ideo  copiis  omnibus  abundadant,  quia  Deo  decimas  dabant  et 
('sesari  ceiisum  rea'debant. — August.  Homi.  48.  Comp.  Cone.  Matisc,  c.  5 ;  Cone. 
Turon. 


SEC.  v.]  REVENUES  OF  THE  CLERGY.  227 

305,  c.  48,  forbade  the  custom  of  dropping  a  piece  of  money  into 
the  baptismal  basin  as  a  gratuity  to  the  minister  for  administering 
the  ordinance.^  Another  strictly  prohibited  the  receiving  of  any 
thing  from  communicants  at  the  Lord's  table,  alleging  that  the 
grace  of  God  was  not  an  article  of  merchandise,  neither  was  the 
sanctification  of  the  spirit  imparted  for  money. ^  Neither  was  it 
lawful  to  receive  any  fee  for  performing  the  burial  service.'^ 

The  first  departure  from  the  voluntary  principle  above  men- 
tioned began  with  the  celebration  of  religious  ordinances  in  a  pri- 
vate manner,  in  which  the  individual,  at  whose  request  this  private 
celebration  was  performed,  was  required  to  pay  something  as  an 
equivalent  for  the  public  and  voluntary  oblations  which  would  other- 
wise have  been  made.  For  the  sake  of  increasing  the  treasury  of 
the  church,  a  dispensation  of  the  primitive  usage  was  also  intro- 
duced in  the  case  of  penance,  which  shortly  led  on  to  a  wider  de- 
parture from  the  rules  of  the  church.  Still  when  the  payment  of 
surrogate  and  surplice  fees  became  common,  they  were  not  paid  to 
the  officiating  priest,  but  into  the  public  treasury  of  the  church. 
The  payment  of  fees  and  perquisites,  as  now  practised,  is  an  abuse 
of  later  date  than  the  above  mentioned,  which,  like  the  penance- 
fees  so  often  and  so  justly  censured,  still  has  found  supporters  even 
in  the  Protestant  churches  of  Europe.^ 

So  far  as  the  clergy  of  the  primitive  church  can  be  said  to  have 
had  any  salary,  it  was  paid,  either  according  to  their  necessities,  or 
according  to  some  general  rule,  from  the  treasury  of  the  church,  or 
of  the  society.  The  treasury  was  supplied  only  from  incidental 
sources,  and  chiefly  from  voluntary  contributions.  The  amount 
paid  to  servants  of  the  church,  and  for  the  poor,  must  have  been 
more  or  less,  according  to  the  receipts  of  the  treasury.  The  reve- 
nue of  the  church  was  submitted  to  the.  direction  of  the  bishops, 
who  employed  the  deacons  and  the  oeconomi,  or  stewards,  to  dis- 
burse it. 

Various  rules  were  from  time  to  time  given  for  the  distribution 
of  funds.^  One  required  that  they  should  be  divided  into  three 
equal  parts,  one  of  which  was  to  be  paid  to  the  bishops,  another  to 
the  clergy,  and  the  third  was  to  be  expended  in  making  repairs  and 
providing  lights  for  the  house,  etc.^"  Another  orders  a  fourfold 
division,  to  be  equally  appropriated  to  the  bishop,  the  clergy,  and 
the  poor,  and  in  repairs  of  the  churches  and  their  furniture." 

These  regulations  were,  for  the  most  part,  of  a  later  date,  and 
were  established  chiefly  to  restrain  the  avarice  of  the  bishops,  and 


228  CLERICAL    PREROGATIVES.  [CHAP.  XII. 

to  correct  abuses  resulting  from  their  control  of  tlie  revenues  of 
the  church. 

In  the  fourth  century  the  church  and  the  clergy  came  into  the 
possession  of  property,  personal  and  real.  As  early  as  the  year 
321,  Constantine  granted  the  right  of  receiving  the  donations  and 
bequests  of  pious  persons. ^^  This  right  was  often  renewed  and  de- 
fined, to  prevent  unjust  exaction  and  other  abuses.  According  to 
Eusebius,  he  granted  at  one  time  more  than  seventy  thousand  dol- 
lars from  his  treasury  for  the  support  of  the  ministry  in  Africa ; 
which  is  only  one  instance  among  many  of  his  liberal  donations.^^ 
The  laws  of  Julian,  confiscating  this  property,  were  themselves  either 
quickly  abrogated  or  but  partially  enforced,  without  producing  any 
lasting  efiiect." 

The  liberality  of  Gratian,  Theodosius  the  Great,  Theodosius  the 
Younger,  and  other  emperors,  we  must  pass  in  silence ;  but  there 
were  certain  ordinances  for  enriching  the  rcA^enue  of  the  church 
which  are  worthy  of  notice. 

1.  On  the  demolition  of  heathen  temples  and  the  dispersion  of 
their  priests  by  Theodosius  and  his  sons,  some  of  the  spoils  were 
secularized  to  enrich  the  treasury  of  the  state ;  but  the  greater 
part  were  applied  to  the  benefit  of  the  clergy,  or  appropriated  to 
religious  uses.^^ 

2.  On  the  same  principle  the  property  belonging  to  heretics  was 
sequestrated  to  the  true  Catholic  church.^® 

3.  The  estates  of  the  clergy  who  died  intestate  and  without 
heirs,  and  of  all  those  who  left  the  ministry  for  unworthy  reasons, 
became  the  property  of  the  church. ^"^ 

4.  The  church  was  the  heir  at  law  of  all  martyrs  and  confessors 
who  died  without  near  relations. ^^ 

The  church,  a.  d.  321,  as  stated  above,  was  authorized  by  state 
law  to  receive  bequests  from  any  who  might  be  disposed  to  make 
legacies  to  it.  This  was  a  powerful  incentive  to  the  clergy  to  se- 
cure the  inheritance  of  widows  and  orphans,  and  all  who  could,  by 
any  means,  be  induced  to  bestow  their  property  upon  the  church, 
so  that,  according  to  Planck,  it  become  customary  "within  ten 
years,  for  every  one  at  his  death  to  leave  a  legacy  to  the  church ; 
and  Avithin  fifty  years  a  tenth  part  of  the  entire  wealth  of  the 
country  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  clergy."^' 

5.  The  revenue  of  the  church  was  increased  by  tithes  and  first 
fruits.  The  primitive  church  might  be  expected  to  have  introduced 
this  ordinance  of  the  Jews  from  the  beginning.     But  it  was  wholly 


SEC.  VI.]  DEGENERACY   OF   THE   BISHOPS.  229 

unknown  until  the  fourtli  and  fifth  century.  Irenpsus,  indeed, 
speaks  of  first  fruits  at  an  earlier  period,  ™  but  it  is  a  disputed 
passage, ^^  and  only  relates  to  the  wine  and  the  bread  of  the  eucha- 
rist  as  the  first  fruits  of  Christ.  Basil,  A.  D.  370,  appears  to  have 
been  the  first  to  urge  the  payment  of  tithes.^"  Chrysostom,-^  Gre- 
gory Nazianzen,^^  Hilary,^  Augustin,^''  and  others,  all  enjoin  the 
paying  of  tithes  as  a  duty,  and  not  in  imitation  of  the  Jews.  These 
tithes  and  first  fruits  the  Christians  gave  as  a  free-will  ofiering,  and 
not  by  constraint  of  law,  of  which  there  appears  no  indication  in 
the  first  five  centuries.  The  Council  of  Magon,  in  the  year  585, 
ordered  the  payment  of  tithes  m  the  church,  as  the  restoration  of 
an  ancient  and  venerable  custom.  They  directed  the  clergy  to 
urge  the  duty  in  their  public  addresses,  and  threatened  with  exci- 
sion from  the  church  all  who  should  refuse  compliance.^  This,  it 
will  be  observed,  is  merely  an  ecclesiastical  law.  No  mention  is 
made  of  any  enactment  of  the  state. 

Charlemagne  first  required  the  payment  of  tithes  by  statute  law, 
and  enforced  the  duty  by  severe  penalties."^  That  emperor  himself 
paid  tithes  from  his  private  property  and  his  Saxon  possessions. 
His  successors  confirmed  and  completed  the  system  of  tithes  by  law, 
which  was  subsequently  introduced  into  England  and  Sweden.-'' 

In  the  Eastern  church  the  support  of  religion  was  never  legally 
enforced,  but  it  was  urged  as  a  religious  duty,  and  tithes  were  paid 
as  a  voluntary  off'ering.^  In  the  Western,  under  the  general  name 
of  offerings,  the  ancient  system  of  contributions  and  almsgivings 
was  perpetuated  in  connection  with  the  tithes  and  first  fruits. 
These  offerings  were  made,  in  some  instances,  in  money ;  in  others, 
in  provisions  and  in  live  stock,  in  cattle,  swine,  lambs,  geese,  fowls, 
etc.  The  avails  of  these  were  applied  to  the  treasury  of  the  church, 
or  presented  particularly  to  the  parson,  vicar,  chorister,  or  warden. 
Similar  ofierings  are  still  common  in  the  Protestant  churches. 

The  payment  of  a  stipulated  salary  to  the  clergy,  in  money,  par- 
sonages, tithes,  interest,  and  other  rents,  and  the  distribution  of 
regular  salaries  and  occasional  perquisites,  is  an  institution  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  and  too  extensive  and  complicated  to  be  discussed  iu 
this  place. 

§6.    OF  THE  INDEPENDENCE  AND  THE  DEGENERACY  OF  THE  BISHOPS. 

Few  regulations  of  the  church  were  more  injurious  to  the  peace 
and  purity  of  the  church  than  those  which  have  been  detailed  above  ; 


230  CLERICAL   PREROGATIVES.  [CHAP.  XII. 

none,  perhaps,  intrusted  the  bishops  with  more  dangerous  and  dis- 
astrous rights.  The  bishop  was  made  the  sole,  the  absolute,  and 
irresponsible  retainer  and  disburser  of  the  funds  of  the  church. 
"  We  command  that  the  bishop  have  power  over  the  goods  of  the 
church ;  for  if  he  be  intrusted  with  the  precious  souls,  much  more 
ought  he  to  give  directions  about  goods."  Such  is  the  unlimited 
power  which  the  Apostolical  Canons,  c.  41,  give  to  the  bishop  over 
the  revenues  of  the  church.  The  deacons  were  forbidden  even  to 
give  any  thing  in  charity  without  the  special  permission  of  the 
bishop,  because,  if  they  give  "  to  a  person  in  distress  without  the 
bishop's  knowledge,  they  will  give  it  so  that  it  must  tend  to  the  re- 
proach of  the  bishop,  and  will  accuse  him  as  careless  of  the  dis- 
tressed." ^  This  prerogative  of  the  bishop  is  guarded  with  peculiar 
jealousy,  and  affirmed  by  repeated  decrees  of  councils. 

This  placed  the  subordinate  orders  of  the  clergy  in  humiliating 
dependence  upon  the  bishop  for  their  daily  bread,  and  made  them 
of  necessity  his  sycophants  and  subservient  agents.  Cyprian  seems 
to  have  been  the  fii'st  to  claim  for  the  bishops  this  right  over  the 
property  of  the  church ;  and  the  resistance  of  this  unjust  authority 
was  one  principal  cause  of  the  rupture  between  him  and  Felicissi- 
mus,  the  latter  objecting  to  this  independent  control  of  the  public 
treasury. 

It  is,  indeed,  the  effectual  overthrow  of  the  first  principles  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty,  and  the  grand  expedient  of  all  despotisms, 
spiritual  and  secular,  to  take  away  from  the  people  the  control  of 
their  own  public  funds,  and  submit  them  to  the  arbitrary  control 
of  irresponsible  agents. 

As  illustrative  of  the  natural  abuse  of  this  power,  Schone  men- 
tions a  bishop,  who,  for  four  years  in  succession,  retained  all  the 
income  of  the  diocese,  without  any  distribution  to  the  clergy  or  to 
the  poor.^ 

Another  result  was  the  enormous  increase  of  the  wealth  of  the 
clergy,  as  already  indicated.  "  Behold,  our  treasury  is  exhausted," 
says  the  king  of  France,  in  the  last  half  of  the  sixth  century. 
"  Our  wealth  has  passed  over  into  the  churches.  No  one  prospers 
'  but  the  bishops ;  our  dignity  is  lost,  having  been  transferred  to 
the  bishops."^  As  a  natural  consequence,  the  ministry  was  soon 
crowded  with  unworthy  and  corrupt  men,  an  evil  which  the  civil 
authorities  vainly  sought  by  various  expedients  to  correct. 

Make  the  ministry  the  passport  to  honour  and  to  wealth,  and 
corrupt  men,  from  such  sordid  motives,  will  pass  into  it.     The  de- 


SEC.  VI.]  DEGENERACY   OF   THE   BISHOPS.  231 


generacy  of  the  ministry  was  but  the  legitimate  fruit  of  the  fore- 
going regulations,  notwithstanding  the  precautions  used  by  the 
ordinances  of  the  church  to  guard  it  against  the  intrusion  of  un- 
worthy men. 

It  was  an  established  principle,  under  the  Christian  emperors,  that 
temporal  authority  was  subordinate  to  the  spiritual ;  that  all  eccle- 
siastical causes  should  not  be  tried  in  civil,  but  only  in  an  ecclesi- 
astical court  ;*  and  that  from  this  decision  of  the  bishop  there 
should  be  no  appeal  to  any  civil  court  of  justice ;  so  that  a  bishop 
for  any  offence  could  only  be  tried  by  bishops  or  synods.  In  addi- 
tion to  all  this,  the  oecumenical  council  at  Constantinople,  A.  D.  381, 
c.  6,  hedged  about  an  action  against  a  bishop  with  so  many  condi- 
tions as  to  make  it  extremely  difficult  to  bring  a  charge  against  a 
bishop  for  any  offence  whatever.  These  conditions  gave  the  bishop 
almost  an  immunity  from  censure  in  any  case,  insomuch  that  Je- 
rome, with  great  justice  complains — "It  is  no  easy  matter  to  bring 
a  charge  against  a  bishop,  for  even  if  he  is  guilty,  the  charge  will 
not  be  believed ;  neither  if  convicted,  will  he  be  punished."^ 

Herein  lies  an  explanation  of  the  rapid  and  sad  declension  of 
Christianity  that  succeeded  the  age  of  Constantino.  Priestly  dignity 
and  power  had  usm'ped  the  authority  of  the  church :  it  had  raised 
the  government  above  the  church  of  Christ,  invested  with  Divine 
authority,  as  a  vast  oppressive  machinery,  to  govern  them  Avithout 
their  control  or  direction.  The  priesthood  had  absorbed  a  large 
portion  of  the  wealth  of  the  people,  and  the  corruption  and  degra- 
dation into  which  priest  and  people  mutually  sank  for  more  than  a 
thousand  years,  was  but  the  natural  consequence  of  this  spiritual 
despotism. 

*  Quoties  de  religione  agitur  episcopos  conTenit  judicare. — Codex  Theodos.  lib 
i.  tit.  xi.  1 ;  Comp.  lib.  xyi.  tit.  ii.  23. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

OF  CHURCHES  AND  SACRED  PLACES. 
§  1.  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  CHURCHES. 

Christians  in  different  ages  have  called  the  places  where  they 
"were  wont  to  meet  together  for  religious  worship  by  a  great  variety 
of  names.  The  primitive  appellation  was,  according  to  some,  ix- 
xlyjGirx,  1  Cor.  xi.  18,  20,  22.  So  It  was  used  by  Ignatius,  Clemens 
Alexandrinus,  Tertullian,  etc.  To  this  may  be  added  the  names 
of  oixog  ^eov,  olxog  ixx?^y;Giag,  dominicum,  domus  Dei,  etc., 
xv^iaxov,  TtpoGsv^rr.piov,  vaog,  templum,  etc.,  the  Lord's  house, 
house  of  the  church,  house  of  prayer,  temple,  etc.  These  names 
became  familiar  in  the  third  and  fourth  centuries. 

The  German  kircJie,  from  which  is  derived  the  Scotch  kirk,  and 
English  church,  came  into  use  in  the  eighth  century.  The  original 
of  the  word  is  xvpiaxov,  xvpiaxri,  the  Lord's  house.  Churches 
liaA'e  also  been  entitled  fLaprvpia,  in  honour  of  the  holy  martyrs, 
and  for  the  same  reason  particular  chm'ches  have  been  called  by 
the  names  of  different  saints  and  martyrs,  St.  Paul's,  St.  Peter's, 
etc.  The  following  names  have  also,  at  different  times,  and  for 
various  reasons,  been  given  to  a  Christian  church: — TituU,  (TtT/lo(,) 
dvaxtopov,  rpoTiaia,  CXYjvr,,  concilia,  conciliahula,  conventicula, 
casae,  GvvohoL,  y.ovaGrrpiov,  xoif^iy-rr.piov,  columba,  corpus  Chrisii, 
vaog,  vr,Gog,  dnoGroXELOV,  7ipo^Y;r6Lov,  and  many  others. 

Christians,  in  the  times  of  the  apostles,  first  resorted  to  the  tem- 
ple and  to  the  synagogues  of  the  Jews,  Acts  ii.  46 ;  v.  12 ;  xiii. 
14 ;  xiv.  1 ;  then,  to  private  houses  for  social  worship.  Acts  xix. 
8-10  ;  XX.  8  et  seq. ;  Rom.  xvi.  3-5 ;  Col.  iv.  15.  Of  these  places 
of  assembly  they  had  several  in  the  same  city.  In  times  of  persecu- 
tion, at  a  later  period,  they  were  compelled  to  unite  in  the  worship 
of  God  whenever  they  could  meet  without  molestation — in  private 
houses,  in  the  open  fields,  in  desert  and  solitary  places,  in  caves 

and  dens  of  the  earth.'     In  view  of  these  circumstances,  many  have 
232 


SEC.  I.]  HISTORY   OF   CHURCHES.  238 

supposed  that  no  sacred  edifices  were  set  apart  for  the  worship  of 
God  in  the  first  and  second  centuries.  But  there  is  satisfactory 
evidence  of  the  existence  of  such  churches  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
second  century,^  and  that  the  Christians  were  allowed  to  appropri- 
ate to  themselves  such  places  of  worship,  under  the  emperors,  from 
A.  D.  222  to  235,^  and  again  from  260  to  300.''  From  this  time, 
the  evidence  of  the  existence  of  Christian  churches  becomes  full 
and  complete.*  Eusebius,  relating  the  state  of  Christianity  before 
that  time,  says,  "  Who  could  describe  those  vast  collections  of  men 
that  flocked  to  the  religion  of  Christ,  and  those  multitudes  crowd- 
ing in  from  every  city,  and  the  illustrious  concourse  in  the  houses 
of  worship  ?  on  whose  account,  not  content  with  the  ancient  build- 
ings, they  erected  spacious  churches  from  the  foundation  in  all  the 
cities."®  Many  were  destroyed  in  the  middle  of  the  third  century 
in  the  Decian  persecution.  Dioclesian  directed  his  rage  especially 
against  them,  ordering  them  by  his  edict,  A.  D.  303,  to  be  razed  to 
the  earth.'^  Optatus  mentions,  that  in  his  time,  A.  D.  384,  there 
were  forty  or  more  large  churches  in  Rome. 

After  the  persecution  of  Dioclesian,  under  Constantine  and  his 
successors,  the  demolished  churches  were  rebuilt,  and  such  as  had 
been  closed  were  again  opened.^  Pagan  temples  were,  in  some 
instances,  converted  into  Christian  churches  ;  but  they  were  usually 
destroyed,  as  not  suited  for  public  worship.^  Churches  in  great 
numbers  were  erected,  in  a  style  of  magnificence  before  unknown, 
in  Constantinople,  in  Jerusalem,  and  throughout  the  cities  of  Pales- 
tine, and  solemnly  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  God.^"  This  reli- 
gious rite  was  first  introduced  by  Constantine." 

In  his  zeal  for  building  churches,  Justinian  I.  far  surpassed  all 
others,  and  throughout  his  long  reign,  from  A.  D.  527  to  565,  made 
this  the  great  business  of  his  life.  But  his  chief  care  he  expended 
in  building  the  magnificent  and  colossal  church  of  St.  Sophia  at 
Constantinople.  Such  was  the  splendour  of  this  work,  that  at  the 
consecration  of  it  he  exclaimed,  Nsvixyjxa  ae,  Xo?U)fiCi)V,  "  I  have 
surpassed  thee,  0  Solomon."  The  perpendicular  height,  from  the 
summit  of  the  grand  arch  to  the  pavement  of  this  edifice,  was  one 
hundred  and  eighty  feet.  Some  idea  of  this  great  work  may  be 
obtained  from  the  number  of  ministers  and  attendants  who  were 
appointed  by  the  decree  of  the  emperor  for  the  service  of  this 
church.  They  were  as  follows: — Sixty  presbyters,  one  hundred 
deacons,  forty  deaconesses,  ninety  subdeacons,  one  hundred  and 
ten  readers,  twenty-five  singers,  one  hundred  doorkeepers;  mak- 


234  CHURCHES   AND   SACRED   PLACES.  [CHAP.  XIII. 

ing  a  retinue  of  five  hundred  and  twenty-five  ministers  and  attend- 
ants !  The  value  of  40,000  pounds  of  silver  was  expended  in  orna- 
menting the  altar  and  the  parts  adjacent.  The  entire  cost  Avas 
nearly  $5,000,000.^^ 

After  the  death  of  Justinian,  the  zeal  for  building  churches 
greatly  declined,  and  few  of  any  notoriety  were  erected  from  the 
fifth  to  the  eighth  century.  The  arts  of  architecture,  sculpture, 
and  painting  had  fallen  into  disrepute,  and  the  churches  which 
were  erected  were  of  an  inferior  character,  devoid,  in  a  great  de- 
gree, of  ornament  and  taste.  The  political  disturbances  which  pre- 
vailed at  this  time  may  have  contributed  to  this  result.  It  is  partly 
attributable  also  to  public  taste.  Heathen  temples  were,  at  a  later 
period,  commonly  converted  into  places  of  Christian  worship.  The 
Pantheon  at  Rome  was  consecrated  to  this  use  in  the  beginning  of 
the  seventh  century.  The  altars  and  images  being  destroyed,  the 
temples  were  not  unfrequently  consecrated  under  the  Christian 
emperors  as  churches. 

The  Byzantine,  or  ancient  Gothic  style  of  architecture,  was  in- 
troduced under  Theodoric,  in  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  century ;  '^ 
and  in  this  and  the  following  centuries,  many  churches  of  this  order 
were  built  in  Italy,  Spain,  France,  England,  and  Germany.  In 
the  tenth  century,  the  expectation  of  the  immediate  revelation  of 
Antichrist,  and  of  the  approaching  dissolution  of  the  world,  caused 
the  building  of  churches  to  be  totally  discontinued.  Some  atten- 
tion began,  in  the  eleventh  century,  to  be  again  paid  to  the  erection 
of  churches,  as  the  views  respecting  the  near  approach  of  the  end 
of  the  world  began  to  wear  away.  In  the  twelfth  century,  the  re- 
sources of  the  Christian  church  were  expended  chiefly  on  cloisters, 
monasteries,  and  other  establishments  suited  to  the  ascetic  life,  to 
which  Christians  of  the  age  generally  addicted  themselves.  Even 
through  the  whole  period,  from  the  seventh  to  the  twelfth  centu- 
ries, the  zeal  of  Christians  for  building  churches  was  greatly  abated 
by  their  devotion  to  monastic  life. 

The  vast  cathedrals  of  Europe,  in  the  style  of  modern  Gothic, 
are  the  product  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  some  of  them  date  back 
even  to  the  thirteenth  century.  About  this  time  ecclesiastical 
architecture  attained  to  the  height  of  its  perfection.  After  the 
introduction  of  the  pointed  arch,  at  the  beginning  of  this  period, 
buildings  were  erected  which  exceeded,  in  size  and  architectural 
beauty,  all  which  had  hitherto  been  dedicated  to  the  services  of  the 
church.     The  style  of  architecture,  which  obtained  at  this  time,  has 


SEC.  I.]  HISTORY   OF    CHURCHES.  235 


been  usually  denominated  Gothic,  or  new  Gothic ;  but  it  may  more 
properly  claim  the  title  of  German  or  English.  It  prevailed  in 
Germany,  the  Netherlands,  England,  and  Denmark ;  and  from 
those  countries  it  was  introduced  into  Italy,  France,  and  Spain. 
Some  suppose  that  Saxony  is  the  country  to  which  its  origin  should 
be  referred. 

Some  antiquaries  regard  the  beautiful  architecture  of  this  period 
as  a  sudden  effect  produced  by  the  invention  of  the  pointed  arch ; 
while  others  contend  that  it  was  the  result  of  a  gradual  improve- 
ment in  the  art  during  the  course  of  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  cen- 
turies. Certain,  however,  it  is,  that  this  style  of  building,  after 
having  attained  its  perfection  more  or  less  rapidly  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  prevailed  almost  exclusively  during  the  fourteenth  and 
fifteenth. 

Opinions  are  divided  also  upon  a  question  relating  to  the  quarter 
from  which  this  style  was  originally  derived.  Some  persons  sup- 
pose that  it  was  brought  from  the  Arabians  or  Saracens  at  the  time 
of  the  Crusades,  or  from  the  same  people,  in  Spain  and  Sicily,  at 
a  still  earlier  date.  And  it  seems  likely  that  some  of  its  forms,  at 
least,  may  have  originated  in  this  quarter.  Others  refer  the  design 
to  the  talent  and  invention  of  one  or  two  great  masters,  whom  they 
suppose  to  have  flourished  in  the  early  part  of  the  century,  but 
without  being  able  to  say  who  they  were.  While  others  again  con- 
sider that  we  are  indebted  for  the  improvement  to  the  societies  of 
masons,  which  existed  from  a  very  early  period.  These  were  greatly 
encouraged  by  popes  and  emperors  during  the  Middle  Ages,  and  had 
lodges  in  England  and  on  the  continent.  Some  assign  their  origin 
to  Germany,  others  to  France,  and  others  to  England  under  the 
Saxon  kings.  These  architectui'al  corporations  must  not  be  con- 
founded with  the  modern  freemasons. 

Early  in  the  eleventh  century  began  the  system  of  raising  money 
for  ecclesiastical  buildings  by  the  sale  of  indulgences.  The  ex- 
ample of  this  practice  was  set  by  Pontius,  bishop  of  Aries,  in  the 
year  1016.  According  to  Morinus,"  the  French  bishops  professed, 
during  the  twelfth  century,  to  remit  a  third  or  fourth  part  of  pe- 
nance to  persons  who  should  contribute  a  certain  sum  of  money  to- 
ward the  building  or  restoring  of  a  place  of  worship.  In  this  way 
Mauritius,  bishop  of  Paris,  built  the  splendid  cathedral  of  Notre 
Dame,  and  four  abbeys  ;  for  which,  however,  he  incurred  the  cen- 
sure of  some  of  his  contemporaries.  In  later  times  the  example 
was  frequently  followed  at  Rome. 


EXPLANATION  OF  THE  PLANS. 


I. — Church  of  St.  Sophia,  Constantinople. 

1.  A  Font  of  water,  where  the  worshippers  wash  before  entering  the  church. — 
2.  The  Great  Porch,  probably  having  a  portico  or  vestibule  in  front. — 3.  Entrance 
into  the  Narthex. — 4.  The  Narthex. — 5.  Entrance  into  the  church. — 6.  The  Inner 
Porch. — 7.  Entrance  into  the  Nave. — 8.  Entrance  to  court  surrounding  the  Nave. 
—9.  The  Court.— 10.  The  Nave.— 10.  (a)  The  Solea.— 10.  (b)  Probable  site  of  the 
Ambo. — 11.  Pillars  supporting  the  Gallery. — 12.  The  railing  or  lattice  surround- 
ing the  Chancel  or  Sanctuary. — 13.  Entrance  to  the  Sanctuary. — 14.  The  Sanctu- 
ary.— 15.  The  Altar. — 16.  The  Canopy  of  the  Altar. — 17.  The  bishop's  Throne. — 
18.  The  Seats  of  the  presbyters. — 19.  The  emperor's  Throne. — 20.  Apartments 
for  the  Utensils  of  the  church. — 21.  Passage  from  the  church. 


II. — St.  Paul's  Chukch  at  Rome. 

1.  Entrance  to  the  Porch,  or  the  Vestibule. — 2.  The  Porch. — 3.  The  Nave  di- 
vided into  five  parts  by  rows  of  pillars. — 4.  The  Choir,  Bema,  or  Sanctuary. — 
5.  The  Altar.— 6.  The  bishop's  Throne. 


III. — Church  at  Tyre. 

1.  Entrance  to  the  Porch,  or  the  Vestibule. — 2.  The  Porch. — 3.  Pillars  of  the 
Porch. — 4.  Font  of  water. — 5.  Doors  of  the  church. — 6.  The  Nave. — 7.  Probable 
site  of  the  Ambo. — 8.  Ascent  to  the  Sanctuary. — 9.  Chancel  of  the  Sanctuary. — 
10.  The  Sanctuary.— 11.  The  Altar.— 12.  The  bishop's  Throne.— 13.  The  Seats  of 
the  presbyters. — 14.  Supposed  to  be  the  Baptistery. — 14.  (a)  The  Oixoi,  or  Ante- 
chambers.— 15.  The  Exedras. 


IV. — Church  of  St.  Clement  at  Rome. 

1.  Entrance,  with  four  pillars  supporting  the  piazza. — 2.  The  Portico,  or  Vesti- 
bule.— 3.  The  Porch. — 4.  Entrance  to  the  church. — 5.  The  Nave  in  three  divisions. 
— 6,  7.  Two  Ambos  within  one  enclosure,  surrounded  by  the  Nave. — 8.  The  Altar 
with  pillars. — 9.  Bishop's  Throne. — 10.  Presbyters'  Seats. 


V. — The  Baptistery  of  St.  Sophia. 

1.  Stairway  leading  to  the  entrance. — 2.  Front  Porch,  or  Vestibule. — 3.  The 
Basement  room  of  the  baptistery. — 4.  The  First  Story. — 5.  Pillars  in  the  basement. 
-  -6.  Ascent  to  the  font. — 7.  The  baptismal  Font. — 8.  The  Court  of  the  baptistery. 
236 


3  3 


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240  CHURCHES   AND    SACRED    PLACES.  [CHAP.  XIII. 


§  2.    OF    THE    FORM,   SITE,  AND    POSITION    OF    CHURCHES. 

1.  Form. — The  first  structures  of  Christians  for  religious  wor- 
ship were  apparently  built  after  the  model  of  the  Jewish  synagogue, 
where,  with  the  increase  of  their  means  and  their  number,  they 
began  to  build  larger  edifices.  The  most  approved  form  for  churches 
was  an  ohlong,  with  parallel  sides,  or  the  form  of  a  ship.  As  it 
Avas  common  to  speak  of  the  Christian  community  under  the  meta- 
phor of  a  ship,  so  the  edifice  in  which  they  worshipped  was  denomi- 
nated navis,  a  ship ;  area,  an  ark ;  navis  Nose,  the  ark  of  Noah ; 
navicula  Petri,  the  boat  of  Peter ;  having  an  allegorical  reference 
to  the  perils  to  which  the  church  was  exposed,  and  its  safety  in 
God. 

Another  favourite  form  for  several  ages  after  Constantine  the 
Great  was  that  of  a  cross,  crav^oii  Sixyjv,  aravpoELhri,  Gravpord. 
Some  were  also  quadrangular,  octagonal,  polygonal,  and  some- 
times, though  very  rarely,  circular ;  this  was  the  usual  form  of 
heathen  temples,  and,  therefore,  was  disapproved  by  Christians. 

2.  Site. — For  the  location  of  their  churches  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians selected  the  summit  of  some  high  hill  or  elevated  ground,  un- 
less compelled,  for  the  sake  of  concealment,  to  resort  to  some  place 
less  conspicuous.  At  other  times  they  erected  their  churches  over 
the  graves  of  martyrs  and  confessors.  And  not  unfrequently,  for 
some  special  reason,  they  prepared  for  themselves  churches  and 
oratories  under  ground,  which  served  both  for  devotional  purposes 
and  as  sepulchres  for  their  dead.^  In  the  tenth  and  eleventh  cen- 
turies, there  were  many  such  in  Germany ;  these  were  denominated 
xpimrai,  cryptse. 

"  During  the  sanguinary  persecutions  that  assailed  the  primitive 
disciples,  the  myrmidons  of  imperial  vengeance  often  broke  in  upon 
their  worship,  dispersed  their  assemblies,  and  violently  dispossessed 
them  of  the  '  upper  rooms,'  in  which  they  were  wont  to  congre- 
gate ;  and  in  these  circumstances,  while  some  fled  to  the  mountains 
and  some  to  the  deserts,  multitudes  took  permanent  refuge  in  the 
spacious  cemeteries  that  Avere  situated  in  the  outskirts  of  the  ancient 
cities.  Amid  the  deep  and  unbroken  solitude  of  the  catacombs — 
places  of  abode  less  irksome,  perhaps,  from  the  ancient  style  of 
building,  than  we  are  apt  to  imagine — they  solaced  and  animated 
one  another  from  midnight  till  dawn,  with  spiritual  exhortations 
to  constancy  in  the  faith ;  and  while  the  sword  of  vengeance  was 


SEC.  III.]         ARRANGEMENT   AND    CONSTITUENT   PARTS.  241 


slieatlied,  and  the  fury  of  their  persecutors  slumbered  in  the  night, 
thej  continued,  in  those  undiscovered  retreats,  their  wonted  exer- 
cises of  prayer  and  praise.  About  forty-three  of  such  subterranean 
excavations  still  remain  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Rome  alone,  con- 
taining the  most  convincing  evidences  that  they  were  employed  for 
the  ordinances  of  religion  as  well  as  for  concealment ;  and  when 
we  consider  that  numbers  died  and  deposited  their  bones  there, 
some  of  whom  had  eminently  distinguished  themselves  as  martyrs 
in  the  cause  of  Christ,  it  is  not  difficult  to  imagine  the  strong  emo- 
tions that  would  animate  the  primitive  Christians  for  the  venerable 
dust  that  surrounded  them,  and  the  intense  power  which  religion 
would  acquire  over  their  minds,  in  places  which  served  at  once  for 
the  offices  of  worship  and  for  the  burial  of  the  saints."^ 

3.  Position,  or  aspect. — In  the  aspect  of  their  churches,  the 
ancient  Christians  reversed  the  order  of  the  Jews,  placing  the  altar 
on  the  east,  so  that  in  facing  toward  the  altar  in  their  devotions 
they  were  turned  to  the  east,  in  opposition  to  the  Jewish  custom 
of  turning  toward  the  west  in  prayer.  This  appears  to  have  been 
the  general,  though  not,  perhaps,  the  universal  custom  after  the 
fourth  century. 

As  the  Jews  began  their  day  with  the  setting  sun,  so  the  follow- 
ers of  Christ  began  theirs  with  the  rising  sun.  The  eye  of  the 
Christian  turned  with  peculiar  interest  to  the  east,  whence  the  day- 
spring  from  on  high  had  visited  him.  There  the  morning  star  of 
his  hope  fixed  his  admiring  gaze.  Thence  arose  the  Sun  of  right- 
eousness with  all  his  heavenly  influences.  Thither  in  prayer  his 
soul  turned  with  kindling  emotions  to  the  altar  of  his  God.  And 
even  in  his  grave,  thither  still  he  directed  his  slumbering  eye,  in 
quiet  expectation  of  awaking  to  behold,  in  the  same  direction,  the 
second  appearing  of  his  Lord,  when  he  shall  come  in  the  clouds  of 
heaven  to  gather  his  saints.^ 

§  3.    OF   THE   ARRANGEMENT   AND    CONSTITUENT   PARTS.^ 

No  established  order  of  arrangement  and  division  prevailed  in 
the  first  three  centuries.  The  churches  of  this  period  were  rude 
and  simple  structures,  varying  in  form  and  size  according  to  cir- 
cumstances ;  but  about  the  fourth  century,  great  uniformity  began 
to  be  observed  in  this  respect.  The  body  of  the  church  was  di- 
vided into  three  divisions,  corresponding  with  the  three  orders 
among  Christians ;  the  clergy,  including  all  of  their  three  highest 


242  CHURCHES   AND   SACRED    PLACES.  [CHAP.  XIII. 


orders,  the  faithful,  or  believers,  and  the  catechumens.  This  ar- 
rangement also  bore  a  resemblance  to  the  division  of  the  Jewish 
temple  into  the  holy  of  holies,  the  sanctuary,  and  the  court.  Per- 
haps there  was  an  intentional  reference  to  both  of  these  divisions ; 
for  it  must  be  remembered  that  there  was,  at  this  time,  an  increas- 
ing disposition  in  the  Christian  church  to  imitate  the  rites  of  Jewish 
worship,  and  to  magnify  the  oflBce  of  the  priesthood.  The  distinc- 
tion between  the  clergy  and  the  laity  was  carefully  maintained,  and 
the  doctrine  industriously  propagated  that  the  Jewish  was  uni- 
versally to  be  received  as  a  type  of  the  Christian  religion.  The 
bishop  assumed  to  be  the  high-priest  of  the  Christian  temple,  which 
had  also  its  holy  place,  which  none  but  the  priesthood  were  allowed 
to  enter.  The  faithful  had  their  place,  corresponding  to  the  court 
of  the  Jews.  The  catechumens  and  others  occupied  the  outer  por- 
tion, similar  to  the  court  of  the  Gentiles.  The  three  divisions  were, 
1.  The  bema  or  sanctuary,  a  sacred  enclosure  around  the  altar  ap- 
propriated to  the  clergy.  2.  The  naos  or  nave,  occupied  by  the 
faithful,  the  lay  members  of  the  church.  3.  The  narthex,  or  ante- 
temple,  the  place  of  the  penitents  and  catechumens.  Sometimes 
four  or  five  divisions  are  enumerated ;  which  arise  from  subdivid- 
ing the  narthex  into  outer  and  inner,  and  reckoning  the  exedrae, 
or  outer  buildings,  as  a  portion  of  the  church.  We  adhere  to  the 
threefold,  or  more  simple  division,  and  proceed  to  speak  of  each 
part  in  the  order  already  described. 

§  4.    or   THE    BEMA,    OR    SANCTUARY.* 

The  bema,  or  sanctuary,  the  inner  portion  of  the  church  which 
was  appropriated  to  the  clergy,  was  known  by  many  different  names. 
It  was  called  the  chorus  or  choir^  from  the  chanting  of  the  service 
by  the  clergy,  /3%a,  from  dva^aivetv,  to  ascend,  being  an  elevated 
platform,  dyiov,  ayiaCiia,  dyiov  ayiaVf  sanctum  sanctuariuni,^ 
etc.,  because  it  was  the  sanctuary  where  most  of  the  sacred  rites 
were  performed.  It  was  also  denominated  Isparslov,^  7ipeG(3vrrr 
pLOV,  hiaxovLXOv,  '^vaiaatnpiov,'^  altar,  d^arov,  dSvrov,^  places 
not  to  be  entered.  Neither  laymen  nor  females  were  permitted,  on 
any  occasion,  to  enter  it;t  kings  and  emperors,  in  the  Eastern 

*  See  plans,  pp.  236-239. 

f  Sacerdotes  et  levitae  ante  altare  communicent ;  in  choro,  clerus ;  extra  cho- 
rum,  populus. — IV.  Cone.  Tobet.  c.  18,  a.  d.  633.  Intra  sanctuarium  altaris  in- 
gredi  ad  comnmnicandum  non  liceat  laicis,  viris,  vel  mulieribus,  nisi   tantum 


SEC.  v.]  THE   ALTAR.  243 


churches,  were  privileged  with  a  seat  within  this  sacred  enclosure, 
from  whence  it  received  the  name  of  avdxtopov,  royal  'palace. 

The  platform  of  this  portion  of  the  church  was  a  semicircular  or 
elliptical  recess,  with  a  corresponding  arch  overhead,  and  separated 
from  the  nave  by  a  railing  curiously  wrought  in  the  form  of  net- 
work, eancelli — hence  the  name  chancel.  In  the  earliest  centuries, 
however,  this  part  of  the  church  was  extremely  simple  in  its  struc- 
ture, and  simply  furnished  with  a  table,  on  which  the  elements  were 
placed  in  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  supper.  But  at  a  later 
period  a  mysterious  sanctity  was  attached  to  the  place.  It  was 
styled  the  sanctuary,  the  holy  place,  the  most  holy  place,  the  alta- 
place,  the  dSvTov,  the  d(3aTov,  or  more  frequently,  in  the  plural, 
places  not  to  be  approached.  The  bishop  was  now  honoured  by  a 
separate  throne,  elevated  above  the  other  orders  of  the  clergy,  who 
sat  below  him  on  the  right  and  the  left.^  The  bishop's  throne  Avas 
usually  covered  with  a  vail,  and  for  this  reason  was  styled  cathedra 
velata.''  In  the  middle  of  the  church  stood  the  holy  altar,  or  com- 
munion table,  TpoLTte^a  tepa,  (.wcynxri,  nvEVfiatLxri,  the  sacred, 
mysterious,  or  spiritual  table,  in  such  a  position  as  to  be  easily  en- 
compassed on  every  side.  On  this  the  sacred  elements  were  placed 
in  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper.  On  one  side  of  the  altar 
was  a  small  table  or  secretary  for  receiving  the  customary  oblations 
previous  to  the  sacrament ;  and  on  the  other  stood  the  Gxevo^v- 
?ydxLOV,  a  recess  into  which  the  sacramental  vessels  were  conveyed 
to  be  washed  and  replaced  before  being  removed  to  the  sacristry  in 
which  they  were  usually  kept. 

In  process  of  time,  this  part  of  the  church  became  the  depository 
of  sacred  relics  and  the  burial-place  of  the  sainted  dead. 

This  sanctuary,  like  the  holy  of  holies  in  the  temple,  was  also 
provided  with  a  vail,  so  as  to  be  screened  at  pleasure  from  the  view 
of  the  congregation. 

§  5.    OP   THE   ALTAR. 

Pagan  nations  were  wont  to  erect  altars  in  their  sacred  groves, 
on  their  high  places,  in  their  houses,  by  the  wayside,  and  in  public 
places.  Toward  such  altars  the  primitive  Christians  entertained 
an  irreconcilable  aversion.  When  reproached  with  the  charge  of 
having  no   altars,   no   temples,    no  images,   they  simply  replied, 

clericis. — 1  Cone.  Bragar.  c.  13,  a.  d.  563.  Movotj  t|6j/  dvai  t'oij  ifparixoi;  da 
Uvai  tvi  to  ^vaiaarr^piov  xai  xoivuvctv, — Cone,  Laod.  c.  19,  A.  D.  320.    Comp.  c.  44, 


244  CHURCHES   AND    SACRED    PLACES.  [CHAP.  XIII. 

"  Shrines  and  altars  we  have  none  :^  Delubra  et  aras  non  habe- 
mus."  The  very  name  of  an  altar  they  discarded  as  profane,  and 
carefully  denominated  the  sacramental  board,  not  an  altai',  but  a 
table,  THE  TABLE  OF  THE  LORD.  This  was  simply  a  plain  table,  on 
which  the  sacred  elements  were  placed  in  the  administration  of  the 
Lord's  supper. 

The  use  of  the  term  altar,  to  designate  the  sacramental  table, 
belongs  to  the  nomenclature  of  the  hierarchy.  It  was  unknown 
until  the  third  century.  When  the  bishop  became  the  high-priest 
of  the  Christian  church,  claiming  levitical  authority  and  preroga- 
tives in  conformity  with  the  religion  of  the  Jews,  then,  in  conform- 
ity with  the  pomp  and  ceremony  of  the  temple  service,  the  Lord's 
table  became  the  altar  of  the  church,  which  also  had  become  the 
temple  of  the  Lord  under  the  Christian  dispensation.  The  sacred 
elements  now  became  the  body  and  blood  of  the  great  atoning  sacri- 
fice, an  offering  unto  the  Lord  upon  his  holy  altar.  To  give  effect 
to  this  imposing  ritual,  and  exalt  the  priesthood,  the  altar  was  in- 
vested with  mysterious  and  awful  sacredness.  It  was  described  as 
hol^,  sacred,  divine,  princely,  royal,  immortal,  awful,  venerable, 
spiritual,  emblematical,  mystical,  &c.  None  but  the  consecrated 
priest  was  permitted  to  draw  near  it.  It  was  accordingly  reli- 
giously guarded  from  all  profane  approach.  The  excommuni- 
cated, catechumens,  penitents,  and  the  laity  were  cautiously 
excluded  from  it  in  the  Eastern  chui'ch.  In  the  Western,  how- 
ever, an  exception  was  made,  on  the  removal  of  the  elements,  in 
favour  of  the  latter  when  they  drew  near  to  lay  upon  it  their  free- 
will offerings  to  replenish  the  coffers  of  the  church,  a  concession 
adroitly  extended  to  the  laity  by  the  priesthood,  whose  means  of  sup- 
port were  essentially  augmented  by  such  pious  and  charitable  con- 
tributions. In  other  instances  these  offerings  appear  to  have  been 
presented,  not  on  the  altar,  but  on  some  side-table  within  the 
chancel. 

The  altar  was  originally  a  table  of  wood,  covered  with  a  linen 
napkin.  Subsequently  it  was  made  of  stone,  and  highly  wrought. 
Sometimes  it  was  raised  high  upon  costly  pillars  beneath  an  awning 
of  rich  tapestry,  and  overlaid  with  silver,  or  wuth  pure  gold,  and 
adorned  with  precious  stones.  Several  altars  were  sometimes  pro- 
vided in  the  same  church,  as  are  seen  in  the  cathedrals  of  Europe. 
The  cross,  as  still  seen  in  the  churches  on  the  continent,  was  intro- 
duced in  the  sixth  century. 

From  the  awning  above  was  also  suspended  the  image  of  a  dove, 


SEC.  v.]  THE   ALTAK.  245 

in  gold  or  in  silver,  emblematical  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  the  cross 
upon  the  altar  was  the  typical  representation  of  the  Saviour. 

The  form  of  the  sacramental  table  was,  at  first,  much  the  same 
as  that  of  the  common  table  then  in  use.  But  it  was  subse- 
quently changed  to  the  form  of  a  chest  or  box,  after  the  pattern 
of  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  which  name  was  also  applied  to  it. 
Within  the  altar  sacred  relics  were  deposited,  like  the  tables  of  the 
law,  the  pot  of  manna,  and  Aaron's  rod  in  the  ark  of  the  covenant. 
The  capacity  of  the  altar  was  somewhat  enlarged  sufficiently  to 
receive  many  bones  of  the  martyrs  and  other  objects  of  supersti- 
tious veneration. 

From  the  fourth  century  it  was  the  custom  to  consecrate  cer- 
tain portable  altars,  for  the  celebration  of  religious  rites  in  the  ab- 
sence of  a  Christian  church.  Such  an  altar  became  a  part  of  the 
outfit  of  bishops,  emperors,  and  military  chieftains,  in  their  travels 
and  warlike  expeditions. 

In  the  second  and  third  centuries  it  became  customary  to  erect 
tables  over  the  graves  of  martyrs ;  but  whether  it  was  merely  an 
appropriate  memorial  of  the  deceased,  or  whether  it  had  an  alle- 
gorical meaning,  is  still  a  disputed  question.  Augustin,  in  his 
eulogy  upon  Cyprian  of  Carthage,  says,  that  "  a  table  was  erected 
to  God  on  the  spot  where  his  body  was  buried,  which  was  called 
Cyprian's  table,  that  Christians  there  might  bring  their  offerings 
in  prayer  where  he  himself  was  made  an  offering  to  God,  and  drink 
the  blood  of  Christ  with  solemn  interest  where  the  sainted  martyr 
so  freely  shed  his  own  blood ;"  and  much  more  to  the  same  effect.^ 
From  this  and  other  passages  from  the  fathers,  it  would  seem  that 
they  were  wont  to  celebrate  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper 
over  the  graves  of  martyrs.  From  this  circumstance  they  were 
unjustly  accused  of  paying  divine  honours  to  their  saints. 

But  the  veneration  thus  felt  for  them  led  to  the  erection  of  mo- 
numents to  their  memory  within  the  sanctuary  of  the  church. 
These  monuments,  moreover,  were,  in  process  of  time,  loaded  with 
relics  of  saints,  and  became  the  occasion  of  such  superstitions  that 
it  required  the  intervention  of  ecclesiastical  councils  to  suppress 
them.^  These  decrees,  however,  only  directed  the  overthrow  of 
such  altars  or  cenotaphs  as  were  erected  to  the  memory  of  saints, 
while  such  as  actually  covered  their  remains  were  suffered  to  stand, 
and  were  still  the  occasion  of  much  superstition.  Religious  pil- 
grimages Avere  often  made  to  visit  these  sacred  relics. 

Various  theories  have  been  advanced  in  explanation  of  the  cus- 


246  CHURCHES   AND    SACRED    PLACES.  [CHAP,  XIII. 

torn  of  burning  candles  in  the  churches.  The  persecutions  of  the 
early  Christians  compelled  them  to  celebrate  their  worship  with  the 
utmost  secrecy — in  caves  of  the  earth,  and  under  cover  of  the  night, 
where  such  lights  were  indispensable.  Many  suppose  that  they 
were  afterward  continued  in  memory  of  the  former  trials  of  the 
church.  Others  ascribe  the  use  of  these  lights  to  a  superstitious 
imitation  of  the  ceremonies  of  the  Lord's  supper,  as  first  instituted 
by  him  with  his  disciples,  who  must  of  necessity  have  used  lights. 
These,  and  other  considerations,  may  have  given  rise  to  this  rite, 
which  was  early  received  into  the  church,  and  is  still  retained,  not 
only  in  the  Roman  Catholic,  but  also  in  the  Lutheran  churches. 

§  6.    OF   THE   NAVE. 

The  nave,  or  main  body  of  the  church,  was  called  by  different 
names  derived  from  the  uses  to  which  it  was  applied.  It  was  called 
the  oratory  of  the  people  ;  because  there  they  met  for  religious  wor- 
ship, reading  the  Scriptures,  prayer,  and  the  preaching  of  the  word. 
It  was  also  called  the  place  of  assembly,  and  the  quadrangle,  from 
its  quadrangular  form  in  contrast  with  the  circular  or  elliptical 
form  of  the  chancel. 

In  a  central  position  stood  the  amho,  ^n^cL  tuv  avayvoGroiVf 
suggestum  lectorum,  or  reader's  desk,  elevated  on  a  platform  above 
the  level  of  the  surrounding  seats.  This  was  sometimes  called  the 
pulpit  and  the  tribunal  of  the  church,^  in  distinction  from  the  (driua, 
or  tribunal  of  the  choir.  Here  the  Scriptures,  with  the  exception 
of  the  gospels  and  epistles,  w^ere  read.  All  public  notices,  letters 
missive,  and  documents  of  public  interest  were  also  communicated 
from  the  reader's  desk. 

The  gospels  and  epistles  were  chanted  from  before  the  altar. 
The  sermon  was  also  delivered  by  the  preacher  standing  on  the 
platform  of  the  sanctuary  before  the  altar,  or  on  the  steps  leading 
to  it.  But  afterward,  when  larger  churches  were  erected,  it  be- 
came difficult  for  the  preacher  to  make  himself  heard  from  this 
station.  To  remedy  this  inconvenience,  a  platform  was  erected 
for  the  speaker  in  front  of  the  bema,  within  the  body  of  the  nave, 
and  surrounded  by  railings  called  cancelli,  which  gave  to  this  plat- 
form the  name  of  chancel.  Such  was  the  origin  and  appropriate 
signification  of  the  term.  Afterward,  it  became,  in  common  with 
many  others,  the  name  of  all  that  space  which  was  allotted  to  the 
altar,  and  to  those  that  ministered  at  the  altar. 


SEC.  VI.]  THE    NAVE.  247 

In  the  simplicity  of  primitive  worship,  the  assembly  were  seated 
promiscuously,  without  distinction  of  sex,  or  division  into  separate 
apartments ;  but  the  body  of  the  church  was  early  divided  into 
separate  parts,  and  specific  places  assigned  to  the  several  classes 
into  which  the  audience  were  divided.^  The  object  of  this  careful 
division  was  to  prevent  disorder  and  confusion,  and  to  invite  a  fuller 
attendance.  Such  an  arrangement,  indeed,  was  indispensably  ne- 
cessary in  connection  with  the  various  classes  of  believers,  peni- 
tents, catechumens,  etc.,  and  the  services  adapted  to  each.  But 
between  the  Eastern  and  Western  churches  there  has  never  been 
any  uniformity  in  the  internal  arrangements  of  their  places  of 
worship. 

The  rules  relating  to  the  ancient  churches  required  the  separa- 
tion of  the  sexes  in  public  worship,  and  this  was  generally  observed.^ 
The  men  occupied  the  left  of  the  altar,  on  the  south  side  of  the 
church,  and  the  women  the  right,  on  the  north.  They  were  sepa- 
rated from  one  another  by  a  vail  or  lattice.  In  the  Eastern  churches 
the  women  and  catechumens  occupied  the  galleries  above,  while  the 
men  sat  below.  In  some  churches  a  separate  apartment  was  also 
allotted  to  Avidows  and  virgins. 

The  choristers  and  professional  singers,  xdvovixoi  '^dXtai,  were 
provided  with  seats  on,  or  near  the  desk.  Next  in  order  were  the 
believers,  or  Christian  communicants.  The  catechumens,  arranged 
in  the  order  of  their  several  classes,  occupied  a  place  next  to  the 
believers.  But  they  were  required  to  withdraw  at  the  summons  of 
the  deacons,  Ite,  catechumeni !  In  the  rear  of  the  catechumens 
sat  the  penitents  who  had  been  allowed  a  place  again  within  the 
church.  In  the  seating  of  the  assembly  and  preservation  of  order,, 
the  ostiarii,  acolyths,  subdeacons,  deacons,  and  deaconesses  all  bore 
a  part.^  None  but  believers,  however,  were  provided  with  seats  in 
the  church.  The  catechumens,  penitents,  and  all  other  classes  were 
required  to  kneel  or  to  stand.  But  a  small  portion  of  the  ancient 
churches  in  Europe  is  occupied  with  seats,  and  some  offer  no  seats 
to  the  worshippers. 

A  certain  part  of  the  church,  styled  (7cj/lfa,  (JoXia,  cro/l£a$, 
Go?.Eiov,  etc.,  has  been  the  subject  of  much  dispute  ;  but  it  is  gene- 
rally understood  to  denote  the  seat  near  the  entrance  to  the  chan- 
cel, which  was  appropriated  to  the  emperors,  kings,  princes,  etc.^ 

The  walls  of  the  church  were  surrounded  by  antechambers  and 
recesses,  for  the  accommodation  of  the  assembly,  for  private  read- 
ing, meditation,  and  prayer.'^     There  were  aisles  surrounding  the 


248  CHURCHES   AND   SACRED    PLACES.  [CHAP.  XIIX. 

nave,  which  separated  it  from  these  chambers.  The  nave  was 
further  separated  from  the  sanctuary  hy  a  partition  of  lattice-work, 
and  a  curtain  which  could  he  drawn  so  as  to  screen  the  sanctuary 
entirely  from  the  view  of  the  assembly.*^  The  sanctuary  was  usually 
concealed  from  the  view  of  the  audience  except  at  the  celebration 
of  the  Lord's  supper,  or  when  the  sermon  was  delivered  from  that 
place. 

The  following  directions  from  the  Apostolical  Constitutions  will, 
perhaps,  give  the  best  idea  of  the  internal  arrangements  of  the 
church,  and  of  the  positions  of  the  congregation  in  public  worship : — 

"  And  fii'st,  indeed,  let  the  building  be  long,  with  its  head  to  the 
east,  with  its  vestries  on  both  sides  at  the  east  end ;  and  so  it  will 
be  like  a  ship.  In  the  middle,  let  the  bishop's  throne  be  placed ; 
and  on  each  side  of  him  let  the  presbytery  sit  down ;  and  let  the 
deacons  stand  near  at  hand,  in  close  and  small  girt  garments ;  for 
they  are  like  the  mariners  and  managers  of  the  ship.  Through  the 
care  of  these,  let  the  laity  sit  in  the  other  part,  with  all  quietness 
and-  good  order ;  and  let  the  women  sit  by  themselves,  keeping 
silence.  In  the  middle  let  the  reader  stand  upon  some  high  place. 
Let  him  read  the  books  of  Moses,  of  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun,  of  the 
Judges,  and  of  the  Kings,  and  of  the  Chronicles,  and  those  written 
after  the  return  from  the  captivity ;  and  besides  these,  the  books 
of  Job  and  of  Solomon,  and  of  the  sixteen  prophets.  But  when 
there  have  been  two  lessons  severally  read,  let  some  other  person 
sing  the  hymns  of  David,  and  let  the  people  join  at  the  conclusions 
of  the  verses.  Afterward,  let  our  Acts  be  read,  and  the  Epistles 
of  Paul,  our  fellow-worker,  which  he  sent  to  the  churches  under  the 
guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  and  afterward  let  a  deacon  or  a  pres- 
byter read  the  gospels,  both  those  which  I,  Matthew,  and  John  have 
delivered  to  you,  and  those  which  Luke  and  Mark,  the  fell(tw-work- 
ers  of  Paul,  received  and  left  to  you. 

■  "  And  while  the  gospel  is  read,  let  all  the  presbyters  and  dea- 
cons, and  all  the  people,  stand  up  in  great  silence ;  for  it  is  written, 
Be  silent  and  hear,  0  Israel.  And  again,  But  do  thou  stand  there 
and  hear,  Deut.  xxvii.  9 ;  v.  31. 

"  In  the  next  place,  let  the  presbyters,  one  by  one,  not  all  to- 
gether, exhort  the  people,  and  the  bishop  in  the  last  place,  as  being 
the  commander. 

"  Let  the  porters  stand  at  the  entries  of  the  men,  and  observe 
them.  Let  the  deaconesses  also  stand  at  those  of  the  women,  like 
shipmen.     For  the  same  description  and  pattern  was  both  in  the 


6EC.  VI.]  THE    NAVE,  249 

tabernacle  of  the  testimony  and  in  the  temple  of  God.  Dent,  xxiii. 
1.  But  if  any  one  be  found  sitting  out  of  his  place,  let  him  be  re- 
buked by  the  deacon,  as  a  messenger  of  the  foreship,  and  be  re 
moved  into  the  place  proper  for  him.  For  the  church  is  not  onl} 
like  a  ship,  but  also  like  a  sheepfold ;  for  as  the  shepherds  place 
all  the  irrational  animals  distinctly,  I  mean  goats  and  sheep,  ac- 
cording to  their  kind  and  age  ;  and  still  every  one  runneth  together, 
like  to  his  like  ;  so  is  it  to  be  in  the  church.  Let  the  young  per- 
sons sit  by  themselves,  if  there  be  a  place  for  them  ;  if  not,  let  them 
stand  up.  But  let  those  who  are  already  stricken  in  years  sit  in 
order.  As  to  the  children  that  stand,  let  their  fathers  and  mothers 
take  them  to  themselves.  Let  the  younger  women  also  sit  by  them- 
selves, if  there  be  a  place  for  them ;  but,  if  there  be  not,  let  them 
stand  behind  the  women.  Let  those  women  who  are  married,  and 
have  children,  be  placed  by  themselves.  But  let  the  virgins,  and 
the  widows,  and  the  elder  women,  stand  first  of  all,  or  sit ;  and  let 
the  deacon  be  the  disposer  of  the  places,  that  every  one  of  those 
that  come  in  may  go  to  his  proper  place,  and  may  not  sit  at  the 
entrance.  In  like  manner  let  the  deacon  oversee  the  people,  that 
no  one  may  whisper,  nor  slumber,  nor  laugh,  nor  nod.  For  in  the 
church  all  ought  to  stand  wisely,  and  soberly,  and  attentively,  hav- 
ing their  attention  fixed  upon  the  word  of  the  Lord. 

"After  this,  let  all  rise  up  with  one  consent,  and,  looking  toward 
the  east,  after  the  catechumens  and  the  penitents  are  gone  out, 
pray  to  God  eastward,  ivJio  ascended  up  to  the  heaven  of  heavens 
to  the  east,  (Psalm  Ixvii.  39 ;)  remembering  also  the  ancient  situa- 
tion of  Paradise  in  the  east,  whence  the  first  man,  when  he  had 
yielded  to  the  persuasion  of  the  serpent,  and  disobeyed  the  com- 
mand of  God,  was  expelled. 

"  As  to  the  deacons,  after  the  prayer  is  over,  let  some  of  them 
attend  upon  the  oblation  of  the  eucharist,  ministering  to  the  Lord's 
body.  Let  others  of  them  watch  the  multitude,  and  keep  them 
silent.  But  let  that  deacon  who  is  at  the  high-priest's  hand,  say 
to  the  people,  Let  no  one  have  any  quarrel  against  another.  Let 
no  one  come  m  hypocrisy.  Then  let  the  men  give  the  men,  and 
the  women  give  the  women,  the  Lord's  kiss.  But  let  no  one  do  it 
with  deceit,  as  Judas  betrayed  the  Lord  with  a  kiss. 

"  After  this  let  the  deacon  pray  for  the  whole  church,  for  the 
whole  Avorld,  and  the  several  parts  of  it,  and  the  fruits  of  it ;  for 
the  priests  and  the  rulers,  for  the  high-priest  and  the  king,  and  for 
universal  peace.    After  this,  let  the  high-priest  pray  for  peace  upou 


250  CHURCHES   AND    SACRED    PLACES.  [CHAP.  XIII. 

the  people,  and  bless  them  in  these  "words :  The  Lord  bless  thee, 
and  keep  thee;  the  Lord  make  his  face  to  shine  upon  thee,  and  give 
thee  peace.  Num.  vi.  24.  Let  the  bishop  pray  for  the  people,  and 
say,  Save  thy  people,  0  Lord,  and  bless  thine  inheritance,  which 
thou  hast  obtained  with  the  precious  blood  of  thy  Christ,  and  hast 
called  a  royal  priesthood  and  a  holy  nation. 

"  Then  let  the  sacrifice  follow,  all  the  people  standing,  and  pray- 
ing silently ;  and,  when  the  oblation  hath  been  made,  let  every  rank 
by  itself  partake  of  the  Lord's  body  and  precious  blood,  in  order, 
and  approach  with  reverence  and  holy  fear,  as  to  the  body  of  their 
King.  Let  the  women  approach  with  their  heads  covered,  as  is  be- 
coming the  order  of  women.  Moreover,  let  the  door  be  watched, 
lest  there  come  in  any  unbeliever,  or  one  not  yet  initiated." 

§  7.    OF   THE    NARTHEX,  OR   ANTE-TEMPLE. 

This  was  the  outer  division  of  the  church  within  the  walls.  It 
was  called  Ttpovaog,  ante-temple  ;  TiponvTia,  porticus,  portico  ;  and 
■^'dpS'37^,  or  ferula,  from  its  oblong  or  dromical  shape.  It  was  an 
oblong  section  of  the  building  extending  across,  and  occupying  the 
front  part  of  the  interior  of  the  house.  It  was  entered  by  three 
doors  leading  from  the  outer  porch.  From  the  narthex  there  were 
also  three  entrances  into  the  interior  of  the  church.  The  main 
entrance  was  in  the  middle,  directly  opposite  the  altar,  and  opening 
immediately  into  the  nave.  Two  smaller  doors  upon  each  side  ap- 
pear to  have  opened  into  the  SfilSoXog,  or  side  aisles,  from  which 
the  nave  was  entered  by  doors  on  the  north  and  the  south. 

The  doors  consisted  of  two  folding  leaves,  and,  after  the  eleventh 
century,  were  often  ornamented  with  bronze,  and  with  carved  and 
embossed  work.  Some  were  even  overlaid  with  silver  or  with  gold. 
The  several  classes  of  worshippers  entered  the  nave  at  different 
doors,  which  were  called  "the  priest's  door,"  "the  men's  door,"  etc. 

The  vestibule,  or  Tipovaog,  appropriately  so  called,  and  situated 
without  the  walls,  was  allotted  to  the  catechumens  and  penitents. 
Heretics  and  unbelievers  were  also  allowed  a  place  here.  The 
Council  of  Laodicea,  c.  57,  denied  this  privilege  to  heretics  and 
schismatics.  But  the  fourth  Council  of  Carthage,  c.  84,  directed 
that  no  bishop  should  forbid  one,  whether  Gentile,  heretic,  or  Jew, 
to  attend  the  first  service — usque  ad  missam  catechumenorum. 

The  portico  or  outer  court,  Tiponvka,  included  the  halls  and 
colonnades  which  constituted  the  outer  or  front  part  of  the  narthex, 


SEC.  VIII.]  OUTER   BUILDINGS,  OR   EXEDR^.  251 


and  "was  used  for  various  purposes,  analogous  to  those  of  a  modern 
committee-room  and  vestry.  Here,  also,  the  hodies  of  the  dead 
were  deposited,  and  vigils  kept  around  them  until  their  interment. 
The  ancient  Christians  were  accustomed  to  wash  before  entering 
the  church,  as  a  symbol  of  the  purity  becoming  that  holy  place. 
Tor  this  purpose,  in  process  of  time,  the  vessel,  or  font  of  water 
which  was  used  in  this  rite,  was  introduced  into  the  narthex,  or 
porch.  Formerly  it  was  situated  without.  This  vessel  of  water 
was  called  ;^p'/;^'>7,  ^td/l>7,  ^pfap,  xoXvfi^eiov,  T^Eovrd^LOV,  can- 
thseus,  mymphacum,  etc.,  and  is  often  mentioned  by  ancient  authors.* 
The  use  of  holy  water  has  been  improperly  derived  by  some  from 
this  usage  of  the  primitive  church.  This  superstition  began  at 
some  time  subsequent  to  the  ninth  century,  and  was  derived,  like 
many  other  rites,  in  a  corrupt  age  of  the  church,  from  an  idolatrous 
usage.  Sozomen  relates^  that  Julian,  on  going  into  a  certain  tem- 
ple in  Gaul,  to  offer  sacrifice,  was,  according  to  pagan  custom, 
sprinkled  by  a  priest,  with  olive-branches,  which  had  been  dipped  in 
water.  The  use  of  holy  water  is  only  an  imitation  of  this  idolatrous 
ritp,  and  was  unknown  in  the  church  until  the  ninth  century.  The 
baptismal  font  came  into  use  on  the  introduction  of  infant  baptism, 
as  baptisteries  fell  into  disuse,  and  when  the  neglect  of  stated  sea- 
sons of  baptism  had  rendered  the  larger  baptisteries  needless. 

§  8.    OF    THE    OUTER    BUILDINGS,  OR    EXEDR^. 

Under  this  name  were  included  all  the  appendages  belonging  to 
the  church,  such  as  courts,  side-buildings,  wings,  etc.,  together  with 
all  those  separate  buildings  pertaining  to  the  main  edifice,  which 
were  situated  in  the  enclosure  of  the  churchyard.  This  enclosure 
around  the  church  was  known  by  the  name  of  7tep//3o/lo$,  and  the 
porticos,  cloisters,  and  colonnades,  with  which  it  was  surrounded 
were  called  (TToat,  TteptOTOiov,  rerpaGTOiov,  rerpdarv/iov,  am- 
bitusi,  peristi/lia,  etc.  The  area  between  the  wall  and  the  church 
was  called  atrium,  impluvium,  ai^piov,  etc. 

In  this  open  space  stood  the  demoniacs  and  the  weeping  peni- 
tents, neither  of  whom  were  permitted  to  enter  within  the  walls  of 
the  church. 

About  the  sixth  century  it  became  customary  to  use  the  church- 
yard as  a  burial  place.  In  some  instances  it  was  so  used  as  early 
as  the  fourth  century. 

But  the  most  important  of  the  exedrte  were  the  baptisterieSy 


252  CHURCHES   AND    SACRED   PLACES.  [CHAP.  XIII. 


■whicli  were  erected  adjacent  to  the  cathedral  churches,  and  deno- 
minated, for  this  reason,  baptismal  and  central  churches.  They 
must  be  referred  to  those  times  Avhen  it  was  customary  for  the 
bishop  himself  to  administer  this  ordinance  only  in  these  churches, 
and  at  stated  seasons.  These  baptisteries  are  spoken  of  as  in  gene- 
ral use  in  the  fourth  century.^  Previous  to  this  time,  baptism  was 
administered  in  private  houses,  and  wherever  it  was  most  convenient. 
From  the  time  of  Constantine,  separate  buildings  were  erected 
in  connection  with  cathedral  churches  for  the  administration  of  this 
ordinance.  These  structures  were,  in  some  instances,  attached  to 
the  church ;  in  others,  they  were  detached  from  the  main  building, 
and  were  frequently  octagonal ;  sometimes,  quadrangular  or  cruci- 
form. 

The  candidates  for  baptism  were  accustomed  to  meet  in  the  bap- 
tistery, to  receive  the  instructions  requisite  for  their  reception  to 
this  ordinance ;  and,  for  this  purpose,  it  was  divided  into  separate 
apartments,  for  the  accommodation  of  both  sexes.  Meetings  of  the 
whole  congregation  and  of  synods  could  also  be  held  here,  from 
which  we  may  form  some  idea  of  the  magnitude  of  these  buildings. 
The  font  was  situated  in  the  rear  of  the  building,  of  suitable  dimen- 
sions for  the  immersion  of  the  candidates.  The  apartment  was 
richly  ornamented,  and  the  image  of  a  dove  or  a  cross  was  sus- 
pended over  the  font. 

The  admissions  to  the  church,  at  this  time,  were,  of  necessity, 
chiefly  by  baptism  of  adults  converted  from  paganism  to  Christi- 
anity, but  this  does  not  imply  the  neglect  of  infant  baptism.  The 
ordinance  was,  in  the  first  centuries  of  the  church,  confessedly  ad- 
ministered by  immersion.  So  the  Greek  and  Arminian  churches, 
at  the  present  day,  baptize  by  immersion,  but  they  are  strictly 
psedobaptists. 

The  use  of  baptisteries  was  discontinued  upon  the  general  preva- 
lence of  the  Christian  religion  and  of  infant  baptism.  Some  re- 
mains of  these  ancient  baptisteries  are  still  extant. 

There  were  also  several  other  smaller  buildings  situated  about 
the  church,  such  as  the  vestry  or  repository,  diaconicum  magnum, 
in  which  the  sacred  utensils,  the  ornaments,  and  robes  of  the 
clergy  were  deposited  for  safe  keeping.  These  were  intrusted  to 
the  care  of  the  deacons  and  inferior  clergy.  It  was  also  called 
xei^yj?iiapj(^siov,  ya^o<pv2,dxioj>,  axevo(pv/{.dxiov,  vestiarium,  mu- 
tatorium.  Here  the  clergy  were  wont  to  retire  for  private  exer- 
cises preparatory  to  their  public  performances,  and  for  private 


SEC.  VIII.]  OUTER   BUILDINGS,  OR   EXEDR^.  253 


rehearsals  and  examination  before  the  bishop ;  from  whence  it  was 
called  secretum,  or  secretarium.  It  was  also  a  general  audience- 
room,  where  friends  and  acquaintances  met  to  exchange  their  affec- 
tionate salutations  and  inquiries,  hence  called  salutatorium,  recep- 
torium,  audience  chamber,  repository.^  Many  are  of  opinion  that 
this  building  was  also  used  as  a  prison-house  for  the  confinement 
of  delinquent  clergymen.  Others  suppose  that  these  ecclesiastical 
prisons  were  separate  edifices,  called  decaniea;  but  that  there  were 
such  places  of  confinement  is  undeniable.^ 

There  was  another  class  of  buildings  called  pastophoria,  but  the 
learned  are  not  agreed  respecting  the  use  of  them.  According  to 
Rosenmliller,  they  were  a  kind  of  guard  or  watch  house.  Others 
suppose  them  to  have  been  apartments  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
clergy.  Others,  perhaps  with  greater  probability,  understand  by 
them  small  recesses  or  porticos  upon  the  outer  walls  of  the  church. 

Libraries  were,  at  a  very  early  period,  collected  and  kept  i^i  con- 
nection with  the  churches,^  which  were  furnished,  not  merely  with 
the  Scriptures  in  the  original  and  in  translations,  together  with  the 
books  necessary  for  the  church  service,  but  with  commentaries, 
homilies,  catechisms,  and  theological  works.  These  libraries  were 
of  great  importance,  and  often  were  very  extensive.  The  libraries 
of  Alexandria,  Rome,  and  Constantinople  were  kept  in  separate 
buildings,  adjacent  to  the  church.^  From  the  libraries  of  Jerusa- 
lem and  Coesarea,  both  Eusebius  and  Jerome  chiefly  derived  the 
materials  for  their  writings.  The  library  of  St.  Sophia  contained 
120,000  volumes. 

Schools  were  very  early  established  in  connection  with  the 
churches.  If  no  building  was  provided  for  this  purpose,  the 
schools  were  taught  in  the  baptistery  and  the  vestry.  The  teach- 
ers of  these  schools  always  insti'ucted  their  catechumens  privately, 
and  were  never  allowed  to  give  public  instructions.  The  Sixth  Ge- 
neral Council  of  Constantinople  directs  the  presbyters  in  country 
towns  and  villages  to  have  schools  to  teach  all  such  children  as 
were  sent  to  them,  for  which  they  should  exact  no  reward,  nor  re- 
ceive any  thing,  unless  the  parents  of  the  children  thought  fit  to 
make  them  a  charitable  donation  by  way  of  voluntary  contribution. 
From  all  which  it  is  apparent  that  the  primitive  Christians  regarded 
these  schools  as  having  an  intimate  connection  with  their  churches, 
and  essential  to  the  promotion  of  the  same  great  end. 

The  bishops  and  clergy  had  houses  allotted  to  them  adjacent  to 
the  church,  called  oUol  /iacr/'/leioi.'' 


254  CHURCHES   AND    SACRED    PLACES.  [CHAP.  XIII. 


Bathing-houses  are  also  mentioned,  and  public  rooms,  called 
avaxa[i7tTr,pia,  diversoria,  lodging-places,  supposed  by  some  to  be 
a  kind  of  inn, — bj  others  they  are  regarded  as  a  common  place  of 
resort  for  rest  and  for  recreation. 

Hospitals  for  the  poor  and  the  sick  were  also  maintained  in  con- 
nection with  the  churches. 

§9.    OF  TOWERS,  BELLS,  AND    ORGANS. 

Towers. — These  were  entirely  unknown  in  the  first  seven  centu- 
ries. The  terra  nvpyog,  which  occurs  in  the  description  of  the 
ancient  churches,  is  used,  not  in  the  usual  sense  of  a  tower,  but  as 
synonymous  with  the  [3yi[ia  or  d{i[3civ,  the  sanctuary,  or  the  desk.^ 
These  towers  are  first  mentioned  in  the  time  of  Charlemagne.  A 
chapel  built  for  him,  in  the  year  873,  was  provided  with  two  towers 
for  bells.  A  church  of  a  cloister,  of  a  date  still  earlier,  837,  is  also 
described  as  having  a  tower  attached  to  it.^  The  same  is  true  of 
the  cathedral  church  at  Mentz,  a.  d.  978.^ 

Authors  are  not  agreed  respecting  the  origin  and  use  of  these 
appendages  of  the  church.  The  probable  opinion  is  that  they  were 
erected  on  the  first  introduction  of  bells,  and  for  the  purpose  of 
providing  a  convenient  place  for  the  suspension  of  them.  Such  the 
name  implies,  and  so  Du  Cange  explains  the  term.*  They  were  then 
belfries,  erected  not  for  ornament,  but  for  convenience  merely ;  and 
often  were  separate  structures  totally  detached  from  the  church. 

The  Gothic  toivers  appear  from  the  first  to  have  been  erected  for 
ornament.  They  are  the  creation  of  the  Middle  Ages,  when  the 
taste  of  the  age  sought  to  depart  as  much  as  possible  from  the  style 
of  the  primitive  church.     For  further  particulars,  see  References.* 

Bells!' — Bells  were  unknown  to  »the  Hebrews,  Greeks,  and  Ro- 
mans. Even  if  the  tintinnabula  of  the  Romans  were  bells,  they 
were  very  inconsiderable  in  comparison  with  church-bells  of  later 
date.  These  were  not  in  use  earlier  than  the  seventh  century. 
The  most  probable  opinion  is  that  which  ascribes  the  first  in- 
troduction of  them  to  Sabianus,  bishop  of  Rome,  who  succeeded 
Gregory  the  Great  in  the  year  604.^  In  the  seventh  and  eighth 
centuries  they  were  in  common  use  in  the  churches  in  France. 
Near  the  close  of  the  ninth  century,  the  church  of  St.  Sophia,  at 
Constantinople,  Avas  furnished  with  bells.*^  But  they  have  never 
received  much  favour  in  the  East.  The  Arabs  and  Turks,  especi- 
ally, have  always  maintained  a  settled  aversion  to  them. 


SEC.  IX.]         TOWERS,  BELLS,  AND  ORGANS.  255 

In  the  place  of  bells,  in  the  East,  messengers  were  sent  out  to 
summon  the  people  to  worship.^  In  Egypt,  a  trumpet  was  blown. 
The  inmates  of  their  cloisters  were  summoned  to  prayers  by  knock- 
ing upon  their  cells  with  a  billet  of  wood,  as  is  still  the  custom  with 
the  Nestorian  Christians.  The  Greeks  had  two  instruments  for 
this  purpose,  which  they  called  Gr^iiav'T^ov  and  ayLOOihyi^iov. 
These  are  described  by  Bingham  as  consisting  of  boards,  or  plates 
of  iron,  full  of  holes,  which  were  held  in  the  hand  and  struck  with 
a  mallet. 

In  the  West,  on  the  contrary,  the  bell  was  considered  as  a  sacred 
and  indispensable  appendage  of  a  church.  The  following  is  a  spe- 
cimen of  the  inscriptions  which  were  frequently  written  upon  the 
church  bell : — 

"  Laudo  Deum  verum,  plebem  voco,  congrego  clerum, 
Defunctos  ploro,  nimbura  [al.  pestem]  fugo,  festaque  honoro." 

The  custom  of  consecrating  and  baptizing  bells  is  a  superstition 
of  early  date,  perhaps  as  early  as  the  eighth  century ;  that  of  nam- 
ing the  bells  of  churches,  dates  no  farther  back  than  the  tenth  or 
eleventh  century. 

When  the  enormous  bells  of  Moscow,  Vienna,  Paris,  Toulouse, 
Milan,  etc.  were  cast,  is  not  known.  They  are  probably  the  pro- 
duction of  the  Middle  Ages.  They  harmonize  Avell  with  the  vast 
cathedrals  and  towers  of  that  period,  so  distinguished  for  its  mas- 
sive and  imposing  structures. 

The  tolling  of  bells  at  the  decease  of  a  person,  and  at  funerals, 
was  originally  an  expedient  of  a  superstitious  age,  to  frighten  away 
demons  that  were  supposed  to  be  hovering  around  to  prey  upon  the 
spirit  of  the  dead  or  djnng  man.  This  superstition  was  widely  ex- 
tended during  the  dark  ages.  Bells  were  often  rung  with  violence, 
also,  during  a  tempest,  to  frighten  away  demons,  and  avert  the 
storms  which  they  were  supposed  to  raise. 

The  following  extract,  from  the  Edinburgh  Encyclopaedia,  is  in- 
serted as  descriptive  of  these  superstitions  : — 

"  In  regard  to  the  superstitious  use  of  bells,  we  shall  probably 
find  the  ringing  of  them  at  funerals  to  have  originated  in  the  dark- 
est ages,  but  with  a  different  view  from  that  in  which  they  are  now 

employed Reasoning  from  the  customs  of  the  ancients,  that 

have  been  transmitted  to  us  in  innumerable  superstitions,  which  ex- 
tensive analogies  only  enable  us  to  recognise,  we  may,  partly,  con- 
nect the  ringing  of  bells  for  persons  in  the  agonies  of  death,  Avith 


256  CHUKCHES   AND    SACRED    PLACES.  [CHAP.  XIIL 


the  Virtue  suj^posed  to  reside  in  the  sound  of  brass.  It  was  to  avert 
the  influence  of  demons.  But  if  the  superstitions  of  our  ancestors 
did  not  originate  in  this  imaginary  virtue,  while  they  preserved  the 
practice,  it  is  certain  that  they  believed  the  mere  noise  had  the 
same  effect ;  and  as,  according  to  their  ideas,  evil  spirits  were  al- 
ways hovering  around  to  make  a  prey  of  departing  souls,  the  tolling 
of  bells  struck  them  with  terror.  We  may  trace  the  practice  of 
tolling  bells  at  funerals  to  the  like  source.  This  has  been  practised 
from  times  of  great  antiquity ;  the  bells  being  mufl[led  for  the  sake 
of  greater  solemnity,  in  the  same  way  as  we  see  drums  muffled  in 
military  funerals.  Possibly  it  was  also  with  the  view  of  averting 
the  influence  of  evil  spirits,  as  the  soul  was  not  believed  to  pass 
immediately  to  the  regions  of  light  or  darkness.  The  efficacy  of 
bells,  and  other  noises,  in  putting  demons  to  flight,  is  recorded 
among  the  ancients ;  and  from  them  was  more  widely  extended 
during  the  more  barbarous  ages In  Italy,  during  great  tem- 
pests, the  women  assembled,  ringing  bells  and  beating  cymbals,  in 
the  noise  of  which,  the  learned  Moresin  observes,  they  confided 
more  than  in  the  efficacy  of  fasting  and  prayer.  On  St.  John's 
day,  the  bells  were  violently  rung,  and  other  superstitions  prac- 
tised, to  put  devils  to  flight,  and  avert  the  efi'ects  of  storms  which 
they  were  supposed  to  raise  in  the  air. 

"  We  are,  therefore,  entitled  to  conclude  that  the  ringing  of 
bells  for  persons  in  the  agonies  of  death,  at  funerals,  and  to  dispel 
tempests,  has  originally  had  relation  to  one  common  object,  the  ex- 
pulsion of  demons.  Here,  also,  we  may  seek  the  consecration  or 
exorcising  of  bells,  practised  in  the  Roman  Catholic  churches,  and, 
perhaps,  the  cause  of  naming  them  after  particular  saints.  In  the 
Council  of  Cologne,  it  is  said,  '  Let  bells  be  blessed,  as  the  trum- 
pets of  the  church  militant,  by  which  the  people  are  assembled  to 
hear  the  word  of  God ;  the  clergy  to  announce  his  mercy  by  day, 
and  his  truth  in  their  nocturnal  vigils ;  that  by  their  sound  the 
faithful  may  be  invited  to  prayers,  and  that  the  spirit  of  devotion 
in  them  may  be  increased.  The  fathers  have  also  maintained  that 
demons,  affrighted  by  the  sound  of  bells  calling  Christians  to 
prayers,  would  flee  away ;  and  when  they  fled,  the  persons  of  the 
faithful  would  be  secure ;  that  the  destruction  of  lightnings  and 
whirlwinds  would  be  averted,  and  the  spirits  of  the  storm  defeated.' 
All  these  things  were  promoted  by  consecration ;  and  a  credulous 
bishop  narrates  several  miracles  displayed  by  consecrated  bells, 
which,  without  much  difficulty,  we  can  trace  to  natural  causes. 


SEC.  IX.]  TOWERS,  BELLS,  AND   ORGANS.  257 


Durand,  the  author  of  the  Rituals  of  the  Roman  CJmrch,  says, 
'  For  exph'ing  persons,  bells  must  be  tolled,  that  people  may  put 
up  their  prayers.  This  must  be  done  twice  for  a  woman,  and 
thrice  for  a  man  ;  for  a  clergyman  as  many  times  as  he  had  orders ; 
and  at  the  conclusion,  a  peal  of  all  the  bells  must  be  given,  to  dis- 
tinguish the  quality  of  the  persons  for  whom  the  people  are  to  offer 
up  their  prayers.'  "^'' 

Organs}^ — The  organ  constituted  no  part  of  the  furniture  of  the 
ancient  churches.  The  first  instance  on  record  of  its  use  in  the 
church,  occurred  in  the  time  of  Charlemagne,  in  the  eighth  cen- 
tury, who  received  one  as  a  present  from  Constantino,  which  was 
set  up  in  the  church  at  Aix-la-Chapelle.^^  The  musicians  of  this 
city  and  of  Mentz,  learned  to  play  on  the  organ  in  Italy,  from 
which  it  appears  that  they  were  already  known  in  that  country. 
We  have  authentic  accounts  of  the  manufacture  of  this  instrument 
in  Germany,  as  early  as  the  tenth  century.^^  England,  about  the 
same  time,  distinguished  herself  by  the  manufacture  of  organs  of 
colossal  dimensions. 

The  Greek  church  has  never  favoured  the  use  of  the  organ  in 
the  churches,  and  has  generally  restricted  it  to  the  theatre  and 
musical  concerts.  Even  in  the  Western  church  the  organ  was  not 
received  with  universal  favour.  "  Our  church,"  says  Thomas  Aqui- 
nas, (a.  d.  1250,)  "  does  not  use  musical  instruments,  as  harps  and 
psalteries,  in  the  praise  of  God,  lest  she  should  seem  to  Judaize." 
From  which  some  have  erroneously  supposed  that  the  organ  was 
not  used  in  any  churches  previous  to  this  time. 

The  use  of  the  organ  in  religious  worship  was  not  regarded  with 
favour  by  the  reformers  generally.  Luther,  from  his  great  fond- 
ness for  music,  favoured  the  continuance  of  the  organ.  It  is  ac- 
cordingly in  use  in  almost  all  the  Lutheran  churches  to  this  day. 
Calvin  strictly  opposed  it,  as  a  theatrical  instrument  unsuited  to 
the  devotional  ends  of  sacred  music.  The  opposition  of  Erasmus 
to  organs  is  well  known.  The  Puritans  also  regarded  them  with 
special  aversion  as  instruments  of  sacred  music.  The  kirk  of 
Scotland,  to  this  day,  totally  excludes  them  from  the  church.  A 
few  years  since  an  organ  was  presented  to  a  certain  church  in  Scot- 
land, which  gave  rise  to  spirited  controversy ;  a  volume  was  pub- 
lished against  this  innovation,  and  the  offensive  instrument  was 
removed  by  the  authority  of  the  synod. 

17 


258  CHURCHES    AND    SACRED    PLACES.  [CHAP.  XIII. 


§  10.    OF    THE    DOORS    OF    THE    CHURCH. 

To  insure  due  secrecy  in  celebrating  the  mysteries  of  their  reli- 
gion, the  ancient  Christians  constructed  the  doors  of  their  churches 
with  peculiar  care.  As  we  have  already  seen,  they  set  apart,  by 
the  solemn  rites  of  ordination,  a  class  of  men  to  guard  the  doors, 
and  prevent  the  intrusion,  not  only  of  the  profane,  but  of  their  own 
catechumens  and  penitents.  Such  was  the  profound  secrecy  in 
which  they  celebrated  certain  of  their  religious  rites.  In  all  this 
they  imitated  the  Jews  ;  and  the  early  fathers,  like  the  writers  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  from  this  usage  derived  abundant 
metaphors  relating  to  the  doors  of  the  church,  of  heaven,  of  the 
kingdom,  etc.  Compare  the  following  passages  of  Scripture,  among 
many  others  : — 2  Chron.  viii.  14 ;  Ps.  Ixxxiv.  11 ;  cxviii.  19,  20 ; 
John  X.  1 ;  xx.  19 ;  Acts  xiv.  27 ;  Rev.  xxii.  14,  etc. 

It  was  customary,  in  the  earliest  ages  of  Christianity,  to  post 
upon  the  doors  of  the  church  the  names  of  all  excommunicated  per- 
sons. At  a  period  somewhat  later,  persons  intending  marriage 
were  also  published  in  the  same  manner.  This  was  also  the  place 
for  posting  all  proclamations  and  decisions  of  the  church,  and  pub- 
lic notices  of  every  kind. 

There  were  generally  three  main  entrances  to  the  churches,  after 
the  pattern  of  the  temple  at  Jerusalem.  These  were  provided  with 
outer  and  inner  doors,  distinguished  by  the  names  afi^i^vpa  and 
teTiEvraiov  ^vpcbv.  The  main  entrance  over  against  the  high 
altar  was  called  beautiful,  in  imitation  of  the  gate  of  the  same  name 
in  the  temple.  Acts  iii.  2,  10.  The  different  sexes  entered  by  dif- 
ferent doors  ;^  these  were  made  of  the  choicest  and  most  durable 
wood,  wrought  with  peculiar  care,  and  richly  ornamented  with  ara- 
besque, bronze,  gold,  or  silver  plate ;  not  unfrequently  they  were 
made  of  solid  brass  or  bronze.  Several  of  this  kind  still  remain  in 
thu  different  countries  of  Europe.^ 

The  date  of  the  building  or  dedication  of  the  church  was  usually 
inscribed  on  the  doors.  Subjects  of  sacred  history  were  often  re- 
presented by  curiously  carved  work  on  the  sacred  portals.  In  ad- 
dition to  this  there  were  inscriptions  of  various  kinds,  consisting  of 
a  motto,  a  doctrinal  sentiment,  a  passage  of  Scripture,  a  doxology, 
or  a  prayer.  A  single  specimen  is  here  given,  as  taken  from  an 
ancient  church.     On  the  outer  side  of  the  door : — 


SEC.  XI.]  PAVEMENTS   AND   WALLS    OF   THE   CHURCH.  259 


Pax  tibi  sit,  quincunque  Dei  penetralia  Christi 
Pectore  pacifico  candidus  ingi-ederis. 

On  the  inside  : — 

Quisquis  ab  cede  Dei,  perfectis  ordine  votis, 
Egrederis,  remea  corpore ;  corde  mane. 


§  11.  OF  THE  PAVEMENTS  AND  WALLS  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

The  floor  of  the  church  consisted  of  pavement  carefully  laid,  or 
smooth  marble.  In  large  churches  the  narthex  had  a  pavement  of 
plaster ;  the  flooring  of  the  nave  was  plastering  or  boards ;  while 
the  chancel  was  adorned  with  mosaic.  Not  unfrequentlj  there  was 
a  tessellated  pavement  of  particoloured  and  polished  marble,  con- 
stituting a  rich  mosaic  work.  A  curious  specimen  of  this  ancient 
mosaic  was  found  in  1805,  near  Salzburg,  delineating  the  story  of 
Theseus  and  Ariadne.  Such  decorations,  in  imitation  of  the  Jew- 
ish temple  (1  Kings  vi.  15-30)  were  used  in  the  churches  as  early 
as  the  fourth  century.  From  the  seventh  to  the  tenth  century,  it 
became  customary  to  encumber  and  disfigure  the  nave  and  choir 
with  the  graves  of  the  dead,  and  from  that  period  the  floors  were 
occupied  with  palisades,  monuments,  and  epitaphs ;  and  all  unity 
and  symmetry  was  destroyed. 

The  walls  and  the  canopy  were  also  ornamented  with  inscrip- 
tions, mosaics,  paintings,  and  bas-relief.  The  paintings  were  exe- 
cuted on  wood,  metals,  and  canvas.  The  bas-relief  was  executed 
in  gypsum,  mortar,  stone,  or  metal,  in  imitation  of  the  ornaments 
of  the  temple.  Votive  offerings  of  shields,  arms,  standards,  and 
the  like,  were  also  hung  upon  the  walls.  To  these  the  lights  were 
attached  and  suspended  from  the  canopy.  Vaulted  roofs  are  of 
later  origin. 

We  subjoin  from  Eusebius  an  account  of  the  decoration  of  the 
church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  built  by  Constantino  in  the  fourth 
century : — "  At  the  side  opposite  to  the  sepulchre,  which  was  the 
eastern  side,  the  church  itself  was  erected ;  a  noble  work,  rising  to 
a  vast  height,  and  of  great  extent,^  both  in  length  and  breadth. 
The  interior  of  this  structure  was  floored  with  marble  slabs  of  vari- 
ous colours ;  while  the  external  surface  of  the  walls,  which  shone 
with  polished  stones  exactly  fitted  together,  exhibited  a  degree  of 
splendour  in  no  respect  inferior  to  that  of  marble.  With  regard 
to  the  roof,  it  was  covered  on  the  outside  with  lead,  as  a  protection 
against  the  rains  of  winter.     But  the  inner  part  of  the  roof  was 


260  CHURCHES    AND    SACRED    PLACES.  [CHAP.  XIII. 


finished  with  sculptured  fretwork,  extended  in  a  series  of  connected 
compartments,  like  a  vast  sea,  over  the  whole  church ;  and,  being 
overlaid  throughout  with  the  purest  gold,  caused  the  entire  build- 
ing to  glitter  as  it  were  with  rajs  of  light. "^ 

§  12.    OF    THE   WINDOWS    OF   THE    CHURCH. 

No  aspersion  was  ever  more  unjust  than  that  which  charged  the 
primitive  Christians  with  seeking  concealment  and  hating  the  light. 
In  imitation  of  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  (1  Kings  vi.  4)  they  sought, 
from  the  beginning,  to  furnish  their  churches  fully  with  light.  It 
is  customary  to  refer  the  first  use  of  glass  windows  to  the  third 
century ;  but,  in  the  opinion  of  many,  they  had  an  earlier  origin, 
as  is  shown  in  the  ruins  of  Herculaneum.  In  France,  windows, 
both  of  coloured  and  of  cut  glass,  were  in  use  in  the  sixth  century. 
Venantius  Fortunatus,  a  poet  of  the  fifth,  has  a  distich  respecting 
the  cathedral  church  at  Paris,  from  which  it  would  seem  that  glass 
windows  were  then  in  use  : 

Prima  capit,  radios  vitreis  oculata  fenestris 
Artificisque  manu  clausit  in  arce  diem. 

From  the  history  of  the  venerable  Bede,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
would  seem  that  these  were  not  in  use  in  England  in  the  seventh 
century,  but  were  subsequently  introduced  from  France. 

Pliny  aflSrms  that  the  art  of  painting  glass  was  known  to  the 
Romans.  If  so,  it  must  have  been  lost  again ;  for  no  traces  of  the 
art  are  discoverable  until  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century. 
It  was  brought  to  perfection  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centu- 
ries, and  is  justly  regarded  as  the  most  finished  specimen  of  the 
arts  in  the  Middle  Ages.  After  a  slumber  of  three  hundred  years, 
it  is  beginning  to  be  again  revived  in  the  nineteenth  century. 

The  windows  of  churches  were  not  only  greater  in  number,  but 
larger  in  dimensions,  than  those  of  private  dwelling-houses.  In 
the  Carlovingian  dynasty,  however,  the  windows  were  small  and 
round,  and  very  far  from  afibrding  sufficient  light. 

§  13.  OF  THE  ORNAMENTS  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

After  the  establishment  of  the  hierarchy,  churches  were  adorned 
with  various  ornaments  more  or  less  costly. 


SEC.  XIII.]  ORNAMENTS    OF    THE    CHURCH.  261 

Among  these  may  be  reckoned  the  anathemata,  or  gifts  from 
different  individuals,  which,  were  suspended  upon  pillars,  or  placed 
in  some  other  conspicuous  situation,  and  intended  as  memorials  of 
some  particular  mercy  or  benefit  received  from  God.  Eusebius,  in 
his  account  of  the  church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  says,  "  He  fur- 
ther enriched  it  with  numberless  offerings  of  inexpressible  beauty, 
consisting  of  gold,  silver,  and  precious  stones  in  various  forms,  the 
skill  and  elaborate  arrangement  of  which,  in  regard  to  their  magni- 
tude, number,  and  variety,  we  have  not  leisure,  at  present,  to  de- 
scribe particularly."^ 

It  is  but  justice  to  the  ancient  fathers  to  remark  that  they  were 
very  far  from  bestowing  unqualified  approbation  upon  that  style  of 
gaudy  magnificence  in  which  their  churches  were  decorated.  St. 
Ambrose  says,  "  that  whatever  is  done  in  purity,  and  with  sin- 
cerity, is  commendable,  but  that  it  is  neither  praiseworthy  to  rear 
superfluous  structures,  nor  to  neglect  such  as  are  needful ;  that  the 
priest  ought,  especially,  to  adorn  the  temple  of  God  with  becoming 
graces ;  that  it  should  be  rendered  resplendent  by  acts  of  humility 
and  charity ;  in  giving  to  the  stranger  according  to  his  necessities, 
and  as  the  dictates  of  humanity  require ;  not  by  pride,  self-indul- 
gence, and  personal  aggrandizement,  at  the  expense  of  the  poor."^ 
Jerome,  in  various  passages,  inveighs  against  the  pomp  and  pride 
displayed  in  the  churches  and  in  the  attire  of  the  priesthood.* 
Chrysostom  complains  of  the  vanity,  superstition,  and  oppression 
of  the  poor,  with  which  their  churches  were  erected,  though  he  ob- 
jects not  to  these  expenditures  upon  the  churches  in  themselves 
considered.*  St.  Bernard  rebukes  this  extravagant  folly  with  so 
much  simplicity  and  fervour,  that  the  reader  will  be  interested  to 
hear  him  in  his  own  tongue.* 

*  Tali  quadam  arte  spargitur  aes,  ut  multiplicetur.  Expenditur,  ut  augeatur, 
et  efifusio  copiam  parit.  Ipso  quippe  visu  sumptuosarum,  sed  mirandarum  vani- 
tatum,  acceuduntur  homines  magis  ad  ofFerendum,  quam  ad  orandum.  Sic  opes 
opibus  hauriuntur,  sic  pecunia  pecuniam  traliit :  quia  nescio,  quo  pacto,  ubi  am- 
plius  divitiarum  cernitur,  ibi  oflFertur  libentius.  Auro  tectis  reliquiis  saginantur 
oculi,  et  loculi  aperiuntur.  Ostenditur  pulcherrima  forma  Sancli  vel  Sanctas  alicu- 
jus,  et  eo  creditur  sanctior,  quo  coloratior.  Currunt  homines  ad  osculandum, 
invitantur  ad  donandum ;  et  magis  mirantur  pulcra,  quam  venerantur  sacra. 
Ponuntur  dehinc  in  ecclesia  gemmatse,  non  coronse,  sed  raise,  circumseptae  lampadi- 
bus,  sed  non  minus  fulgentes  inserts  lapidibus.  Cernimus  et  pro  candelabris  arbores 
quasdam  erectas,  multo  aeris  pondere,  miro  artificis  opere  fabricatas,  nee  magis 
coruscantes  superpositis  lucernis,  quam  suis  gemmis.  Quid,  putas,  in  his  omni- 
bus quEeritur?  poenitentium  compunctio,  an  intuentium  admiratio?  0  vanitas 
vanitatum,  sed  non  vanior,  quam  insanior !     Fulget  ecclesia  in  parietibus,  et  in 


262  CHURCHES   AND    SACRED    PLACES.  [CHAP.  XIIL 


§  14.    OF    IMAGES. 

The  primitive  Christians  regarded  with  irreconcilable  aversion 
all  pictures  or  images,  none  of  which  were  allowed  in  their  churches. 
The  Roman  emperors  required  divine  honours  to  be  paid  to  their 
statues,  and  the  refusal  to  do  this  on  the  part  of  Christians  was 
frequently  the  occasion  of  their  vindictive  persecution,  as  is  seen  in 
Pliny's  letter  to  Trajan,  cited  above,  pp.  34-6.  This  circumstance, 
together  with  their  abhorrence  of  paganism,  effectually  excluded 
images  from  the  churches  of  the  early  Christians. 

The  origin  of  the  custom  of  introducing  images  into  churches 
is  described  by  Neander  as  follows : — "  It  was  not  in  the  church, 
but  in  the  family,  that  religious  images  first  came  into  use  among 
the  Christians.  In  their  daily  intercourse  with  men,  the  Christians 
saw  themselves  everywhere  surrounded  by  the  objects  of  pagan  my- 
thology, or,  at  least,  by  objects  offensive  to  their  moral  and  Chris- 
tian sentiments.  Representations  of  this  sort  covered  the  walls  in 
shops,  were  the  ornaments  of  drinking-vessels  and  seal-rings,  on 
which  the  pagans  frequently  had  engraven  the  images  of  their  gods, 
so  that  they  might  worship  them  when  they  pleased.  It  was  natu- 
ral that,  in  place  of  these  objects,  so  offensive  to  their  religious 
and  moral  sentiments,  the  Christians  should  substitute  others  more 
agreeable  to  them.  Thus  they  preferred  to  have  on  their  goblets  the 
figure  of  a  shepherd  carrying  a  lamb  on  his  shoulder,  which  was 
the  symbol  of  our  Saviour  rescuing  the  repentant  sinner,  accord- 
ing to  the  gospel  parable.^  And  Clement  of  Alexandria  says,  in . 
reference  to  the  seal-rings  of  the  Christians,^  '  Let  our  signets  be 
a  dove,  (the  symbol  of  the  Holy  Spirit,)  or  a  fish,*  or  a  ship  sailing 

pauperibus  eget.  Suos  lapides  induit  aiiro,  et  suos  filios  nudos  deserit.  De 
sumptibus  egenorum  servitui*  oculis  divitum.  Inveniunt  curiosi,  quo  delectentui-, 
et  non  inveniunt  miseri,  quo  sustententur.  Utqmd  saltern  sanctorum  imagines 
non  reveremur,  quibus  utique  ipsum,  quod  pedibus  conculcatur,  scalet  pavimentum. 
Ssepe  spuitur  in  ore  AngcU,  sxpe  alicujus  sanctorum  fades  calcibus  tundilur  transeun- 
tium.  Et  si  non  sacris  his  imagioibus,  cur  vel  non  parcitur  jowZcm  coloribus  ?  Cur 
decoras,  quod  mox  foedandum  est  ?  Cur  depingis,  quod  mox  necesse  est  concul- 
cari?  Quid  ibi  valent  venustse  formje,  ubi  pulvere  maculantur  assiduo  ?  Denique 
quid  boec  ad  pauperes,  ad  Monacbos,  ad  spirituals  vivos  ?  Nisi  forte  et  bio  me- 
moratum  jam  pcet£e  versiculum  propbeticus  ille  respondeatur :  JDomine,  dilexi  de- 
corum domus  tvse,  et  locum  habitationis  glorisc  tux.  Assentio  :  patiamur  et  hsec  fieri 
in  ecclesia :  quia  etsi  noxia  sunt  vanis  et  avaris,  non  tamen  simplicibus  et  de- 
votJs. — 0pp.  t.  i.  p.  545,  ed.  Bened. 

*  The  same  allusion  as  in  the  case  of  the  fishermen, — also  an  allusion  to  the 
anagram  of  Christ's  name,  IX0TS — Iijoots  Xptcrroj,  ©t oii  Tioj,  ^wtijp.  " 


SEC.  XIV.]  IMAGES.  263 

toward  heaven,  (the  symbol  of  the  Christian  church,  and  of  the  in- 
dividual Christian  soul,)  or  a  lyre,  (the  symbol  of  Christian  joy,)  or 
an  anchor,  (the  symbol  of  Christian  hope ;)  and  he  who  is  a  fisher- 
man will  not  be  forgetful  of  the  apostle  Peter,  and  of  the  children 
taken  from  the  water  ;*  for  no  images  of  gods  should  be  engraved 
on  the  rings  of  those  who  are  forbidden  all  intercourse  with  idols ; 
no  sword  or  bow  on  the  rings  of  those  who  strive  after  peace ;  no 
goblets  on  the  rings  of  those  who  are  the  friends  of  sobriety.'  Yet 
religious  emblems  passed  from  domestic  use  into  the  churches,  per- 
haps as  early  as  the  end  of  the  third  century.  The  walls  of  them 
were  painted  in  this  manner.  The  Council  of  Elvira,  in  the  year 
303,  opposed  this  innovation  as  an  abuse,  and  forbade  '  the  objects 
of  worship  and  adoration  to  be  painted  on  the  walls.'  "^ 

All  this  was  in  harmony  also  with  the  ceremonials  of  the  sensu- 
ous religion  of  the  age,  which,  relying  more  on  the  outward  fprm 
than  on  the  inward  spirit,  sought  by  imposing  rituals  to  enforce 
religious  truth,  rather  than  by  a  direct  appeal  to  the  understanding 
and  the  conscience.  Mosheim  and  Augusti  represent  this  to  have 
been  eminently  the  spirit  of  several  sects  of  the  Gnostics,  with 
whom  it  was  a  favourite  sentiment,  "  that  religious  truth  could  bet- 
ter be  enforced  by  pictorial  representations  than  by  sermons  and  by 
books."  By  such  paintings  they  taught  their  religious  tenets. 
Gregory  the  Great,  of  the  sixth  century,  particularly  commends 
this  as  a  happy  expedient  for  instructing  the  unlearned  in  religion. 
"  What  the  letter  is  to  the  learned,  such  is  the  painting  to  the  un- 
learned. For  here  they  see  what  they  ought  to  obey,  so  that  the 
ignorant  may  read  their  duty  in  the  pictured  representation." 
"  Pictures,  therefore,  are  introduced  into  churches,  that  they  who 
cannot  read  from  the  written  word,  may  still  imderstand  it  as  de- 
picted on  the  walls,  "t 

In  these  sentiments  we  recognise  the  temporizing  spirit  of  the 
church,  in  accommodating  itself  to  the  superstitions  of  the  age. 
This  Gregory  greatly  encouraged,  in  total  opposition  to  the  spirit 
of  primitive  Christianity.  It  was,  indeed,  a  favourite  maxim  of 
this  renowned  prelate,  that  Christianity  should  accommodate  itself 

*  The  Christians,  whom  the  Divine  teacher,  the  ^«os  rtaiSoyuydj,  Christ,  leads 
through  baptism  to  regeneration. 

■f  Quod  legentibus  Scriptura,  hoc  idiotis  prsestat  pictura  cernentibus. — Epist. 
lib.  ix.  ind.  3,  ep.  9.  Idcirco  euim  pictura  in  ecclesiis  adhibetur,  ut  ii,  qui  literas 
nesciunt,  saltern  in  parietibus  videndo  legunt,  quae  legere  in  codicibus  non  valent. 
— Lib.  vii.  ind.  2,  ep.  3. 


264  CHURCHES   AND    SACRED    PLACES.  [CHAP.  XIII. 


more  and  more  to  paganism,  to  facilitate  conversions  to  the  religion 
of  Christ.  Under  such  influences  and  such  teaching,  the  Christian 
church  was  soon  filled  with  images,  pictures,  and  statues  more  be- 
coming an  idol's  temple  than  a  sanctuary  for  the  worship  of  the 
living  God. 

These  images,  though  at  first  employed  as  aids  to  devotion,  soon 
became  the  objects  of  almost  idolatrous  veneration.  A  single  ex- 
tract from  a  letter  of  the  Emperor  Michael  to  Louis  the  Pious,  in 
the  ninth  century,  is  added,  in  illustration  of  the  spirit  of  the  age : — 
"  First  of  all,  they  put  away  the  cross  from  the  churches,  and  set  up 
images  instead,  before  which  they  placed  their  candles  and  burned 
incense,  and  reverenced  them  as  though  they  were  the  sacred  cross 
on  which  Christ  was  crucified.  Before  these  images  they  sang 
psalms  and  prayed  and  implored  blessings.  They  clothed  these 
images  in  linen,  and  made  them  godfathers  to  their  children  in 
baptism.  Monks,  on  shaving  their  heads  and  in  taking  their  vows, 
let  their  hair  fall  into  the  bosom  of  the  image.  Many  priests 
scraped  the  paint  from  the  statues,  and  mingled  it  with  the  bread 
and  wine  of  the  Lord's  supper,  and  ministered  it  to  the  communi- 
cants. Others  placed  the  sacred  elements  in  the  hands  of  the 
image  as  they  were  presented  to  those  who  partook  of  this  ordi- 
nance.    * 

Such  puerilities  and  superstitions  gave  rise  to  the  famous  war 
respecting  image-worship,  (a.  d,  726,)  which  was  characterized  by 
many  atrocities,  and  continued  to  distract  the  church  during  the 
space  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  years,  until  842,  when  the  super- 
stitious practices  respecting  the  use  of  images  were  finally  confirmed 
and  legalized. 

The  antagonistic  spirit  by  which  this  protracted  strife  against 
image-worship  was  sustained,  found  an  appropriate  expression  in 
the  stern  remonstrance  of  many  of  the  ancient  fathers.  "  As  God 
admonished  the  Jews,"  says  Jerome,  f  A.  d.  420,  "so  hath  he  also 
warned  us,  who  claim  to  be  the  church,  not  to  trust  in  the  splendour 
of  our  edifices,  in  gilded  and  fretted  ceilings,  and  marble  walls. 
Let  not  these  be  called  the  temple  of  God.  That  alone  is  the  true 
temple  which  is  adorned  with  the  indwelling  of  a  true,  a  holy  life, 
and  all  the  Christian  graces."^ 

Isidore  of  Pelusium,  f  A.  d.  449,  complains  "  that  the  church 
edifices  were  garnished  too  richly,  while  the  church  itself  was  dis- 
figured, and  adds  that  he  would  prefer  to  have  lived  in  that 
age  in  which  the  place  of  assembly  was  not,  indeed,  so  richly 


SEC.  XV.]  VENEEATION   FOR    SACRED    PLACES.  265 


ornamented,  but  the  church  was  crowned  with  heavenly  gifts,  than 
in  his  own  age,  when  lofty  edifices  were  erected  and  finished  in 
splendid  style,  while  the  church  itself  stood  naked  and  empty."^ 

Epiphanius,  f  A.  D.  403,  on  observing  in  a  strange  church  which 
he  had  entered  for  devotional  purposes,  a  vail,  hanging  on  which 
was  depicted  the  image  of  Christ,  or  of  some  saint,  indignantly  tore 
it  down,  and  urgently  remonstrated  against  the  introduction  of  such 
things  into  the  church,  as  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  our  religion.^  . 


§  15.    OF    THE    VENERATION    FOR    SACRED    PLACES,    AND    THE    PRIVI- 
LEGES   ATTACHED    TO    THEM.^ 

It  became  customary  in  the  fourth  century  to  set  apart  the 
church  to  religious  uses  by  a  solemn  consecration,  by  which  it  was 
invested  with  peculiar  sanctity.  The  remarks  which  follow  relate 
particularly  to  churches  subsequent  to  this  period. 

The  early  Christians,  like  the  Jews,  manifested  a  profound  vene- 
ration for  the  house  of  God,  and  zealously  guarded  it,  not  only 
against  the  intrusion  of  the  profane,  but  against  secular  and  sacri- 
legious uses.  Their  own  attendance  upon  its  ordinances  was  marked 
with  every  demonstration  of  religious  awe.  "Let  both  men  and 
women,"  says  Clemens  of  Alexandria,  "  come  to  church  in  comely 
apparel,  w^ith  a  serious  gait,  with  modest  silence,  and  love  unfeigned ; 
chaste  both  in  body  and  mind,  so  that  they  may  be  duly  prepared 
to  offer  prayer  to  God."^  "  They  came  into  the  church  as  into  the 
palace  of  the  Great  King.  Before  going  into  the  church,  they  used 
to  wash  at  least  their  hands,  carrying  themselves  there  with  the  most 
profound  silence  and  devotion.  Nay,  so  great  was  the  reverence 
which  they  bore  to  the  church,  that  the  emperors  themselves,  who 
otherwise  never  went  without  their  guard  about  them,  when  they 
came  to  go  into  the  church,  used  to  lay  down  their  arms — to  leave 
their  guard  behind  them,  and  to  put  ofi"  their  crowns."^ 

The  churches,  however,  were  occasionally  the  scenes  of  disorder 
and  sacrilege ;  especially  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  during 
the  Arian  controversy.  To  prevent  these,  Honorius  decreed,  A.  d. 
398,  the  sentence  of  scourging  and  banishment  upon  any  one  who 
should  enter  the  church  and  disturb  the  bishop  or  minister  in  the 
discharge  of  his  duties.  If  he  interrupted  the  religious  services,  or 
ofiered  violence  to  the  litany,  he  was  to  be  sentenced  to  death  by 
any  court,  civil  or  military.^ 


266  CHURCHES  AND   SACRED    PLACES.  [CHAP.  XIII. 


The  following  were  some  of  the  rules  by  which  the  church  was 
guarded  from  secular  and  sacrilegious  uses. 

(a)  Neither  churches  nor  any  of  their  utensils  or  implements 
could  be  sold,  mortgaged,  or  assessed  for  taxes ;  to  this  rule,  how- 
ever, there  were  occasional  exceptions. 

(b)  Churches  could  not  be  used  for  courts  of  either  civil  or  crimi- 
nal cases,  nor  for  popular  elections,  or  legislative  assemblies,  but 
they  might  be  opened  for  the  accommodation  of  ecclesiastical  coun- 
cils, and  for  the  coronation  of  princes. 

(c)  No  marketing,  or  exchanges  in  buying  or  selling  of  any  kind 
was  allowed  in  the  church,  much  less  were  annual  fairs  permitted 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  a  church. 

(d)  No  convivial  assemblies  were  in  any  instance  to  be  held  in  the 
churches.  And  even  the  love-feasts,  the  abuses  of  which  in  the 
Corinthian  church  were  so  severely  censured  by  the  apostle  Paul, 
(1  Cor.  xi.  18  et  seq.,)  were  not  allowed  in  the  churches. 

(e)  Neither  were  churches  to  be  opened  for  the  entertainment  of 
strangers  and  travellers. 

(/)  It  was  also  a  high  offence  to  speak  irreverently  of  the  house 
of  God,  or  unworthily  to  engage  in  any  oflScial  act  of  public  wor- 
ship.'"' 

All  who  entered  into  the  church  were  first  required  to  wash  their 
hands,  and  for  this  purpose  water  was  constantly  kept  in  the  front 
part  of  the  church,  as  has  been  already  stated,  §  7,  p.  251.  This 
rite,  as  explained  by  TertuUian  and  others,  was  emblematical  of 
that  purity  of  heart  with  which  the  worshipper  ought  to  engage  in 
his  public  religious  duties.^  In  some  of  the  Eastern  churches,  par- 
ticularly in  Abyssinia,  it  was  customary,  also,  for  Christians  to  put 
off  their  shoes  on  entering  the  church,  after  the  example  of  Moses. 
Exod.  iii.  5.  Kings  and  princes,  and  military  commanders  reve- 
rently laid  aside  their  badges  of  honour  and  of  office  on  entering 
the  church,''  a  custom  which  even  Julian  the  Apostate  commends  as 
worthy  of  imitation.'*  It  was,  moreover,  an  ancient  and  very  gene- 
ral usage  to  kiss  the  threshold  of  the  doors  and  the  altars  of  the 
churches,  as  another  token  of  reverence.^  Afterward  it  became 
usual  to  kiss  the  paintings  and  utensils. 

Of  the  same  general  character  were  the  numerous  directions 
given  respecting  a  quiet,  devout,  and  becoming  demeanour  in  the 
church  in  the  time  of  religious  worship  and  during  the  celebration 
of  the  sacrament.  These  directions  required  the  worshipper  to 
appear  in  decent  apparel,  to  kneel  or  stand  in  prayer,  to  keep  the 


SEC.  XVI.]  THE   CHURCH   AS   A   PLACE    OF   REFUGE.  267 

head  uncovered,  to  fold  the  hands,  and  to  refrain  from  gazing  about. 
All  noise  and  bustle,  shrieking,  clapping,  hemming,  and  spitting, 
was  expressly  forbidden,  together  with  all  irreverent  gesticulation, 
reading,  and  mimicking :  all  which  serves  to  show  how  fully  the 
Christian  church,  at  all  times,  participated  in  the  sentiment  of  the 
pious  Israelite,  "  Lord,  I  have  loved  the  habitation  of  thy  house, 
and  the  place  where  thine  honour  dwelleth." 

No  account  remains  of  the  formal  consecration  of  churches  earlier 
than  the  fourth  century.  Eusebius  describes  this  solemnity  on 
two  different  occasions,  and  records  the  sermon  which  he  himself 
preached  in  one  instance.^"  The  act  of  consecration  consisted  in 
prayer  and  other  religious  solemnities,  in  connection  with  the  pub- 
lic discourse. 

The  dedication  must  be  performed  by  the  bishop.  No  church 
could  even  be  built  without  his  consent  previously  obtained ;  and 
no  religious  service  could  be  held  in  the  church  until  it  had  been 
consecrated.'^  The  simple  and  appropriate  rites  of  consecration 
were  afterward  changed  by  Catholic  superstition  into  a  multitude 
of  mystical  ceremonies  totally  repugnant  to  the  original  design  of 
this  solemnity. 

§  16.    OF   THE    CHURCH   AS   A   PLACE   OF   REFUGE. 

The  ancient  historians  and  Christian  fathers  mention  many  in- 
stances in  which  the  church  and  the  altar  were  made  a  safe  place 
of  refuge,  not  only  for  Christians,  but  for  Jews  and  pagans.  Even 
by  barbarous  nations  the  church  was  respected  as  a  sacred  asylum. 
Both  Jews  and  Gentiles  had  long  been  familiar  with  similar  usages. 
The  Christian  church,  therefore,  like  the  pagan  temples  and  Jew- 
ish cities  of  refuge,  very  naturally  became  a  sacred  retreat,  which 
avenging  justice  feared  to  invade.  This  right,  probably,  was  first 
established  under  the  reign  of  Constantino  the  Great,  and  was  con- 
firmed and  enlarged  by  succeeding  emperors  ;  but  the  privilege  was 
greatly  abused,  and,  as  early  as  A.  D.  392,  became  the  subject  of 
complaint,  as  preventing  the  ends  of  justice,  by  offering  a  hiding- 
place  for  every  fugitive  from  justice.  Arcadius,  at  the  instigation 
of  Etropius,  A.  D.  397,  is  said  to  have  abrogated  the  right  within 
his  empire.'  The  clergy  were  uniformly  opposed  to  this  decree  of 
Arcadius.  A  council  which  was  held  in  Africa,  A.  D.  409,  sent  a 
delegation  to  the  emperor  for  its  repeal."  Chrysostom  especially 
distinguished  himself  by  his  zeal  against  it  :^  from  him  it  appears 


268  CHURCHES   AND   SACRED   PLACES.  [CHAP.  XIII. 


that  Arcadius  did  not  repeal  his  law.  But  this  was  done,  in  rela- 
tion to  the  Western  church,  hy  his  brother  Honorius,  A.  d.  414,^ 
which  again  was  further  established  and  enlarged  by  his  son,  Theo- 
dosius  the  younger,  A.  D.  431.^  The  privileges  of  this  right  were 
finally  defined  by  Justinian,  a,  d.  535,  to  this  efi"ect — that  the  sanc- 
tuary should  afford  no  protection  to  murderers,  adulterers,  ravishers 
of  virgins,  and  offenders  of  the  like  character,  it  being  the  intent 
of  the  privilege  not  to  give  protection  to  such  criminals,  but  to  offer 
an  asylum  to  such  as  were  exposed  to  violence  and  abuse  from  them. . 
If,  therefore,  any  who  were  guilty  of  such  crimes  fled  to  the  altar 
for  refuge,  they  were  to  be  immediately  taken  thence  and  punished 
according  to  law.^ 

This  law  of  Justinian,  however,  was  strenuously  opposed  by  the 
clergy,  as  being  an  invasion  of  their  right  of  jurisdiction  over  the 
churches,  and,  owing  to  this  cause  and  the  barbarous  character  of 
the  times,  it  was  never  generally  observed.  The  Councils  of  Orange, 
A.  D.  441,  of  Orleans,  A.  D.  511,  of  Aries,  a.  d,  541,  of  Ma^on,  a.  d. 
586,  of  Rheims,  a.  d.  630,  of  Toledo,  a.  d.  681,  etc.,  severally  vin- 
dicated this  right,  and  extended  protection  even  to  the  grossest  of- 
fenders ;'  and  the  less  efficient  sovereigns  acquiesced  in  their  deci- 
sions. Charlemagne  himself  fully  confirmed  these  privileges.^  They 
were  now  extended  to  the  churchyard  and  burial-ground,  and  to  the 
bishop's  house ;  and  then  again  to  the  chapels,  to  crucifixes  when 
brought  by  the  priest  to  the  sick  ;  and  even  to  the  parsonage.^  The 
right  was  also  claimed  for  cloisters,  though  it  was  not  often  exer- 
cised. The  synod  of  Nemours,  a.  d.  1284,  confirmed  the  privilege 
even  on  public  inns  for  strangers,  and  religious  establishments  ge- 
nerally. The  right  was  also  claimed  for  the  residence  of  the  Roman 
cardinal,  who  also  was  the  first  to  assume  the  inviolable  rights  of  a 
public  ambassador,  jus  asyli  legatorum.  This,  it  is  well  known, 
has  been  the  subject  of  much  controversy,  and,  as  late  as  the  last 
half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  was  asserted  as  an  important  poli- 
tical privilege. 

To  what  extent  the  privileges  above  mentioned  were  abused,  is 
evident  from  the  fact,  that  Innocent  III.  and  Gregory  IX.  were 
compelled  to  make  public  proclamation  that  the  chm'ch  should  offer 
no  refuge  to  murderers  and  highway  robbers.^  And  the  Council 
of  Cologne  decreed,  a,  D.  1280,  that  criminals  should  only  find 
refuge  in  the  church  until  due  deliberation  should  be  had  whether 
they  should  be  subjected  to  punishment  or  receive  pardon. 

In  the  Eastern  empire,  the  right  in  question  was  the  subject  of 


SEC.  XVI.]  THE    CHURCH   AS   A   PLACE   OF   REFUGE.  269 

similar  controversy  and  abuse.  The  famous  Tarasius,  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople  in  the  eighth  century,  was  a  zealous  defender  of  this 
right.  By  a  decree  of  the  emperor,  it  was  denied  to  murderers, 
robbers,  and  adulterers  ;^'^  but  Theophilus  granted  this  right  in 
favour  of  his  daughter's  grave  to  all  offenders.  It  is  remarkable, 
thiit  even  the  Turks  recognised  and  respected  the  sacred  privileges 
01  the  sanctuary.  Since  the  Reformation,  these  have  been  abro- 
gated in  all  evangelical  churches,  and  in  many  Catholic  countries 
they  have  either  been  wholly  abolished  or  greatly  modified. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

OF   RELIGIOUS  WORSHIP. 
§  1.    OF   PRIMITIVE   WORSHIP. 

The  first  converts  to  Christianity  continued  for  some  time  to 
frequent  the  synagogue  of  the  Jews,  and  to  unite  with  them  in 
their  worship.  In  their  own  religious  assemblies  they  observed 
the  devotional  exercises  of  the  synagogue.  These  were  prayer, 
singing,  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  and  occasional  remarks  and 
exhortations  connected  with  those  portions  of  the  Scriptures  which 
had  been  read.  Wliencvcr  the  apostles  met  with  their  Christian 
converts  for  religious  worship,  whether  in  private  families,  or  in 
more  public  assemblies,  both  the  record  of  their  acts  and  their  own 
epistles  indicate  all  the  informality,  freedom,  and  simplicity  of 
social  worship.  Subsequent  to  the  age  of  the  apostles,  for  two  or 
three  centuries,  it  is  remarkable  that  the  notices  on  record  respect- 
ing the  worship  of  the  primitive  Christians  are  few  and  indefinite. 

From  Pliny's  letter,  already  cited,  it  appears  that  the  Bithynian 
Christians,  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  century,  continued  to  ob- 
serve the  same  rites  of  worship  as  the  first  Christians.  Psalmody, 
the  worship  of  Christ,  efforts  to  discountenance  sin,  and  to  cele- 
brate the  Christian  graces,  are  particularly  specified,  together  with 
their  sacred  supper. 

Lucian,  in  the  middle  of  the  second  century,  makes  mention,  in 
the  passage  already  cited,  of  the  worship  of  Christ,  the  reading  of 
the  Sacred  Scriptm-es,  and  then'  sacred  supper.  Both  of  these  pro- 
fane authors  have  left  on  record  enough  to  indicate  that  the  sim- 
plicity of  primitive  worship  remained  at  the  distance  of  one  hundred 
years  from  the  apostles. 

Among  apostolical  fathers  the  reputed  epistles  of  Ignatius  are 

of  no  account.     Clement,  Polycarp,  Hermas,  Barnabas  give  us  no 

information  respecting  their  rites  of  worship.     Nor  from  Christian 

writers  have  we  any  information  on  this  subject  until  the  age  of 

270 


SEC.  I.]  PRIMITIVE   WORSHIP.  271 


Justin  Martyn,  contemporary  with  Lucian,  in  the  middle  of  the 
second  century.  This  father  has  incidentally  given  two  accounts 
of  the  religious  worship  of  the  primitive  Christians — one  on  the  oc- 
casion of  baptism ;  the  other,  that  of  the  customary  mode  of  worship 
on  the  Sabbath — which  are  here  transcribed  at  length. 

"  As  many  as  are  persuaded  and  believe  that  the  things  which 
we  teach  and  declare  are  true,  and  promise  that  they  are  deter- 
mined to  live  accordingly,  are  taught  to  pray  to  God,  and  to  be- 
seech him  with  fasting  to  grant  them  remission  for  their  past  sins, 
while  we  also  pray  and  fast  with  them.  We  then  lead  them  to  a 
place  where  there  is  water,  and  then  they  are  regenerated,  in  the 
same  manner  as  we  also  were ;  for  they  are  then  washed  in  that 
water  in  the  name  of  God,  the  Father  and  Lord  of  the  universe, 
and  of  our  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit." 

"  We  then,  having  so  washed  [^.  e.  baptized]  him  who  hath  ex- 
pressed his  conviction  and  professed  the  faith,  lead  him  to  those 
who  are  called  brethren,  where  they  are  gathered  together  to  make 
common  prayers  with  great  earnestness,  both  for  themselves  and 
for  him  who  is  now  enlightened,  and  for  all  others  in  all  places ; 
that  having  learned  the  truth,  we  may  be  deemed  worthy  to  be 
found  men  of  godly  conversation  in  our  lives,  and  to  keep  the  com- 
mandments, that  so  we  may  attain  to  eternal  salvation.  When  we 
have  finished  our  prayers,  we  salute  one  another  with  a  kiss ;  after 
which  there  is  brought  to  that  one  of  the  brethren  who  presides, 
bread  and  a  cup  of  wine  mixed  with  water.  And  he,  having  mixed 
them,  gives  praise  and  glory  to  the  Father  of  all  things,  through 
the  name  of  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  gives  thanks  in 
many  words  for  that  God  hath  vouchsafed  to  them  those  things. 
And  when  he  hath  finished  his  praises  and  thanksgivings,  all  the 
people  who  are  present  express  their  assent,  saying,  Amen,  which 
in  the  Hebrew  language  means.  So  be  it.  The  president  having 
given  thanks,  and  the  people  having  given  their  assent,  those  whom 
we  call  deacons  give  to  each  of  those  who  are  present  a  portion  of 
the  bread  which  has  been  blessed,  and  of  the  wine  mixed  with 
water,  and  send  some  away  to  those  who  are  absent. 

"  On  the  day  which  is  called  Sunday,  there  is  an  assembly  in 
one  place  of  all  who  dwell  either  in  towns  or  in  the  country,  and 
the  memoirs  of  the  apostles  or  the  writings  of  the  prophets  are 
read,  as  long  as  the  time  permits.  Then,  when  the  reader  has* 
ceased,  the  president  delivers  a  discourse,  in  which  he  reminds  and 
exhorts  them  to  the  imitation  of  all  these  good  things.     We  then 


272  RELIGIOUS   WORSHIP.  [CHAP.  XIV. 


all  stand  up  together,  and  offer  up  our  prayers.  Then,  as  we  have 
already  said,  when  we  cease  from  prayer,  bread  is  brought,  and 
wine  and  water ;  and  the  president,  in  like  manner,  offers  up 
prayers  and  praises,  according  to  his  ability,  and  the  people  ex- 
press their  assent  by  saying,  Amen.  The  consecrated  elements 
are  then  distributed  and  received  by  every  one ;  and  a  portion  is 
sent  by  the  deacons  to  those  who  are  absent."^ 

In  the  comparison  of  these  paragraphs,  one  cannot  fail  to  notice 
the  free  spirit  of  the  primitive  worship  with  circumstantial  varia- 
tions. We  here  notice,  for  the  first  time,  the  blessing  in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit ;  water  in  connection 
with  the  wine  of  the  eucharist — the  use  of  which  afterward  became 
common — is  here  for  the  first  time  mentioned.  Justin  is  the  first 
to  style  the  sacrament  an  offering,  in  allusion  to  the  sacramental 
offerings  of  the  Jews,  and  the  distribution  of  the  elements  by  the 
deacons  to  the  absent  communicants. 

The  order  and  mode  of  Avorship  at  the  baptismal  service  differs 
in  several  particulars  from  that  on  the  Sabbath.  The  reading  of 
the  Scriptures  and  the  corresponding  exhortation  are  omitted  in 
the  baptismal  service ;  the  subjects  of  the  prayers  have  all  the 
variety  and  contrast  of  occasional,  extemporaneous  prayer.  Could 
any  one  without  prejudice  or  bias  in  favour  of  a  liturgy  ever  imagine 
that  those  occasional  prayers  offered  by  the  suppliant,  according  to 
the  best  of  his  ability,  were  rehearsed  from  a  prayer  book,  or  ac- 
cording to  any  set  form  ? 

The  whole  controversy  here  turns  on  the  interpretation  of  Jus- 
tin's words,  where  he  says  that  the  president  prays  ocr>7  Svvafiig 
avtGi.  That  this  phrase  indicates  the  free,  spontaneous  suggestions 
of  his  own  mind,  has  been  unanswerably  shown  by  Chancellor  King 
and  by  Clarkson,  with  which  references  we  shall  dismiss  the  subject 
after  a  brief  citation  from  the  author's  "  Apostolical  and  Primitive 
Church,"  where  the  forms  of  prayer  are  considered  more  in  detail. 

With  regard  to  Justin's  meaning,  in  the  passage  under  consider- 
ation, let  it  be  compared  with  the  following  citations  from  the  same 
Apology  by  Justin  Martyi* : — 

"  We,  who  worship  the  Ruler  of  the  universe,  are  not  atheists. 
We  affirm,  as  we  are  taught,  that  he  has  no  need  of  blood,  liba- 
tions, and  incense.  But,  with  supplication  and  thanksgivings,  we 
praise  him  according  to  our  ability,  6(7)7  hvva[J.Lg,  for  all  which  we 
enjoy,  J^'  oTg  7tpoa<pEpo^£^a  Ttduiv,  having  learned  that,  worthily 
to  honour  him  is  not  to  consume  in  fire  by  sacrifice  what  he  has 


SEC.  I.]  PRIMITIVE   WORSHIP.  273 


provided  for  our  sustenance,  but  to  bestow  it  upon  ourselves  and 
upon  the  needy,  to  show  ourselves  by  invocations  and  hymns  thank- 
ful to  him  for  our  birth,  our  health,  and  all  that  he  has  made,  and 
for  the  vicissitudes  of  the  season."^ 

The  Catholic  and  Episcopal  rendering  of  this  passage  makes  the 
author  say  that,  in  all  our  offerings,  i<p'  oig  7tpoG<pEp6i.t£^a  TtaGiv, 
we  praise  him,  oGyj  ^vva[.iig,  with  the  utmost  fervency  of  devotion. 
This,  however,  is  a  mistaken  rendering  of  the  verb,  7tpoG^epof.iaL, 
which,  in  the  middle  voice,  means  not  to  oflFer  in  sacrifice,  or  to 
worship,  but  to  participate,  to  enjoy.  So  it  is  rendered  by  Scapula, 
Hedericus,  Bretschneider,  Passow,  etc.  The  passage  relates,  not 
to  an  act  of  sacrifice,  nor  of  public  worship,  as  the  connection 
shows,  but  to  deeds  of  piety  toward  God,  and  of  benevolence  to 
men,  done  according  to  their  ability ;  by  which  means  they  ofi'ered 
the  best  refutation  of  the  groundless  calumnies  of  their  enemies, 
who  had  charged  them  with  an  atheistical  neglect  of  the  gods. 
The  declaration  is,  that  for  all  their  blessings  they  express,  accord- 
ing to  their  ability,  thanksgivings  to  God,  and  testify  their  grati- 
tude by  deeds  of  charity  to  their  fellow-men. 

"  Having,  therefore,  exhorted  you,  oGyj  hvvafiig,  according  to  our 
ability,  both  by  reason  and  by  a  visible  sign  or  figure,  we  know  that 
we  shall  henceforth  be  blameless  if  you  do  not  believe,  for  we  have 
done  ivhat  tve  could  for  your  conversion."^  He  had  done  what  he 
could :  by  various  efforts  of  argument  and  exhortation,  and  by 
visible  signs  he  had  laboured  according  to  his  ability  to  bring  them 
to  receive  the  truth.  The  exhortation  was  the  free  expression  of 
his  heart's  desire  for  their  conversion.  Can  there  be  any  doubt 
that  the  phrase  denotes  the  same  freedom  of  expression  in  prayer  ? 
These  passages  appear  to  us  clearly  to  illustrate  the  meaning  of  the 
phrase  in  question,  as  used  by  oui-  author,  and  to  justify  our  inter- 
pretation.* 

If  one  desires  further  satisfaction  on  this  point,  he  has  only  to 
turn  to  the  works  of  Origen,  in  which  this  and  similar  forms  of  ex- 
pression are  continually  occurring,  to  denote  the  invention,  ability, 
and  powers  of  the  mind.  Origen,  in  his  reply  to  the  calumnies  of 
Celsus,  proposes  to  refute  them,  "according  to  his  ability."*  In 
his  preface  he  has  apologized  for  the  Christians  "  as  well  as  he 
could." t     These  Christians  sought  "as  much  as  possible"  to  pre- 


*  "Oeri  6v^a,atf,  lib.  6,  §  ii.  vol.  ii.  p.  G94 ;  so,  also,  xata.  -to  bwa-tov,  §  12,  p.  638. 
t  Ka-ri  triv  nafovaoAi  bvvafuv,  Prtcf.  lib.  Contr.  Cels. 

18 


274  KELIGIOUS   WORSHIP.  [CHAP.  XIV. 

serve  the  purity  of  the  church.*  They  strove  to  discover  the 
hidden  meaning  of  God's  word,  "  according  to  the  best  of  their 
abilities."  t  In  these  instances  the  reference  is  not  to  the  fervour 
of  the  spirits,  or  the  ardour  of  the  mind,  but  to  the  exercise  of  the 
mental  powers.  The  act  performed  is  done  according  to  the  inge- 
nuity, the  talents  of  the  agents  in  each  case. 

From  Irenseus  and  Tertullian  we  derive  no  additional  informa- 
tion respecting  the  religious  worship  of  the  primitive  Christians ; 
but  Tertullian,  at  the  close  of  the  second  century,  briefly  describes 
the  worship  of  the  African  church : — "  We  meet  in  public  assembly 
•^0  pray  for  the  emperor,  for  his  ministers,  for  the  public  welfare, 
for  universal  peace,  and  the  delay  of  the  end  of  the  world,  i^ro  mora 
finis.  We  meet  to  read  the  Sacred  Records,  and,  as  circumstances 
may  require,  to  stir  up  our  minds  by  way  of  remembrance  or  admo- 
nition; especially  by  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  we  confirm  our  faith,  we 
e|uicken  our  hope,  we  establish  our  confidence,  and,  by  renewed  ap- 
plication, encourage  ourselves  to  keep  the  Divine  law.  In  the  same 
assemblies  we  ofi"er  also  admonitions,  we  institute  examinations, 
and  administer  the  Divine  censure,  [the  religious  discipline  of  the 
church ;]  for  with  great  caution  such  examinations  are  made,  as 
though  under  the  eye  of  God,  and  in  view  of  the  future  judgment, 
whether  any  one  has  so  offended  as  to  require  him  to  be  excluded 
from  the  fellowship  of  our  prayers,  from  our  public  assemblies,  and 
from  all  communion  within  sacred  things.  Certain  elders  preside 
who  have  obtained  this  honour,  not  by  pm*chase,  but  by  the  testi- 
mony of  their  lives."  Tertullian  then  explains  what  provisions  are 
made  by  charitable  collections  for  orphan  children,  for  the  poor, 
the  aged,  the  afliicted,  and  the  persecuted,  as  specified  above,  p.  74 ; 
he  describes  the  mutual  affection  of  the  brethren  and  their  commu- 
nity of  goods,  and  the  purity  and  simplicity  of  their  love-feasts ; 
and,  in  this  connection,  gives  us  a  further  insight  into  their  mode  of 
religious  worship.  "  No  one  takes  his  seat  at  the  table  until  prayer 
lias  been  offered  to  God.  They  eat  only  sufficient  to  satisfy  their 
hunger,  and  drink  enough  to  slake  their  thirst.  They  partake  of 
these  provisions  in  remembrance  that  God  is  to  be  honoured  by 
night  as  well  as  by  day,  and  converse  as  in  the  audience  of  God. 

*  "Oari  bvvaiiii,  Contr.  Cels.  lib.  3,  vol.  ii.  p.  482. 

■{•  Lib.  6,  §  2,  p.  630.  Comp.  in  Comment,  in  Math,  oarj  Svvauic,  torn.  17,  vol. 
iii.  p.  809 ;  xata  to  Svvatw,  torn.  16,  vol.  iii.  p.  735  ;  xata  Svvafiiv,  torn.  17,  vol. 
iii.  p.  779,  vol.  iv.  p.  6;  xa.ta  t^v  rtapovaav  Svvafitv,  torn.  17,  vol.  iii.  p.  794;  also 
Clarkson's  Discourse  on  Liturgies,  pp.  247-374,  Select  Works,  London,  1840. 


SEC.  I.]  PRIMITIVE   WORSHIP.  275 

After  this,  lights  are  brought  in,  and  water  for  the  hands  ;  then  any 
one  present  is  requested  to  sing  a  song  to  God,  either  from  the 
Sacred  Scriptures  or  from  the  suggestions  of  his  oivn  mind,  de  pro- 
prio  ingenio.     After  this  the  festival  is  concluded  by  prayer." 

Here,  at  the  end  of  the  second  century,  we  recognise  still  the 
mutual  fellowship  and  communion  of  the  first  converts  to  Christianity, 
perpetuated  by  the  same  familiar  rites  of  sacred  worship — prayer, 
the  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  mutual  exhortation  and  encourage- 
ment in  their  religious  life,  psalms  and  spiritual  songs.  On  another 
occasion  he  informs  us,  that  as  in  this  instance,  the  Christians 
sometimes  began  their  religious  assemblies  before  nightfall,  and 
continued  them  into  the  evening ;  in  other  instances  they  assem- 
bled at  the  dawn  of  day  for  social  worship. 

The  testimony  of  Tertullian  is  opposed  to  the  theory  of  a  litur- 
gical form  of  worship  in  the  primitive  worship.  "We  Christians 
pray,"  he  says,  '■'■  ivithout  a  monitor,  because  from  the  heart,'"  siiie 
monitore  quia  de  j^ectore. 

Much  ingenuity  has  been  employed  to  reconcile  this  expression 
with  the  use  of  a  prayer-book ;  but,  viewed  in  connection  with  the 
freedom  and  simplicity  in  which  worship  was  at  that  time  con- 
ducted, its  real  import  is  sufficiently  obvious.  He  justifies,  indeed, 
the  use  of  the  Lord's  prayer,  but  seems  to  intimate  that  to  God 
alone  belongs  the  right  of  prescribing  forms  of  prayer.  "  God 
alone,"  says  he,  "  can  teach  us  how  he  would  be  addressed  in 
prayer."  But  he  adds,  "  Our  Lord,  who  foresaw  the  necessities  of 
men,  after  he  had  delivered  this  form  of  prayer,  said,  '  Ask,  and  ye 
shall  receive ;'  and  there  are  some  things  which  need  to  be  asked, 
according  to  every  ones  circumstances ;  the  rightful  and  ordinary 
being  first  used  as  a  foundation,  we  may  lawfully  add  other  occa- 
sional desires,  and  make  this  the  basis  of  other  petitions."^ 

The  writings  of  Iren^eus,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Minucius 
Felix,  and  Cyprian,  and  even  the  voluminous  works  of  Origen  and 
Eusebius,  afford  little  additional  information  respecting  the  forms 
of  worship  that  prevailed  in  the  second  and  third  centuries.  They 
indicate  no  essential  departure  from  the  simplicity  of  primitive 
worship.  They  give  no  intimation  of  any  liturgical  forms  of  prayer 
for  Christians,  with  the  exception  of  the  Lord's  prayer,  and  this, 
as  may  appear  under  another  head,  was  not  a  prescribed  liturgical 
form,  but  an  example  of  the  appropriate  spirit  and  subjects  of 
prayer,  however  and  by  whomsoever  oflFered. 

We  will  only  add,  on  this  subject,  that  the  attitude  of  the  primi- 


276  RELIGIOUS    WORSHIP.  [CHAP.  XIV. 


tive  Christians  forbids  the  supposition  that  they  used  written 
prayers.  The  attitude  of  the  suppliant  was  with  eyes  uplifted  and 
hands  outspread,*  or  kneeling  with  head  inclined  and  eyes  closed, 
to  shut  out  from  the  mind  every  distm-bing  object,  or,  as  Origen 
expresses  it,  "  closing  the  eyes  of  his  senses,  but  erecting  those  of 
his  mind." 

We  are  far  from  affirming  that  the  free,  familiar,  confiding  spirit 
of  the  early  Christians  is  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  use  of  a 
liturgy ;  but  surely  such  a  spirit  does  find  utterance  rather  in  the 
unstudied  suggestions  of  the  occasion  than  in  the  frigid,  formal  dic- 
tations of  a  prayer-book.  When  we  take  into  consideration,  also, 
the  customary  attitude  for  prayer,  in  connection  with  the  absence 
of  all  historical  evidence  of  a  liturgy  previous  to  the  third  century, 
we  must  conclude  that  it  was  unknown  in  the  church  previous  to 
that  period. 

§  2.    OF   THE   SECRET   DISCIPLINE   OF   THE   ANCIENT   CHURCH. 
DISCIPLINA   ARCANI. 

In  an  historical  survey  of  the  rites  of  public  worship  observed  by 
the  primitive  Christians,  we  arrive  at  a  period,  antecedent  to  the 
use  of  a  liturgy,  when  an  important  change  was  introduced  into 
their  public  worship  by  the  division  of  it  into  parts  or  lessons, 
known  subsequently  as  the  missa  catechumenorum  and  the  missa 
fedeUum — the  inass,  or  service,  for  the  catechumens  and  for  the 
faithful,  the  baptized  or  believers.  The  origin  of  this  innovation 
and  the  causes  which  gave  rise  to  it  are  involved  in  great  obscurity, 
and  have  been  the  subject  of  much  controversy.  Christianity  in 
the  beginning  confessedly  had  no  mysteries  to  conceal,  or  none 
which,  with  "prudent  reserve,"  should  be  withheld  from  the  igno- 
rant, the  irreligious,  the  uninitiated.  Nothing  like  this  secret 
discipline,  which  reserved  certain  topics  of  religion  exclusively  for 
baptized  believers,  and  excluded  all  others,  was  known  in  the  age 
of  the  apostles,  or  that  which  immediately  followed.  But  it  became 
customary  at  an  early  period  to  celebrate  the  ordinances  of  religion 
with  an  air  of  profound  mystery.  The  church  became  a  secret 
society^  whose  rites,  in  connection  with  certain  doctrines,  were  con- 
cealed with  the  strictest  caution  from  the  uninitiated. 


*  Illuc  sursum  suspicientes  Christiani  manibus  expansis,  quia  innocuis,  capite 
nudo,  quia  non  erubescimus ;  denique  sine  monitore,  quia  de  pectore  oramus. 


SEC.  II.]      SECRET   DISCIPLINE   OF   THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH.  277 


Not  only  were  unbelievers  of  every  kind  excluded  from  them,  but 
even  candidates  for  admission  to  the  church  were  kept  in  profound 
ignorance  of  the  peculiar  ordinances  and  doctrines  of  the  church. 
These  were  themes  upon  which  the  private  professor  and  the  public 
teacher  were  strictly  forbidden  to  touch.  Not  a  hint  was  allowed 
to  be  given  nor  a  whisper  breathed  on  these  topics.  Even  the 
preacher,  when  led  in  public  discourse  to  speak  of  the  sacraments 
and  of  the  higher  doctrines  of  the  Christian  system,  contented  him- 
self with  remote  allusions,  and  dismissed  the  subject  by  saying, 
The  initiated  understand  me — loaaiv  ol  fiEiivyjfisvoi.  The  fathers 
never  allowed  themselves  to  write  on  these  mysteries,  except  in 
enigmatical  and  figurative  expression,  lest  they  should  seem,  in 
their  own  phraseology,  to  be  giving  that  which  is  holy  unto  dogs, 
^r  casting  pearls  before  swine. 

Neither  the  apostolical  fathers  nor  their  immediate  successors 
make  any  allusion  to  this  secret  discipline.  Tertullian  is  supposed 
to  refer  to  it  in  the  passage  cited  in  the  margin.  He  reflects  se- 
verely upon  the  irregularities  of  certain  heretics.  "  No  one  knows 
who  is  a  catechumen ;  who  a  believer.  They  all  come  and  hear 
and  pray  alike ;  and  even  if  the  heathen  chance  to  come  in,  they 
give  that  which  is  holy  unto  dogs,  and  cast  their  pearls,  such  as  they 
are,  before  swine."*  He  proceeds  to  complain  that  even  the  women 
venture  to  assume  the  sacred  functions  of  the  ministry,  and  that 
they  observe  no  order  in  their  ecclesiastical  appointments,  so  that 
"  the  same  one  is  to-day  a  bishop  ;  to-morrow,  something  else ;  one 
day  a  presbyter;  another,  a  layman."  From  this  connection,  the 
inference  is  that  Tertullian  has  reference  to  these  disorders,  rather 
than  to  any  improper  attendance  upon  forbidden  mysteries.  It 
would  seem,  however,  that  about  the  beginning  of  the  third  cen- 
tury, the  churches  of  Africa  began  to  attach  a  mysterious  solemnity 
to  the  distinguishing  doctrines  and  rites  of  the  Christian  religion, 
and  to  withdraw  them  from  the  notice  of  the  irreligious  and  unbeliev- 
ing. Neander  supposes  this  mysticism  to  have  had  its  origin  in  the 
Alexandrian  church.  The  theology  of  Clement  and  Origen,  of  this 
church,  was  deeply  tinged  with  it.  From  the  African  churches,  this 
secret  discipline  spread  to  those  of  the  East  and  the  West,  and  was 
gradually  developed  in  the  course  of  the  third  century,  and  matured 
in  the  fourth.     Mosheim,  in  his  Commentaries,  has  sketched,  with 

*  Imprimis  quis  cateclmmenus,  quis  fidelis,  iucertum  est.  Pariter  adeunt, 
pariter  audiunt,  pariter  orant ;  etiara  ethnici  si  supervenerint,  sanctum  canibus, 
et  porcis  margaritas,  licet  non  veras,  jactabuut. — De  Prxscrip.  c.  41. 


278  KELIGIOUS   WORSHIP.  [CHAP.  XIV. 

his  usual  candour  and  clearness,  the  various  phases  of  this  delusion 
in  the  progress  of  its  development.  The  result  of  his  researches 
on  this  recondite  subject  are  given  in  detail,  from  the  recent  trans- 
lation by  Dr.  Murdoch  : — 

"  That  the  more  learned  of  the  Christians,  subsequently  to  the 
second  century,  cultivated,  in  secret,  an  abstruse  discipline  of  a  dif- 
ferent nature  from  that  "which  they  taught  publicly,  is  well  known 
to  every  one.  Concerning  the  argument,  however,  or  matter  of 
this  secret  or  mysterious  discipline,  its  oi-igin,  and  the  causes  which 
gave  rise  to  it,  there  are  infinite  disputes.  But  these  contentions, 
as  is  commonly  the  case  among  mortals,  instead  of  elucidating,  have 
rather  tended  to  throw  additional  obscurity  over  a  thing  of  itself 
sufficiently  intricate,  and  that  seems,  as  it  were,  to  have  set  illus- 
tration at  defiance.  This  has  more  particularly  been  the  case  since 
the  advocates  for  the  papacy  have  endeavoured  to  avail  themselves 
of  this  secret  discipline  of  the  ancient  Christians  in  support  of  their 
cause.  To  me,  it  appears  that  this  obscurity  might  be  in  part  re- 
moved, if  due  attention  were  paid  to  a  circumstance  which  seems 
to  have  been  hitherto  commonly  overlooked,  namely,  that  among 
the  ancient  Christians  there  existed  not  merely  one,  but  several 
species  of  secret  discipline,  which  were,  indeed,  of  some  affinity  to 
each  other,  but  between  which  it  is  necessary  in  regard  to  this 
question  to  draw  a  line  of  distinction,  in  order  to  prevent  our  con- 
founding together  things  in  themselves  really  difierent. 

"  In  the  first  place,  there  was  a  sort  of  secret  or  mysterious  dis- 
cipline that  related  to  those  who  were  enemies  to  the  Christian  re- 
ligion and  worshippers  of  false  gods ;  but  even  this  was  of  more 
than  one  kind.  For,  first,  there  was  a  sort  of  discipline  of  this 
nature  that  respected  all  who  were  adverse  to  the  Christian  faith 
generally  and  without  distinction.  There  were  certain  points  of 
belief,  for  instance,  at  this  time  current  among  the  Christians  re- 
specting the  destruction  that  hung  over  the  city  of  Rome  and  the 
empire,  as  well  as  the  wars  and  final  discomfiture  of  Antichrist,  the 
near  approach  of  the  end  of  the  world,  the  millennium,  and  other 
matters,  peradventure,  connected  with  these.  Now  if  things  of  this 
kind  had  been  promulgated  without  reserve  among  the  multitude, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  a  very  considerable  degree  of  enmity 
and  ill-will  would  have  been  excited  in  the  minds  of  the  Roman  peo- 
ple toward  the  Christians.  Great  care  was  therefore  taken  to  con- 
ceal every  thing  of  this  nature  from  all  except  comparatively  a  few, 
of  whose  fidelity  and  secrecy  there  could  be  no  apprehension. 


SEC.  II.]      SECRET   DISCIPLINE   OF   THE   ANCIENT   CHURCH.  270 


"  Another  species  of  secret  discipline  had  relation  to  those  whom 
the  Christians  were  desirous  of  rescuing  from  the  dominion  of  su- 
perstition and  initiating  in  the  principles  of  Christianity.  With 
these  thej  found  it  necessary  to  proceed  somewhat  cautiously,  lest, 
by  a  premature  communication  of  the  truth,  their  minds  might  re- 
ceive impressions  unfavourable  to  the  Christian  religion.  They, 
therefore,  observed  at  first  a  total  silence  with  regard  to  the  doc- 
trine contained  in  the  Scripture  respecting  the  person,  merits,  and 
functions  of  Christ ;  as  well  as  those  other  mysteries,  to  the  right 
comprehending  of  which  the  human  mind  is  of  itself  unequal,  and 
confined  them  wholly  to  such  things  as  right  reason  points  out 
concerning  the  Deity,  the  nature  of  man,  and  his  duties.  When 
these  had  been  sufficiently  inculcated  and  suitably  received,  and 
not  before,  they  proceeded  to  points  of  a  higher  and  more  abstruse 
nature.  Respecting  the  practice  of  the  early  Christians  in  regard 
to  this,  the  reader  will  find  a  notable  passage  in  the  Apostolical 
Constitutions. 

"  These  Constitutions  direct  a  widow,  when  she  is  questioned  on 
the  subject  of  religion,  to  reply  in  respect  to  whatever  may  tend  to 
prevent  error.  '  Let  her  answer  only  so  as  may  tend  to  subvert 
the  error  of  polytheism  and  demonstrate  the  doctrine  concernin'g 
the  monarchy  of  God.  But  of  the  remaining  doctrines  let  her  not 
answer  any  thing  rashly,  lest,  by  saying  any  thing  unlearnedly,  she 
should  cause  the  word  to  be  blasphemed.  For  the  Lord  has  taught 
us  that  the  word  is  like  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  Matt.  xiii.  31, 
which  is  of  a  fiery  nature,  and,  if  any  one  useth  it  unskilfully,  he 
will  find  it  bitter.  For  in  the  mystical  points  we  ought  not  to  be 
rash,  but  cautious.  For  the  Lord  exhorteth  us,  saying.  Cast  not 
your  pearls  before  swine,  lest  they  trample  them  toith  their  feet, 
and  turn  again  and  rend  you.  For  unbelievers,  when  they  hear 
the  doctrine  concerning  Christ  not  explained  as  it  ought  to  be,  but 
defectively,  and  especially  that  concerning  his  incarnation  or  his 
passion,  will  rather  reject  it  with  scorn,  and  laugh  at  it  as  false, 
than  praise  God  for  it.' 

"  Entirely  distinct  from  these,  there  existed  another  species  of 
secret  discipline,  which  regarded  Christians  alone,  and  had  respect, 
in  part,  to  the  catechumens,  or  those  who  had  not  as  yet  been  re- 
ceived into  the  church,  and,  in  part,  to  the  regular  members  of  the 
church.  This  discipline,  so  far  as  it  regarded  the  catechumens,  is 
sufficiently  known.  The  catechumens  were  not  admitted  either  to 
the  common  prayers  or  to  a  sight  of  the  celebration  of  the  sacred 


280  RELIGIOUS   WORSHIP.  [CHAP,  XIV. 


rites  ordained  by  Christ,  or  to  what  were  termed  the  feasts  of  love  ; 
nor  were  they  at  all  instructed  as  to  the  nature  of  these  parts  of 
Divine  worship,  or  any  of  the  injunctions  or  regulations  appertain- 
ing to  them,  until  they  had  been  regularly  adopted  as  members  of 
the  church  by  baptism  ;  and,  consistently  with  this,  the  sacred 
preachers  made  it  a  rule  to  abstain  from  entering  into  any  discus- 
sions immediately  relating  either  to  baptism  or  the  Lord's  supper, 
in  presence  of  the  catechumens.  But  this  kind  of  discipline  had 
certainly  in  it  somewhat  of  an  alien  cast,  and  betrayed  an  imita- 
tion of  foreign  manners  and  customs  but  little  laudable. 

"  Of  a  much  more  praiseworthy  nature  was  the  practice  of  con- 
sulting the  furtherance  and  advantage  of  weak  and  illiterate  Chris- 
tians, by  directing  the  teachers  to  accommodate  their  discourses  to 
the  capacities  of  their  hearers,  and  in  popular  addresses  to  omit  all 
such  things  as  were  not,  without  difficulty,  to  be  comprehended  by 
persons  of  low  and  simple  minds.  Instructions  to  this  effect  are  to 
be  found  in  Origen,  contra  Celsum,  lib.  iii.  p.  143,  edit.  Spencer, 
as  well  as  in  other  Christian  writers.  Undoubtedly,  nothing  can 
be  more  commendable  and  wise  than  to  avoid  troubling  weak  and 
simple  minds  with  things,  to  the  right  comprehension  of  which  an 
ol"dinary  degree  of  intelligence  is  by  no  means  equal. 

"  In  addition  to  all  these  different  species  of  secret  discipline, 
which  had  relation  to  particular  classes  of  men,  and  were  regulated 
by  certain  modes  and  times,  there  remains  still  yet  another  to  be 
mentioned,  of  a  nature  altogether  different,  being  controlled  neither 
by  time  nor  place,  and  having  respect  to  no  class  of  men  in  par- 
ticular, but,  with  few  exceptions,  equally  regarding  all,  as  well 
Christians  as  those  who  were  strangers  to  the  Christian  faith. 
This,  without  question,  consisted  of  divers  maxims  and  opinions 
which  were  cherished  by  the  Christian  teachers  in  pinvate  among 
themselves,  and  never  communicated  to  the  people  at  large,  or  even 
to  their  own  immediate  disciples  indiscriminately,  but  only  in  secret 
to  such  of  these  latter  as  had  given  satisfactory  proofs  of  their  trust- 
worthiness and  taciturnity.  Clement  of  Alexandria  is  the  first 
Avriter  that  notices  this  sort  of  discipline ;  before  him,  no  men- 
tion whatever  is  made  of  it  by  any  author.  There  can,  therefore, 
be  but  little  doubt  that  it  originated  among  the  Christians  of 
Egypt,  and  was  by  them  communicated  to  the  other  churches. 
Clement  represents  this  secret  discipline,  to  which  he  gives  the  title 
of  yj'G)Gig,  as  having  been  instituted  by  Christ  himself.  Nor  does 
he  discover  the  least  hesitation  in  asserting,  with  the  Gnostics,  that 


SEC.  II.]     SECRET   DISCIPLINE    OF   THE   ANCIENT   CHURCH.  281 

the  discipline  communicated  by  our  blessed  Saviour  to  mankind 
was  of  a  twofold  nature,  the  one  calculated  for  the  world  at  large, 
the  other  designed  only  for  the  wise  and  prudent ;  the  former  con- 
sisting of  what  was  taught  publicly  to  the  people  by  Christ  himself, 
and  is  to  be  found  in  the  Scriptures ;  the  latter,  of  certain  maxims 
and  precepts  that  were  communicated  merely  by  word  of  mouth  to 
a  few  only  of  the  disciples. 

"  What  Clement  says  of  the  Divine  origin  of  this  discipline  is, 
unquestionably,  a  mere  fiction,  devised  either  by  him  or  some  other 
admirer  of  philosophy,  with  a  view  to  silence  the  importunate  re- 
monstrances of  those  friends  to  Christian  simplicity  who,  mindful 
of  St.  Paul's  injunction,  were  continually  protesting  against  any 
attempt  to  blend  philosophy  with  the  religion  of  the  gospel.  To 
Clement  such  sanctified  deceptions  and  pious  inventions  appeared 
not  at  all  unwarrantable ;  indeed,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  that 
they  were  countenanced  by  all  such  of  the  Christian  teachers  as 
were  of  the  Egyptian  or  modern  Platonic  school.  In  reality,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  Clement,  and  most  probably  also  his  mas- 
ters, whose  authority  he  frequently  adduces,  learned  the  mode  of 
blending  philosophy  with  religion  from  Philo ;  and  the  secret  dis- 
cipline, or  the  practice  of  cautiously  concealing  their  philosophical 
explications  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  principles  of  Christianity, 
from  the  Egyptians  as  well  as  from  Philo.  The  thing,  in  fact,  is 
not  altogether  dissembled  by  Clement,  who  frequently  compares 
his  secret  discipline  with  the  heathen  mysteries  and  the  interior 
and  recondite  wisdom  of  the  philosophers,  and  defends  it  by  a  re- 
ference to  both  of  these." 

The  same  author  subjoins  the  following  extract  as  an  example  of 
the  pompous  strain  in  which  Philo  was  accustomed  to  descant  upon 
the  sublime  mysteries  of  the  church : — "  Having  then,  0  ye  initi- 
ated !  through  the  channel  of  purified  organs,  acquired  a  knowledge 
of  these  things,  let  them  sink  deep  into  your  minds  as  holy  myste- 
ries, not  to  be  revealed  to  the  profane.  Bury  them  within  your 
bosoms,  and  preserve  them  as  a  treasure ;  a  treasure  consisting, 
not  of  corruptible  things,  such  as  silver  and  gold,  but  of  the  fairest 
and  most  valuable  portion  of  true  wealth,  namely,  a  knowledge  of 
God  and  of  virtue,  and  of  the  oifspring  that  is  generated  of  them 
both.  Whenever  ye  chance  to  meet  with  any  one  else  of  the  initi- 
ated, beseech  him  with  the  most  earnest  entreaties  not  to  conceal 
from  you  any  mystery  that  he  may  have  more  recently  discoveredj 


282  RELIGIOUS   WORSHIP.  [CHAP.  XIV. 

and  leave  him  not  until  you  shall  have  obtained  from  him  the  most 
intimate  insight  into  it." 

"  Philo,  without  doubt,  imitated  the  Egyptians  ;  Clement,  as  un- 
questionably, followed  the  example  of  Philo ;  and  Origen  trod 
clearly  in  the  footsteps  of  both.  The  more  recent  Christian  teach- 
ers, for  the  most  part,  formed  themselves  upon  the  model  of  this 
latter  father.  The  secret  discipline  of  Philo  consisted  in  the  ap- 
plication of  philosophic  principles  to  religion  and  the  sacred  writ- 
ings ;  nor  was  that  of  Clement  ever  thought  to  differ  from  it,  except 
by  those  who  had  not  sufficiently  informed  themselves  on  the  sub- 
ject. The  reader  will  understand  me,  in  what  I  have  said  above,  as 
not  meaning  to  attribute  the  absolute  invention  of  this  discipline  to 
Philo ;  for  we  know  that  long  before  his  time  it  had  been  the  prac- 
tice of  several  Jews  to  expound  and  illustrate  Moses  from  the  writ- 
ings of  Plato  and  other  Greek  philosophers ;  but  of  this,  I  think, 
there  can  be  no  doubt,  that  Clement  and  the  other  Egyptian  teach- 
ers by  whom  this  discipline  was  first  introduced  into  the  Christian 
church,  were  indebted  for  their  acquaintance  Avith  it  entirely  to 
Philo.  Wonderful,  indeed,  is  it  to  contemplate  the  influence  and 
authority  which  this  Alexandrian  Jew  had  at  one  time  acquired 
among  the  Christians." 

The  subjects  which  were  shrouded  in  such  mystery,  were — 

1.  The  manner  of  administering  baptism. 

2.  The  manner  of  administering  unction  or  confirmation. 

3.  Ordination. 

4.  The  public  prayers  of  the  church. 

5.  The  manner  of  celebrating  the  Lord's  supper. 

6.  The  creed. 

7.  The  Lord's  prayer  ;  and 

8.  The  mystery  of  the  Trinity.* 

*  The  following  citations  will  illustrate  the  usage  of  the  church  respecting 
these  mysteries.  The  fourth  council  of  Carthage,  a.  d.  398,  c.  84,  decreed  that 
until  the  dismission  of  the  catechumens,  no  one,  whether  Jew  or  Gentile  or  here- 
tic, should  be  excluded  from  the  church. 

Quid  est,  quod  occultuni  est  et  non  publicum  in  ecclesia?  sacramentum  bap- 
tismi,  sacramentum  eucharistiae.  Opera  nostra  bona  vident  pagani,  sacramenta 
vero  occultautur  illis. — August.  Expos.  iif<¥.  103  s.  1.  (0pp.  t.  iv.  p.  855.)  M^  hilv 
T'aj  ;^£tpotovi.a5  Irtt  rtapoDSto.  axpouifjiivuiv  yivt.a'^au. — Cone.  Laod.  c.  b.  ViiVKnov  x^'-P'^' 
"toviLv  xal  •faj  ixuvuiv  ivx^^  xaXn  rott,  xai  avtoi  tTii^r^'pi^ov'ea.v,  xai  trti^Oijtstv 
artfp  laaniv  fitjjuvTijxtvoL'  oi  yap  drj  ^s/itj  trcl  'tZv  afivr^tuv  IxxoXvrCtuv  artavta. — 
c'hrtsostom.  h.  18,  in  2  Cor. 

Taira  T'ci  fivat'r^pi.aL,  a  vvv  7]  (xxXridia  SiTiyiutat,  aoi  r^  ix  xatrxov/^vuv  fittaQaX- 


SEC.  II.]      SECRET   DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH.  283 


Bingham  supposes  that  the  reasons  for  this  mysterious  conceal- 
ment were,  that  the  plainness  and  simplicity  of  the  religious  rites 
of  the  church  might  not  give  needless  offence.  It  was  often  ob- 
jected to  the  Christians  that  they  had  no  temples  nor  altars,  no 
impressive  rites.  They  accordingly  withdrew  their  rites  from  public 
view  as  much  as  possible. 

Many  of  the  tenets  of  the  church,  like  that  of  the  Trinity  and 
the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God,  might  have  been  concealed 
because  very  obnoxious  to  the  enemies  of  religion. 

This  mystery  quickened  the  curiosity  of  the  inquirer  also,  as  man 
is  ever  curious  to  pry  into  forbidden  secrets. 

It  was  a  part  of  that  long  process  of  preparation  by  which  can- 
didates for  admission  to  the  church  gradually  attained  to  this  de- 
gree of  advancement,  styled  by  them  Te/l£Triv — perfection — the  per- 
fection of  mysteries. 

Many  pagans  in  the  age  of  Constantino  pressed  into  the  church 
with  all  their  partialities  for  their  Eleusinian  mysteries.  For  ad- 
mission to  these,  a  certain  preparatory  probation  was  requisite. 
The  admission  was  solemnized  by  imposing  formalities,  and  it  was 
the  height  of  impiety  to  disclose  any  of  those  hidden  mysteries.* 
So  the  Constitutions  direct  that  if  one,  by  any  means,  has  been  an 
observer  of  the  Christian  mysteries,  he  should  be  immediately  re- 
ceived into  the  chm-ch,  that  he  may  thus  be  laid  under  bans  not 
to  divulge  the  secret.  No  one  can  fail  to  notice  the  analogy  be- 
tween these  profane  mysteries  and  those  mysterious  solemnities  of 
the  church  which  were  connected  with  her  secret  discipline. 

T.Ojuii'Oi,  ovx  lativ  i'^oj  f^vtzoij  Sijjyfio^at.  ov  yap  i^vt,X(j>  ta  rtspt  rtarpo;  xcu  vlov  xai 
aytov  Tiviviqa-Coi;  fiijjyor^s^a  fivatrfiia.  ov8e  •fa  rtepl  tCav  fiv6tr]piujv  irti  xatrjxovjXBvuv 
^svxCji  Xa'^vniv,  aXXa  rtoW.i  7io'k7Mxi(  %iyofjLiv  iTtixcxoS^vfifiivi^i,  iVa  oC  stSoTtj  rtiatoi 
voircFtoffc,  xai  oi  jA.ri  liSo-tc^  fxi]  jS^aSwat. — Ctrill.  Hieros.  Catech.  6,  §  29.  JiovXonati 
oa^wj  tovto  n,7iivv,  oil  ■fo^jWui  6b  S^a  rov^  afivr^tov^'  oviot,  yap  5t'?xoXtoTfpai'  r^fiiv 
Ttotot'Oe,  triv  e^r^aiv,  ava/yxd^ovtc^,  yj  /xri  %syii.v  caifwj,  yj  sij  avtovi  ix^spiiv  -td 
drtojjjjjjrtt. — Chrtsostom.  hom.  40,  in  1  Cor.  'laacti'  ol  fjny-vr^iJiivoi  'tov  Ttottjpiov 
tovrov  tYjv  l6xvv.  suSf6^8  Si  xai  vfidi  fXLxpbv  vatipov. — Catech.  i.  ad  illuminand. 
(t.  ii.  p.  22G.)  A5»j;Uu5  Sia  rov^  afj-vr^ov^  rtipi  ruv  ^nav  SLaXcyoui^a.  fiva'tr^pi,i^v, 
tov-tuv  Si  x'^P'-'iOfiivoiv,  aa^wj  tohi  fifixvinuivovi  8i,8doxoixev. — Theodoret.  quaest. 
in  Num.  1.5,  (0pp.  t.  i.)  Nunc  de  mysteriis  dicere  tempus  admonet,,  atque  ipsam 
sacraraentorum  rationem  edere,  quam  ante  baptismum  si  putassemus  insinuan- 
dam  noudum  initiatis,  prodidisse  potius  quam  edidisse  aestimaremur. — Ambro- 
Sius,  De  Mysteriis,  c.  1. 

*  Vetabo,  qui  cereris  saci'um 

Vulgarit  arcante,  sub  iisdera 
Sit  trabibus,  fragilemque  mecum 

Solvat  phaselum. 


284  RELIGIOUS    WORSHIP.  [CHAP.  XIV. 

The  clergy  also  favoured  this  system  as  a  means  of  self-aggran- 
dizement. Ever  watchful  to  promote  the  dignity  and  influence  of 
their  order,  they  readily  saw  the  advantage  to  be  gained  by  making 
themselves  the  ministers  of  mysterious  rites,  to  be  essayed  only  by 
consecrated  hands,  and  the  guardians  and  instructors  of  ordinances 
and  doctrines  too  sacred  for  vulgar  minds. 

How  long  this  system  was  continued  is  not  known.  Cyril  of 
Jerusalem,  Gregory  Nazian,  Basil,  Chrysostom,  Augustine,  and  the 
fathers  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  century,  make  frequent  mention  of 
it ;  but  it  disappears  from  the  writings  of  authors  in  the  eastern 
churches  after  the  sixth  century.  Cardinal  Bona  has  shown  that 
the  catechetical  system  was  discontinued  in  the  western  churches 
about  the  year  700 ;  and  with  this  doubtless  ceased  this  secret  dis- 
cipline.     Cessante  causa,  cessat  effeetus. 

The  influence  of  the  system  under  consideration  was  decidedly 
injurious  to  the  church,  in  corrupting  the  simplicity  and  purity  of 
its  worship.  Indeed,  it  had  no  small  influence  in  introducing  the 
corruptions  and  formalities  which  subsequently  dishonoured  the 
Christian  church.  It  gave  a  mysterious  importance  to  the  rites  of 
baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper.  The  doctrine  of  the  efiicacy  of 
baptism  to  wash  away  all  sin,  of  the  grace  communicated  in  the 
sacramental  supper,  and  of  actual  presence  in  the  bread  and  wine, 
are  supjiosed  by  some  to  have  had  their  origin  in  these  mysteries.^ 

§  3.    OF    LITURGIES. 

1.  Liturgies  unknown  to  the  Primitive  Churches. — Much  learn* 
ing  and  historical  research  have  been  expended  in  a  vain  attempt 
to  trace  the  use  of  liturgy  far  back  to  the  earliest  ages  of  the  primi- 
tive church,  and  even  to  wrest  the  usage  and  authority  of  the  apos- 
tles into  an  argument  for  the  use  of  a  prescribed  form  of  prayer ; 
but  in  addition  to  what  has  already  been  said  respecting  the  spirit 
and  manner  of  primitive  worship,  and  the  attitude  of  the  worship- 
pers as  incompatible  with  the  use  of  a  prayer-book,  the  survey  of 
the  religious  rites  as  described  in  the  preceding  article,  may  fairly 
be  alleged  as  an  argument  against  the  early  use  of  a  liturgy.  Pre- 
maturely to  disclose  these  mysteries,  even  to  Christians  themselves, 
directly  or  indirectly,  was  sacrilege.'^  Procul!  oh,  procul  este 
profani !  was  the  stern  and  sanctimonious  cry  of  the  Christian,  in 

*  Offov  yap  7j  It^poav'Kia  xaxvv,  wbi  idtiv  siTicuv. — Chrysostom,  in  Tim.  ii. 


SEC.  Iir.]  LITURGIES.  285 

imitation  of  the  pagan  priest ;  neither  would  commit  their  mysteries 
to  writing.  Basil  the  Great,  when  writing  a  confidential  letter  to 
his  friend  Meletius,  would  not  venture  to  write  on  this  awful  sub- 
ject, but  refers  him  to  Theophrastus,  a  friend,  for  a  verbal  expla- 
nation.^ What  they  might  not  explain,  they  feared  to  commit  to 
writing.*  Basil,  in  justification  of  his  extreme  caution,  appealed 
to  the  famous  maxim  of  Origen,  "Mysteries  must  not  be  committed 
to  writing." 

2.  Silence  of  the  ancients  respecting  them.  —  The  profound 
silence,  both  of  friends  and  enemies,  in  the  early  ages  of  the 
church,  respecting  liturgies  and  forms  of  prayer,  is  urged  as  a  valid 
argument  against  the  liturgical  worship  of  the  primitive  church. 
Socrates  relates  that  Macarius,  a  disorderly  presbyter  in  Egypt, 
A.  D.  332,  leaped  upon  the  altar,  overturned  the  table,  broke  the 
mystical  cup,  and  burned  the  sacred  books — Ta  lepd  (3i(3?yia — the 
Bible. ^  About  the  same  time  Gorgius,  an  Arian  bishop  who  suc- 
ceeded Athanasius,  entered  a  church  by  force,  and  offered  indigni- 
ties to  the  holy  table,  the  sacred  volumes  of  the  Scriptures — Tag 
Osiag  rG)V  ypa^uv  ^i[^Xovg — the  Bible,  the  holy  font,  the  wine, 
the  oil,  the  doors,  the  latticed  partitions  on  the  chancel,  the  candle- 
sticks, the  tapers.  In  this  minute  enumeration,  no  mention  is 
made  of  the  prayer-hook,  which,  if  such  there  had  been,  must  more 
than  all  else  have  inflamed  the  exterminating  zeal  of  this  Arian 
bishop  against  his  orthodox  predecessor. 

3.  Not  included  in  the  sacred  books  of  Christians.  —  In  the 
relentless  and  bloody  persecution  of  Dioclisean,  a.  d.  303,  Chris- 
tians under  pain  of  death  were,  by  the  edict  of  the  Emperor,  re- 
quired to  deliver  up  the  Bible  and  their  sacred  books  to  be  burned. 
Magistrates  were  required  to  enter  churches  and  private  houses  in 
an  exterminating  search  for  these  books ;  many  were  brought  forth 
and  burned ;  many  Christians,  known  as  traditores,  under  the  form 
of  these  terrible  ti'ials,  gave  up  their  books,  but  many  more  suff"ered 
torture  and  death  in  steadfast  refusal  of  obedience  to  the  decree. 
But  in  all  the  records  of  this  terrible  persecution,  though  the 
Scriptures  and  other  books  of  the  Christians  are  mentioned,  no  in- 
timation is  given  of  a  liturgy  or  prayer-book,  as  either  discovered, 
delivered  up,  or  concealed  and  withheld.  The  inference  is,  that 
nothing  of  the  kind  was  at  this  time  known  or  preserved  among  the 
sacred  books  of  these  persecuted  Christians. 

*  <J>o|3ov/i£i'05  yodi)tiv  a  xo.1  vJyiLi'  ifv%o^(Ji-ixr]v. — Clem.  Aber.  Strom,  ii. 


286  RELIGIOUS    WORSHIP.  [CHAP.  XIV. 


4.  Providential  omissions.  —  Indeed,  Archbishop  Whately  re- 
gards the  omission  of  all  liturgical  forms  in  the  Scriptm-es,  as  a 
miraculous  intervention  to  save  the  church  from  the  superstitious 
adherence  to  which  men  are  so  much  inclined. 

"  No  such  thing  is  to  be  found  in  our  Scriptures  as  a  catechism,  or 
regular  elementary  introduction  to  the  Christian  religion ;  neither 
do  they  furnish  us  with  any  thing  of  the  nature  of  a  systematic 
creed,  set  of  articles,  confession  of  faith,  or  by  whatever  other  name 
one  may  designate  a  regular,  complete  compendium  of  Christian 
doctrines ;  nor  again.,  do  they  supply  us  tvith  a  liturgy  for  ordinary 
public  worship,  or  ivith  forms  for  administering  the  sacraments,  or 
for  conferring  holy  orders  ;  nor  do  they  even  give  any  precise  di- 
rections as  to  these  and  other  ecclesiastical  matters ; — any  thing 
that  at  all  corresponds  to  a  rubric  or  set  of  canons. 

"  Now  these  omissions  present  a  complete  moral  demonstration 
that  the  apostles  and  their  followers  must  have  been  supernaturally 
withheld  from  recording  a  great  part  of  the  institutions  and  regula- 
tions, which  must,  in  point  of  fact,  have  proceeded  from  them ; 
withheld  on  purpose  that  other  churches,  in  other  ages  and  regions, 
might  not  be  led  to  consider  themselves  bound  to  adhere  to  certain 
formularies,  customs,  and  rules,  that  were  of  local  and  temporary 
appointment ;  but  might  be  left  to  their  own  discretion  in  matters  in 
which  it  seemed  best  to  Divine  wisdom  that  they  should  be  so  left."^ 

No  form  of  prayer,  liturgy,  or  ritual,  was  recorded  or  pre- 
served by  the  cotemporaries,  inspired  or  uninspired,  of  the  apostles, 
or  by  their  immediate  successors. 

This  consideration  is  nearly  allied  to  the  former,  and  is  so  forcibly 
urged  by  Archbishop  Whately,  that  we  shall  again  present  the  argu- 
ment in  his  own  words  : — "  It  was,  indeed,  not  at  all  to  be  expected 
that  the  Gospels,  the  Acts,  and  those  Epistles  Avhich  have  come 
down  to  us,  should  have  been,  considering  the  circumstances  in 
which  they  were  written,  any  thing  different  from  what  they  are : 
but  the  question  still  recurs,  why  should  not  the  apostles  or  their 
followers  have  also  committed  to  paper,  what,  we  are  sure,  must 
have  been  perpetually  in  their  mouths,  regular  instructions  to  cate- 
chumens, articles  of  faith,  prayers,  and  directions  as  to  public  wor- 
ship, and  administration  of  the  sacraments  ?  Why  did  none  of 
them  record  any  of  the  prayers,  of  which  they  must  have  heard  so 
many  from  an  apostle's  mouth,  both  in  the  ordinary  devotional  as- 
semblies, in  the  administration  of  the  sacraments,  and  in  the  '  lay- 
ing on  of  hands,'  by  which  they  themselves  had  been  ordained?* 


SEC.  III.]  LITURGIES.  287 


"  Sucli  a  systematic  course  of  instruction,  carrying  with  it  Divine 
authority,  would  have  superseded  the  framing  of  any  others — nay, 
would  have  made  even  the  alteration  of  a  single  word,  of  what 
Avould  on  this  supposition  have  been  Scripture,  appear  an  improper 
presumption So  that  there  would  have  been  an  almost  inevi- 
table danger,  that  such  an  authoritative  list  of  credenda  would  have 
been  regarded  by  a  large  proportion  of  Christians  with  a  blind,  un- 
thinking reverence,  which  would  have  exerted  no  influence  on  the 
character.  They  would  have  had  a  form  of  godliness ;  but,  deny- 
ing the  power  thereof,  the  form  itself  would  have  remained  with 
them  only  the  corpse  of  a  departed  religion."^ 

The  superstitious  reverence  of  the  early  Christians,  for  such  pro- 
ductions as  had  been  obtained  from  the  apostles  and  their  cotempo- 
raries,  is  apparent  from  the  numerous  forgeries  of  epistles,  liturgies, 
etc.,  which  were  published  under  their  name.  Had  any  genuine 
liturgies  of  the  apostolical  churches  been  written,  it  is  inconceivable 
that  they  should  all  have  been  lost,  and  such  miserable  forgeries  as 
those  of  James,  Peter,  Andrew,  and  Mark,  have  been  substituted 
in  their  place,^  Some  discoveries  must  have  been  made  of  these 
among  other  religious  books  and  sacred  things  of  the  Christians, 
which  in  times  of  persecution  were  diligently  sought  out  and  burned. 
Strict  inquiry  was  made  after  such,  and  their  sacred  books,  and 
sacramental  utensils,  their  cups,  lamps,  torches,  vestments,  and 
other  apparatus  of  the  church  were  often  delivered  up,  and  burnt 
or  destroyed.  But  there  is  no  instance  on  record  of  any  form  of 
prayer,  liturgy,  or  book  of  Divine  service  having  been  discovered 
in  the  early  persecutions  of  the  church.  This  fact  is  so  extraordi- 
nary, that  Bingham,  who  earnestly  contends  for  the  use  of  liturgies 
from  the  beginning,  is  constrained  to  admit,  that  they  could  not 
have  been  committed  to  writing  in  the  early  periods  of  the  church, 
but  must  have  been  preserved  by  oral  tradition,  and  used  "  hy  me- 
mory, and  made  familiar  by  known  and  constant  practice."  The 
reader  has  his  alternative  between  this  supposition  and  that  of  no 
liturgy,  or  prescribed  form  of  prayer  in  those  days  of  primitive 
simplicity.  Constantino  took  special  care  to  have  fifty  copies  of 
the  Bible  prepared  for  the  use  of  the  churches  of  Constantinople, 
and  by  a  royal  commission,  entrusted  Eusebius,  the  historian,  with 
the  duty  of  procuring  them."  How  is  it,  that  the  service  book  was 
entirely  omitted  in  this  provision  for  the  worship  of  God  ?  Plainly 
because  they  then  used  none. 

0.    Traditions  of  the  churches. — The  strong  propensity  of  tho 


RELIGIOUS    WORSHIP.  [CHAP.  XIV. 


cliurcli  to  such  superstitious  adherence  to  apostolical  precedents,  is 
manifest  in  the  extreme  care  with  which  the  ancient  Christians  af- 
fected to  transmit  the  unrecorded  traditions  of  the  apostles.  The 
Jews  before  them  had  made  the  Scriptures  of  none  effect  by  their 
traditions.  They  had  traditions  which  they  held  sacred  as  a  reve- 
lation fresh  from  heaven,  and  by  which  they  totally  annulled  what 
heaven  had  actually  revealed.  So  the  Christians  had  their  tradi- 
tions, which  they  transmitted  with  the  utmost  care,  and  often  ap- 
pealed to  them  as  authority  for  usages  about  which  the  written 
revelations  of  God  are  silent.  Tertullian  specifies  many  ceremonies 
connected  with  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper,  for  which  he  claims 
no  scriptural  authority,  but  tradition ;  such  as  renouncing  the 
devil  and  his  pomp  and  his  angels,  various  responses,  trine  immer- 
sion, the  mingling  of  milk  and  honey  with  the  wine,  offerings  for 
the  dead,  commemoration  of  martyrs,  refusing  to  fast  or  bend 
the  knee  on  the  Lord's  day  and  on  Whitsunday,  the  extreme 
care  of  the  communicants  that  no  particle  of  the  sacred  elements 
be  lost,  and  the  sign  of  the  cross,  used  on  all  occasions.  After  this 
enumeration  he  adds,  "  If  for  these  and  similar  rites  you  seek  for 
the  authority  of  Scripture,  you  will  find  none ;  tradition  is  the  sole 
authority :  confirmed  by  custom,  the  observance  becomes  a  rule  of 
faith.* 

Basil  the  Great,  in  answer  to  the  inquiry,  who  has  left  any  writ- 
ten directions  respecting  the  use  of  the  form  of  invocation  in  the 
blessing  of  the  elements,  replies  that  nothing  is  recorded  respect- 
ing it,  and  proceeds  to  say,  "  We  do  not  content  ourselves  with  the 
instructions  of  the  apostle  or  of  the  gospel,  but  we  premise  and  sub- 
join other  things  as  of  great  force  in  this  solemnity,  Avhich  have 
been  received  from  unrecorded  instructions,  "f 

6.  Gradual  formation  of  liturgies. — Bohmer  cites  this  passage 
as  shedding  light  upon  the  darkness  that  overshadows  the  origin  of 
liturgies.  The  apostles  of  the  Gentiles,  he  supposes,  would  natu- 
rally organize  the  churches  which  they  might  form  of  converts  from 
paganism,  after  the  general  pattern  of  the  church  at  Jerusalem, 
and  yet  the  forms  and  ceremonies  would  be  more  or  less  modified 

*  Ilarum  et  aliarum  ejusmodi  disciplinarum,  si  leges  expostules  Scripturarum, 
nullam  invenics ;  traditio  tibi  prsetenditur  auctrix ;  consuetude,  confirmatrix ; 
tides,  observatrix. — Tertull.  De  Coron.  c.  4. 

t  Ov  T'ovToi;  apxoi'^j^a  wv  o  oTtdff-ToXoj  ij  ivayyi'h.ov  irtfjxvr.ix^r^,  aVKa  xo.1  Ttpo'Kt- 
■yofj.iv  xai  irtiXiyofXfv  tVfpa,  wj  fjifyaXriv  Xx'^v-ta.  rtpof  -to  jurtJT'jjpioi'  rvv  iax'wt  ix  zrji 
ayocxOJOi)  SiSaaxaXiaf  rtapa?.a/3o»'T'f  j. — Ep.  27,  De  Spirit.  Sanct. 


SEC.  III.]  LITURGIES.  289 

according  to  the  circumstances  of  the  people,  and  peculiar  mental 
habits  of  the  apostle  or  evangelist  by  whom  the  church  was  founded. 
In  this  manner  a  general  agreement  would  prevail  in  all  the  churches 
in  connection  with  minor  diversities.  The  rites  and  ceremonies  of 
the  original  organization  would  at  first  be  perpetuated  by  tradition, 
and  by  degrees  be  committed  to  writing. 

The  modifications  and  additions,  which  from  time  to  time  each 
church  should  make,  would  be  gradually  blended  with  the  original 
draft,  and  soon  come  under  the  fictitious  sanction  of  apostolical 
authority. 

7.  Arbitrary  forms  of  written  j^ra^ers. — It  is  conceded  that  when 
first  bishops  began  to  substitute  written  for  oral  prayers,  each  was 
at  liberty  to  indite  his  own.  It  was  only  necessary  that  he  should 
write  his  prayers  as  one  writes  his  sermons  for  delivery ;  and  these 
prayers  might  naturally  be  incorporated  with  the  ritual  of  religious 
worship. 

Such  is  a  brief  outline  of  the  theory  which  has  been  proposed  to 
account  for  the  gradual  substitution  of  a  liturgical  form  of  worship 
for  the  free  and  informal  worship  of  the  primitive  church.  But 
whatever  may  have  been  the  origin  of  liturgies,  to  claim  for  them 
the  authority  of  the  apostles,  and  the  usage  of  the  apostolical 
churches,  is  altogether  an  unauthorized  assumption. 

8.  Model  of  ancient  liturgies. — The  most  ancient  liturgy  extant 
is  that  of  the  Apostolical  Constitutions,  which  is  of  no  higher  an- 
tiquity than  the  third  or  fourth  century.  From  this  the  ancient 
liturgies,  both  of  the  Eastern  and  Western  churches,  may  have 
been  formed  as  early  as  the  fifth.  This  is  the  highest  antiquity 
which  Palmer  claims  for  them,^  and  the  utmost  that  even  the  cre- 
dulity of  the  Oxford  Tractarians  ventures  to  claim  in  favour  of  their 
antiquity,  is,  that  one,  (that  of  Basil,)  may  be  traced  with  tole- 
rable certainty  to  the  fourth  century,  and  three  others  to  the  middle 
of  the  fifth  century.* 

9.  Number  and  diversity. — The  number  and  diversity  of  the 
ancient  liturgies  plainly  indicate  that  the  ancient  churches  were 
continually  tampering  with  their  rituals  as  with  their  creeds,  and 
that  they  were  far  from  regarding  them  as  some  sacred  thing  on 
which  none  must  lay  a  rude  and  sacrilegious  hand.  We  have 
the  liturgy  of  Antioch,  of  Basil,  of  Chrysostom,  of  Alexandria, 
of  Rome,  of  Milan,  of  Africa,  of  Gaul,  of  Spain,  of  Ephesus, 
&c.  &c. 

10.  Comparative  summary. — The  Oxford  liturgists  have  made  a 

19 


290 


RELIGIOUS    WORSHIP. 


[chap.  XIV. 


comparative  summary  of  these  liturgies  or  services,  which  were 
appointed  to  be  used  at  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  supper,  and 
which  they  find  to  have  resembled  one  another  in  the  following 
points : — 

"  1.  All  of  them  direct  that,  previous  to  communion,  those  who 
intend  to  communicate  shall  exchange  '  the  kiss  of  peace.' 

"2.  In  all  of  them,  the  more  particularly  solemn  part  of  the  ser- 
vice commences  with  words  exactly  answering  to  the  English, 
'Lift  up  your  hearts,'  &c.,  as  far  as  'Holy  Father,  almighty,  ever- 
lasting God.' 

"  3.  All  contain  the  hymn,  '  Therefore  with  angels  and  arch- 
angels,' &c.,  with  very  trifling  varieties  of  expression. 

"4.  Also,  they  all  contain  a  prayer,  answering  in  substance  to 
ours,   'for  the  whole  state  of  Christ's  church  militant.' 

"5.  And,  likewise,  another  prayer,  (which  has  been  excluded 
from  the  English  ritual,)  'for  the  rest  and  peace  of  all  those  who 
have  departed  this  life  in  God's  faith  and  fear ;'  concluding  with  a 
prayer  for  communion  with  them. 

"  6.  Also,  a  commemoration  of  our  Lord's  words  and  actions  in 
the  institution  of  the  eucharist,  which  is  the  same,  almost  word  for 
word,  in  every  liturgy,  but  is  not  taken  from  any  of  the  four  Scrip- 
ture accounts. 

"  7.  A  sacrificial  oblation  of  the  eucharistic  bread  and  wine. 

"  8.  A  prayer  of  consecration,  that  '  God  will  make  the  bread 
and  wine  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ.' 

"9.  Directions  to  the  priest  for  breaking  the  consecrated 
bread. 

"  10.  The  Lord's  prayer. 

"  11.   Communion. 

"  These  parts  are  always  arranged  in  one  of  the  four  following 
orders : — 


Roman  Liturgy. 

Oriental  Liturgy. 

1. 

Lift  up  your  hearts,  &c. 

10. 

The  kiss  of  peace. 

2 

Therefore  with  angels,  &c. 

1. 

Lift  up  your  hearts,  &c. 

3. 

Praj'ers  for  the  church  on 

earth. 

2. 

Therefore  with  angels. 

4. 

Consecration  prayer. 

5. 

Commemoration  of  our  Lord's  words 

5. 

Commemoration  of  our  Lore 

'swords. 

6. 

The  oblation. 

6. 

The  oblation. 

4. 

Consecration  prayer. 

7. 

Prayers  for  the  dead. 

3. 

Prayers  for  the  church  on  earth. 

8. 

Breaking  of  bread. 

7. 

Prayers  for  the  dead. 

9. 

The  Lord's  prayer. 

9. 

The  Lord's  prayer. 

10. 

The  kiss  of  peace. 

8. 

Breaking  of  bread. 

11. 

Communion. 

11. 

Communion. 

SEC.  IV.]  ANCIENT    CREEDS.  291 


Alexandrian  Liturgy.  ,  GalUcan  Liturgy. 

3.  Prayers  for  the  church  on  earth. 

7.  Prayers  for  the  dead. 

10.  The  kiss  of  peace. 

1.  Lift  up  your  hearts,  &c. 

2.  Therefore  with  angels,  &c. 

5.  Commemoration  of  our  Lord's  wore 

6.  The  oblation. 

4.  Consecration  prayer. 

8.  Breaking  of  bread. 

9.  The  Lord's  prayer. 

11.  Communion. 


10.  The  kiss  of  peace. 

1.  Lift  up  your  hearts,  &c. 

3.  Prayers  for  the  church  on  earth. 

7.  Praj^ers  for  the  dead. 

2.  Therefore  with  angels,  &c. 

5.  Commemoration  of  our  Lord's  words 

6.  The  oblation. 

4.  Consecration  prayer. 

8.  Breaking  of  bread. 

9.  The  Lord's  prayer. 

11.  Communion. 


"  Thus  it  appears,  that  the  four  original  forms,  from  which  all 
the  liturgies  in  the  world  have  been  taken,  resemble  one  another  too 
much  to  have  grown  up  independently,  and  too  little  to  have  been 
copied  from  one  another.  Thej  were  probably  all  constructed  upon 
the  basis  of  the  form  prescribed  in  the  Apostolical  Constitutions ; 
or,  at  all  events,  were  composed  in  conformity  with  some  model  of 
the  third  or  fourth  century.  The  prayers  for  the  dead,  which  they 
all  contain,  are  unscriptural,  and,  therefore,  unwarranted  and  vain  ; 
some  expressions  in  the  consecration  of  the  elements  are  obvious 
departures  from  primitive  doctrine ;  and  the  appropriation  of  false 
titles,  introduced  after  the  composition  and  use  of  the  forms  them- 
selves, is  as  plainly  opposed  to  Christian  simplicity  and  truth. 
But,,  together  with  these  defects,  we  recognise  in  these  ancient 
formularies  much  that  is  truly  pious  and  devotional."^ 

§  4.    OP    ANCIENT    CREEDS. 

1.  Their  antiquity  mid  use. — The  confession  of  faith  belonged 
in  the  ancient  church  to  the  ceremonials  of  baptism,  but  the  creed 
having  become  a  part  of  the  ritual  of  public  worship  in  modern 
liturgies,  it  may  with  propriety  be  classed  among  the  several  parts 
of  public  worship. 

Some  confession  of  faith  appears  to  have  been  required  from  the 
earliest  institution  of  the  church,  as  a  condition  of  baptism  and 
membership  with  the  church.  The  confession  was,  in  the  age  of 
the  apostles,  apparently  very  brief  and  simple,  consisting  merely  in 
a  general  profession  of  faith  in  Christ,  upon  which,  without  further 
probation  or  trial,  converts  to  Christ  under  the  preaching  of  the 
apostles,  appear  to  have  been  baptized.  "  See,  here  is  water ; 
what  doth  hinder  me  to  be  baptized  ?  If  thou  believest  with  all 
thine  heart,  thou  mayest.    I  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of 


292  RELIGIOUS   WORSHIP.  [CHAP.  XIV. 


God."  On  this  confession  of  faith  the  Ethiopian  eunuch  was  bap- 
tized. Acts  viii.  36-38.  Some  other  traces  of  a  confession  of  faith 
which  was  made  at  baptism,  Neander  supposes  to  be  found,  1  Pet. 
iii.  21 ;  to  which  Guericke  adds  1  Tim.  iii.  16,  and  vi.  12. 

In  process  of  time  these  confessions  were  drawn  out  far  more  in 
detail,  and  especially  such  articles  were  introduced  as  were  most 
directly  opposed  to  the  prevailing  errors  of  the  times  among  Jews, 
pagans,  and  heretics,  rather  than  such  as  might  comprise  the  most 
important  doctrines  of  the  Christian  religion.  This  ■polemic  cha- 
racter of  the  ancient  creeds  is  Avorthy  of  special  notice,  in  order  to 
a  right  understanding  and  just  appreciation  of  them.  By  a  con- 
fession framed  in  direct  opposition  to  the  errors  of  the  age,  the 
weak  in  faith  Avere  to  be  fortified  against  heresy  and  defection.  It 
was,  also,  a  compend  of  the  articles  of  revealed  faith,  to  guide 
both  believers  and  unbelievers  in  their  examination  of  the  word  of 
God.  Some  by  this,  without  the  Scriptures,  were  first  made  ac- 
quainted with  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian  religion.  To  the  be- 
liever, it  was  at  the  same  time  the  symbol  of  his  profession,  like  the 
article  of  agreement  or  bond  that  binds  one  to  the  fulfilment  of  the 
conditions  of  a  voluntary  compact.  Such  appear  to  have  been  the 
uses  and  intents  of  the  confession  of  faith  in  the  ancient  church. 

2.  31eaning  of  symbols. — The  meaning  of  the  word  symbol  has 
been  the  subject  of  much  discussion.  Neander  understands  it  to 
mean  "  a  sign,"  a  mark,  token,  or  evidence,  and  in  proof  of  this 
interpretation  refers  to  Tertullian,  who  first  uses  the  word  in  this 
sense,  when  he  says  that  baptism,  which  by  its  nature  should  be  a 
symbol  of  life,  sumbolum  vitw,  becomes,  to  those  who  receive  it  with- 
out a  right  disposition,  a  symbol  of  death,  sumbolum  mortis}  He 
refers  to  Firmilian  also,  Avho  uses  the  term  to  designate,  not  the 
confes.sion  of  faith,  but  the  formula  of  baptism,*  and  adds,  "Per- 
haps this  word  was  originally  nothing  more  than  a  designation  of 
the  formula  of  baptism,  and  became  subsequently  transferred  to  the 
confession  of  faith."  The  definition  of  Rufinus,  of  the  fourth  cen- 
tury, and  Maximus  Taurinensis  of  the  fifth,  are  given  in  the  margin.f 
"  By  symbols,  in  the  doctrinal  sense  of  the  word,  but  neither  in  its 

*  Baptismus  cui  nee  symbolum  trinitatis,  nee  interrogatio  legitima  et  eeelesi- 
astica  defait. 

f  Symbolum — grsece  indicium  dici  potest  et  collatio. — Rufin.  in  Sym.  Apost. 
Cyp.  0pp.  Ap.  p.  198. 

Symbolum  tessera  est  et  signaculum,  quo  inter  fideles  perfidosque  secernitur. — 
Max.  Taur.  Horn,  in  Sijmb.  p.  239. 


SEC.  IV.]  ANCIENT    CREEDS.  293 


liturgical  nor  technical  sense,  we  understand,"  says  Hagenbach, 
"  the  public  confessions  of  faith,  by  whicli  those  belonging  to  the 
same  section  of  the  church  recognise  each  other,  as  soldiers  by  the 
"watchword,  tessera  militaris."^ 

Bingham  has,  with  his  usual  diligence  and  learning,  made  a  large 
collection  of  the  most  ancient  creeds  and  confessions  of  faith  extant, 
which  Riddle  has  transcribed,  with  some  modifications.  From  these 
creeds  the  following  are  selected.  The  earliest  is  that  of  Irengeus, 
A.  D.  180,  the  disciple  of  Polycarp,  the  disciple  of  John : — 

3.  Creed  of  Irenseus. — "  The  church,  though  it  be  dispersed  over 
all  the  world  from  one  end  of  the  earth  to  the  other,  has  received 
from  the  apostles  and  their  disciples  the  belief  in  one  God  the  Fa- 
ther Almighty,  Maker  of  heaven  and  earth,  the  sea,  and  all  things 
in  them ;  and  in  one  Christ  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God,  who  was  incar- 
nate for  our  salvation ;  and  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  preached  by 
the  prophets  the  dispensations  of  God  and  the  advent,  (tag  s^^sv- 
osig,  adventiun,  Int.  vet.,)  nativity  of  a  virgin,  passion,  resurrec- 
tion from  the  dead,  and  bodily  ascension  into  heaven  of  the  flesh 
of  his  beloved  Son,  Christ  Jesus,  our  Lord,  and  his  coming  again 
from  heaven  in  the  glory  of  the  Father,  to  restore  [avax£^a?ML- 
ojGaG^ai,  ad  recajntulanda  universa.  Int.  vet.)  all  things,  and  raise 
the  flesh  of  all  mankind ;  that  according  to  the  will  of  the  invisible 
Father,  every  knee  should  bow,  of  things  in  heaven,  and  things  in 
the  earth,  and  things  under  the  earth,  to  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord, 
and  God,  and  Saviour,  and  King ;  and  that  every  tongue  should 
confess  to  him ;  and  that  he  may  exercise  just  judgment  upon  all, 
and  may  send  spiritual  wickedness,  and  the  transgressing  and  apos- 
tate angels,  with  all  ungodly,  unrighteous,  lawless,  and  blasphem- 
ing men,  into  everlasting  fire ;  but  having  granted  life  to  all  right- 
eous and  holy  men,  that  keep  his  commandments  and  persevere  in 
his  love,  some  from  the  beginning,  others  after  repentance,  on  these 
he  may  bestow  the  gift  of  immortality,  and  invest  them  with  eter- 
nal glory."* 

*  H  fxiv  ixx%riat,a,  xcuTtsp  xa^  oXtji  rr^i  olxovixivr^i  iui{  rtptoz'coi'  -fj^j  yq^  ScioTCapfxsvrj, 
rtopa  8i  "tCjv  o.jioato'Kuv  scat  •tiliv  ixewcov  jua^-fdii'  TiapaTuct^ovaa  -triv  itj  iva  ®iov  rtat'lpa 
TCavtoxfiatopa,  -gov  rtfrtouyxor'a  tov  ovpavbv  xai  t'jji'  yjjv  xai  ta.^  ^aTMoaa;,  xai  navta. 
•fa  tv  avtoi^,  TtLaTfcv'  xai  £15  iva  'Xpt.atov  I»j(joxJi/,  tov  vt,6v  iov  ®eov,  tov  aapxu>^svta 
vrtep  tqi  rjXBTipw;  rsiotrjpuii'  xai  ft?  Ilwv^ua  ayiov,  to  8ia  •fwr  rCpo^r^tiiv  XExrjpvxo;  faj 
olxovofxiai,  xai  rds  iXevaei^,  xai  trjv  sx  Hap^ivov  yivv/jfsi.v,  xai  to  rta^oj,  xai  trv  syip- 
oiv  IX  vexpwv,  xaC  trjv  tVcfapzor  ftj  tov^  ovpavov^  av6.%r;-^t.v  toii  rjya7(r;fj.ti'0v  'Kpiatov 
Irjaoi)  tov  Kvptov  rifiZ^v,  xai  tqv  ix  tiLv  ovpavuiv  ivtrj  bo^yj  toii  Ylatpbi  napovaiav 
avtov,  itCc  tv  dmxf'fa'Aattoaaa^at.  ta  rtuvta,  xai  avaatr^riao  Tidoav  aapxa  rtdorii  av^pui' 


294  RELIGIOUS   WORSHIP.  [CHAP.  XIV. 

4.  Creed  of  Tertullian,  A.  D.  200. — Three  several  descriptions 
of  the  rule  of  faith  are  found  in  the  writings  of  this  author.  They 
are  as  follows  : — 

'*  There  is  one  rule  of  faith  only,  which  admits  of  no  change  or 
alteration, — that  which  teaches  us  to  believe  in  one  God  Almighty, 
the  Maker  of  the  world  ;  and  in  Jesus  Christ  his  Son,  who  was  born 
of  the  Virgin  Mary,  crucified  under  Pontius  Pilate,  the  third  day 
rose  from  the  dead,  received  into  heaven,  and  sitteth  now  at  the 
right  hand  of  God  by  the  resurrection  of  the  flesh."* 

"  The  rule  of  faith  is,  that  whereby  we  believe  one  God  only  and 
no  other  besides,  the  Maker  of  the  world,  who  produced  all  things 
out  of  nothing,  by  his  Word,  w^hich  he  sent  forth  before  all  things. 
This  word  was  called  his  Son,  who  at  sundry  times  appeared  to  the 
patriarchs,  and  always  spake  by  the  prophets,  and  at  last  descended 
into  the  Virgin  Mary  by  the  power  and  Spirit  of  God  the  Father, 
and  was  made  flesh  in  her  womb,  and  born  of  her,  a  man,  Jesus 
Christ ;  who  preached  a  new  law,  and  a  new  promise  of  the  king- 
dom of  heaven ;  who  wrought  miracles,  and  was  crucified,  and  the 
third  day  rose  again,  and  was  taken  into  heaven,  and  sitteth  on  the 
right  hand  of  the  Father ;  whence  he  sent  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  in  his  stead,  to  guide  them  that  believe :  who  shall  come 
again  with  glory,  to  take  the  saints  into  the  possession  and  fruition 
of  eternal  life  and  the  heavenly  promises,  and  to  condemn  the  pro- 

Ttotr^toi,  ira  Xpifftou  Ir^aov  -fcj  Kupici  ruwr,  xa.1  0f9,  xai  ouT'^pt,  xal  ^aaCKil,  xata 
■trjv  siboxLov  -foil  Ilatpoj  -tov  aoparov,  nav  yovv  xa^^^  iTiovpaviMv  xai  irtiyiMV  xa.i 
xatax^ovn^v,  xai  rtaaa  yXwcsao.  i^ojxoTiOyr^nr^tat,  avfoj,  xai  xpiai.v  6i.xcu,av  iv  ■z'oij  rtacft 
7toi.r^or;tai.,  to.  (liv  rCviv/xatixa  tr^i  rtovj^ptac,  xai  ayyt'Xovj  tovi  rtapafii^r^xora;,  xai  iv 
artooTacJia  ysyovoraf,  xai  tov^  dnf/Sfij,  xai  abixovi,  xai  avofiovi,  xai  |3>^5^»j^odj  rtor 
O/V^puirtcov  £ts  to  aitovtov  rtvp  ftffi-^rj,  Totj  bs  Stzatotj,  xai  ofltotj,  xai  -rdj  tvtoXoi  aitov 
retijpr^xoai,  xai  iv  trj  a/^drtiQ  avtov  biafjiifi(vr;x6ai,,  tol^  art'  apx^ii,  ioli  6f  ix  fietavoia^, 
sw?"  %apvadfiivoi,  d^j^apoiav  du>pr^aritai,  xai  £o§af  atcoj/tov  fiepmot.t^a'yj. — Iren.  lib. 
i,  c.  2. 

Credo  in  unum  Deum,  fabricatorum  cceli  ac  terrge  et  omnium  qute  in  eis  sunt, 
per  Christum  Jesum  Dei  Filium,  qui  propter  eminentissimam  erga  figmentum 
suum  dilectionem,  earn  quaj  esset  ex  Virgine  generationem  sustinuit,  ipse  per  se 
hominem  adunans  Deo,  et  passus  sub  Pontio  Pilato,  et  resurgens,  et  in  claritate 
receptus,  in  gloria  venturus  Salvator  eorum  qui  salvantur,  et  Judex  eorum  qui 
judicantur,  et  mittens  in  ignem  teternum  transfiguratores  veritatis,  et  contem- 
plores  Patris  sui,  ^t  adventus  ejus. — Iren.  lib.  iii.  c.  4. 

*  Regula  fidei  una  omnino  est,  sola  immohilis  et  irreformabalis,  credendi  scilicet 
in  unicum  Deum  omnipotentem,  mundi  conditorem,  et  filium  ejus  Jesum  Christum, 
natum  ex  Virgine  Maria,  crucifixum  sub  Pontio  Pilato,  tertio  die  resuscitatura  a 
mortuis,  receptum  in  coelis,  sedentem  nunc  ad  dextram  Patris,  venturum  judicare 
vivos  et  mortuos  per  cai'uis  etiam  resurrectionem.-  — Tertull.  de  Veland.  Virgin. 


SEC.  IV.]  ANCIENT    CREEDS.  295 


fane  to  everlasting  fire,  having  first  raised  both  the  one  and  the 
other,  by  the  resurrection  of  the  flesh."* 

"■  We  believe  in  one  God,  but  under  this  dispensation  which  we 
call  the  economy,  tha.t  that  one  God  hath  a  Son,  which  is  his  Word, 
who  proceeded  from  him,  by  whom  all  things  were  made,  and  with- 
out whom  nothing  was  made.  We  believe  that  he  was  sent  by  the 
Father  to  be  born  of  a  Virgin,  both  man  and  God,  the  Son  of  man 
and  the  Son  of  God,  and  that  was  called  Jesus  Christ.  That  he 
suffered,  and  was  dead  and  buried,  according  to  the  Scriptures  ;  that 
he  was  raised  again  by  the  Father,  and  taken  up  again  into  hea- 
ven, where  he  sits  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father ;  and  shall  come 
again  to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead ;  from  whence,  also,  he  sent 
from  his  Father,  according  to  his  promise,  the  Holy  Ghost,  the 
Comforter,  who  sanctifies  the  faith  of  those  who  believe  in  the  Fa- 
ther, Son,  and  Holy  Ghost."  f 

5.  Creed  of  Origen,  A.  d.  230. — "  The  things  which  are  mani- 
festly handed  down  by  the  apostolical  preaching  are  these  : — First, 
that  there  is  one  God,  who  created  and  made  all  things,  and  caused 
the  whole  universe  to  exist  out  of  nothing ;  the  God  of  all  the  just 
that  ever  were  from  the  first  creation  and  foundation  of  all ;  the 
God  of  Adam,  Abel,   Seth,  Enos,  Enoch,  Noe,   Sem,  Abraham, 

*  Regula  est  autem  fidei,  ut  jam  hinc  quid  credamus,  profiteatur,  ilia  scilicet, 
qua  creditur  unum  omnino  Deum  esse,  nee  alium  praeter  mundi  creatorem,  qui 
universum  de  nihilo  produxerit  per  verbum  suum,  primum  omnium  amissum ;  id 
verbum  filium  ejus  appellatum  in  nomine  Dei,  varie  visum  patriarchis,  in  pro- 
phetis  semper  auditum,  postremo  delatum  ex  Spiritu  Patris  Dei  et  virtute  in  Vir- 
ginem  Mariam,  carnem  factum  in  utero  ejus,  et  ex  ea  natum,  egisse  Jesum  Chris- 
tum, exinde  prodicasse  novam  legem  et  novam  promissionem  regni  coelorum, 
virtutes  fecisse,  fixum  cruci  tertia  die  resurrexisse,  in  coelos  ereptum,  sedere  ad 
dextram  Patris,  misisse  vicariam  vim  Spiritus  Sancti,  qui  credentes  agant,  ven- 
turum  cum  claritate  ad  sumendos  sanctos  in  vita;  ffiternae  et  promissorum  coeles- 
tium  fructum,  et  ad  profanos  judicandos  igni  perpetuo,  facta  utriusque  partis 
resuscitatione  cum  carnis  restitutione.  Haac  regula  a  Cbristo — institula  nullas 
habet  apud  nos  quasstiones,  nisi  quas  hsereses  enferunt,  et  quas  haereticos  faciunt. 
— Tertull.  Dti  Prsescript.  ad  Tlxret. 

f  Unicura  quidem  Deum  credimus,  sub  hac  tamen  dispensatione  quam  oixovo- 
fiiav  dicimus,  ut  unici  Dei  sit  et  Filius  sermo  ipsius,  qui  ex  ipso  processerit,  per 
quem  omnia  facta  sunt,  et  sine  quo  factum  est  nihil,  hunc  missum  a  Patre  in  Vir- 
ginem,  et  ex  ea  natum  hominem  et  Deum,  filium  hominis  et  tilium  Dei,  et  cogno- 
minatum  Jesum  Christum,  hunc  passum,  hunc  mortuum  et  sepultum  secundum 
Scripturas,  et  resuscitatum  a  Patre,  et  in  coelo  resumptum,  sedere  ad  dextram 
Patris,  venturum  judicare  vivos  et  mortuos,  qui  exinde  miserat  secundum  pro 
missionem  suam  a  Patre  Spiritum  Sanctum,  Sanctum  Paracletum,  sanctificatorem 
fidei  eorum  qui  credunt  in  Patrem,  et  Filium,  et  Spiritum  Sanctum. — Tkrtull 
adv.  I'raxeam. 


296  RELIGIOUS   WORSHIP.  [CHAP.  XIV. 


Isaac,  Jacob,  the  twelve  patriarchs,  Moses,  and  the  prophets ;  and 
this  God,  in  the  last  days,  as  he  had  promised  before  by  his  pro- 
phets, sent  oui'  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  first  to  call  Israel,  and  then  the 
Gentiles,  after  the  infidelity  of  his  people  Israel.  This  just  and 
good  God,  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  gave  both  the  law 
and  the  pi'ophets,  and  the  gospels,  being  the  God  of  the  apostles, 
and  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament."  The  next  article  is,  "That 
Jesus  Christ,  who  came  into  the  world,  was  begotten  of  the  Father 
before  every  creature,  who,  ministering  to  his  Father  in  the  creation 
of  all  things,  (for  by  him  all  things  were  made,)  in  the  last  times 
made  himself  of  no  reputation,  and  became  man ;  he  who  was  God 
was  made  flesh,  and  when  he  was  man,  he  continued  the  same  God 
that  he  was  before.  He  assumed  a  body  in  all  things  like  ours, 
save  only  that  it  was  born  of  a  virgin  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  And 
because  this  Jesus  Christ  was  born  and  sufi"ered  death  common  to 
all,  in  truth,  and  not  in  appearance,  he  was  truly  dead ;  for  he  rose 
again  truly  from  the  dead,  and  after  his  resurrection  conversed 
with  his  disciples,  and  was  taken  up  into  heaven.  They  also  de- 
livered unto  us  that  the  Holy  Ghost  was  joined  in  the  same  honour 
and  dignity  with  the  Father  and  the  Son."  And  he  adds  some  ob- 
servations concerning  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  future  rewards 
and  punishments,  and  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  The  entu-e 
passage  is  transcribed  in  the  note.* 

*  Unus  Deus  est,  qui  omnia  creavit  atque  composuit,  quique  ex  nullis  fecit 
esse  universa,  Deus  a  prima  creatura  et  conditione  muncli,  omnium  justorum, 
Adam,  Abel,  Setli,  Enos,  etc.  Et  quod  hie  Deus  in  novissimis  diebus,  sicut  per 
proplietas  sues  ante  promiserat,  misit  dominum  nostrum,  Jesum  Christum,  pi-imo 
(juidem  vocaturum  Israel,  secundo  vero  etiam  gentes  post  perfidiam  populi  Israel. 
Hie  Deus  Justus  et  bonus  Pater  Domini  nostri  Jesu  Christi,  legem  et  prophetas  et 
evangelia  ipse  dedit,  qui  et  apostolorum  Deus  est,  et  veteris  et  novi  Testamenti. 
Tum  diende  quia  Jesus  Christus  ipse  qui  venit,  ante  omnem  creaturam  natus  ex 
Patre  est :  qui  cum  in  omnium  conditione  Patri  ministrasset,  (per  ipsum  enim 
omnia  facta  sunt,)  novissimis  temporibus  seipsum  esinaniens  homo  factus  est,  in- 
carnatus  est  cum  Deus  esset,  et  homo  mansit  quod  Deus  erat.  Corpus  assumpsit 
corpori  nostro  simile,  eo  solo  difFerens  quod  natum  ex  Virgine  et  Spiritu  Sancto 
est,  et  quoniam  hie  Jesus  Christus  natus  et  passus  est  in  veritate,  et  non  per  ima- 
ginem,  communem  banc  mortem,  vere  mortuus  est :  vere  enim  a  morte  resurrexit, 
et  post  resurrectionem  oonversatus  cum  discipulis  suis  assumptus  est. 

Tum  deinde  honore  ac  dignitate  Patri  ac  Filio  sociatum  tradiderunt  Spiritum 
Sanctum,  in  hoc  non  jam  manifeste  discernitur,  utrum  natus  an  innatus.  Sed 
inquirenda  jam  ista  pro  viribus  sunt  de  sacra  scriptura,  et  sagaci  perquisitione 
investiganda,  sane  quod  iste  Spiritus  Sanctus  unumquemque  sanctorum  vel  pro- 
phetarum  vel  apostolorum  inspiravit,  et  non  alius  spiritus  in  veteribus,  alius  vero 
JQ  his,  qui  in  adventu  Christi  inspirati  sunt,  manifestissime  in  ecclesiis  praedi- 


SEC.  IV.]  ANCIENT    CREEDS.  297 


6.  Creed  of  the  Apostolical  Constitutions. — "  I  believe  in,  and 
am  baptized  into,  one  unbegotten,  the  only  true  God  Almighty,  the 
Father  of  Christ,  the  Creator  and  Maker  of  all  things,  of  whom  are 
all  things :  and  in  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  his  only  begotten  Son, 
the  first  born  of  every  creature  ;  who,  before  all  ages  was  begotten, 
not  made,  by  the  good  will  of  the  Father ;  by  whom  all  things  were 
made  in  heaven  and  in  earth,  visible  and  invisible ;  who  in  the  last 
times  came  down  from  heaven,  and  taking  flesh  upon  him,  was  born 
of  the  holy  Virgin  Mary,  and  lived  a  holy  life  according  to  the  laws 
of  God  his  Fatjier,  and  was  crucified  under  Pontius  Pilate,  and  died 
for  us ;  and  the  third  day,  after  he  had  suffered,  rose  again  from 
the  dead,  and  ascended  into  heaven,  and  sitteth  on  the  right  hand 
of  the  Father,  and  shall  come  again  with  glory  in  the  end  of  the 
world,  to  judge  both  the  quick  and  the  dead,  of  whose  kingdom 
there  shall  be  no  end.  And  I  am  baptized  into  the  Holy  Ghost, 
the  Comforter,  who  wrought  effectually  in  all  the  saints  from  the 
beginning  of  the  world,  and  was  afterward  sent  to  the  apostles  by 
the  Father,  according  to  the  promise  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ,  and  after  the  apostles,  to  all  others,  who  in  the  holy  catho- 
lic church  believe  in  the  resurrection  of  the  flesh,  the  remission  of 
sins,  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  the  life  of  the  world  to  come." 
It  is  observable,  that  the  title  "  unbegotten"  is  carefully  restricted 
to  God  the  Father ;  the  author  of  the  Constitutions  elsewhere  ap- 
propriately styles  the  Son  "the  only  begotten  God." 

7.  Nicene  Creed,  a.  d.  325.  1.  As  it  was  first  published  by  the 
Council  of  Nicsea,  a.  d.  325. — "  We  believe  in  one  God  Almighty, 
Maker  of  all  things,  visible  and  invisible.  And  in  one  Lord,  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  begotten  of  the  Father,  the  only  begotten, 
that  is,  of  the  substance  of  the  Father,  God  of  God,  Light  of  Light, 

very  God  of  very  God ;  begotten,  not  made  ;  of  one  substance  with 

• 

catur.  Post  hijec  jam,  quod  anima  substantiam,  YitarrKjue  habens  propriam,  cum 
ex  hoc  mundo  discesserit,  et  pro  suis  meritis  dispensabit,  sive  vitae  oeternje  ac 
beatudinis  ha;reditate  potitura,  si  hoc  ei  sua  gesta  praestiterint ;  sive  igne  ajterno 
atque  suppliciis  mancipanda,  si  in  hoc  eam  scelerum  culpa  detorserit.  Sed  et 
quia  eiit  tempus  resurrectionis  mortuoi'um,  cum  corpus  hoc  quod  in  corruptione 
seminatur,  surget  in  corruptione,  et  quod  seminatur  in  ignominia,  surget  in 
gloria. — Origen,  in  Proem,  lib.  De  Friiiciptis.  To  this  may  be  added,  Ht,ativaov  ott 
tU  iativ  o  ^£0f,  o  to.  Ttav-ea  xtlaa^  xcu  xata.pt icai,  xai  rtotjj^aj  tx  tov  ftr]  wroj  ftj  to 
tjcai  tartuvta,  xp^J  fit  xai  rt(,atsviiv  oti  Krpioj  'lr;aovi  Xpioro;  xai  jiaavj  trj  rtfpi  avtov 
xata  trjv  ^totr^ta  xai  ai/^pwrtdrryTa  a7.j-^sia'  btl  xai  f  ij  to  ayuov  rtvevfia  rttateiti-v,  xai 
6rt  avte^ovai-oc  ovti^  xo7.a!^6fjL(ha  jxtv  t^'  015  aiiaptavofxcv  tt/iWjM.£^a  6«  £^  ol;  fiirtpot'- 
tofiiv. — Origen,  Coviment.  in  Johan, 


298  RELIGIOUS    WORSHIP.  [CHAP.  XIV. 

the  Father ;  by  whom  all  things  both  in  heaven  and  earth  were 
made ;  who  for  us  men  and  our  salvation  came  down  from  heaven, 
and  was  incarnate,  and  made  man,  and  suffered,  and  the  third  day 
rose  again,  and  ascended  into  heaven,  and  shall  come  again  to  judge 
the  quick  and  the  dead.  And  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  As  for  those 
who  say  there  was  a  time  when  the  Son  of  God  was  not,  or  that  he 
did  not  exist  before  he  was  made,  or  that  he  was  made  out  of  no- 
thing, or  of  another  substance  or  essence,  or  that  he  is  created  or 
mutable,  the  catholic  and  apostolic  church  anathematizes  them.'*'* 
2.  As  comjyleted  hy  the  second  general  Council  of  Oonstantinople, 
A.  D.  381. — The  Council  of  Nicsea  rehearsed  and  expounded  only 
so  much  of  the  former  creeds  as  bore  upon  the  questions  then  in 
debate,  in  connection  with  Arian  doctrines;  "leaving  the  rest," 
says  Bingham,  "  to  be  supplied  from  the  former  creeds  then  gene- 
rally received  by  the  church."  The  creed  which  received  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  Second  General  Council  of  Constantinople,  was  the  same 
as  the  Nicene,  with  the  addition  of  such  other  articles  as  were  al- 
ways used  by  the  church  in  the  interrogatories  of  baptism,  and  is 
as  follows  : — "  We  believe  in  one  God  the  Father  Almighty,  Maker 
of  heaven  and  earth,  and  of  all  things  visible  and  invisible.  And 
in  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God ;  begotten 
of  his  Father  before  all  worlds  ;  God  of  God,  Light  of  Light,  very 
God  of  very  God  ;  begotten,  not  made  ;  being  of  one  substance  with 
the  Father ;  by  whom  all  things  were  made ;  who,  for  us  men  and 
our  salvation,  came  down  from  heaven,  and  was  incarnate  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  was  made  man,  and  was  cru- 
cified for  us  under  Pontius  Pilate ;  he  suffered  and  was  buried,  and 
the  third  day  he  rose  again  according  to  the  Scriptures,  and  as- 
cended into  heaven,  and  sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Father, 
and  he  shall  come  again  with  glory  to  judge  both  the  quick  and 
the  dead ;  whose  kingdom  shall  have  no  end.     And  we  believe  in 

*  IlKJT'si'o/tEi'  fij  «'0  diov,  rtai'iptt  rtowT'oxpat'opa,  Ttavtuyv  opafco  vtt  xai  dopar'toj' 
lioiri'tTiv.  Kai  fij  iva  xvptov  \riacniv  Xptdfov,  ■tov  vihv  "iov  ^tov'  yivvri^ivta  ix  tov 
riarpoj,  ^oi/oyfj'jj'  'tovt  la-tiv,  ix  ti^i  ovavoi  toi  Jlarpoj,  6i6v  ix  Osoi  xai  ^Cj^  ix 
^cofoj,  SfO)/  aXri^ivbv  ix  9tov  aXrj^ivov'  ysvvri^ivr'a  ov  Ttocyj'^svi'a,  ofioovOLOv  tqi  rtarpt* 
Si,  ou  ■fa  jtuvta  eyivcto,  ia,  it  iv  ■to)  oipam  xai  to.  iv  tj^  y>^.  Toi'  6t  ij^tx;  rovj  ai'^pci- 
Ttovi  xai  Sia  triv  r^/ii-tipav  ffioTj^piai'  xa-tfX^vta,  xai  aapxio^ivta,  xai  ivav^puirty-aavta, 
rta^i'T'a,  xai  avaatdvra,  frj  r'piT'ij  ijittspa,  avfTJ^ovta,  fij  tovi  ovpavovi,  ipx^i^ivov  xpuat 
^wi'T'o^  xai  j'fzpovj.  Kai  fij  fb  ayiov  Tii'evfxa,  Tovi  6s  ^Jyoita^,  on  rv  no-ti  ote 
ovx  jji/"  xai  Hpiv  yevvr^r^iat,  ovx  rjv'  xai  oti  i%  ovx  bvtuv  fysi'fro'  jj  f|  itipac  VTioaTci- 
atcni  ri  ovdiaj  ^acrxovras  fiii'ai'  y}  x-iiatbv,  ri  -fpfrtrov,  »j  dx^otio  -tbv  "Tov  vCov  tov  ^lov' 
uva^tfiar't'^ic  tj  ayia  xa'^o\t,xri  xai  drtoOT'oXtx^  ixx'Krjai.a. 


SEC.  IV.]  ANCIENT   CREEDS.  299 


the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Lord  and  giver  of  life ;  who  proceedeth  from 
the  Father  ;  who,  with  the  Father  and  Son  together,  is  worshipped 
and  glorified ;  who  spake  by  the  prophets.  And  we  believe  one 
catholic  and  apostolic  church  ;  we  acknowledge  one  baptism  for  the 
remission  of  sins,  and  Ave  look  for  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  and 
the  life  of  the  world  to  come."  This  is  the  confession  of  faith 
which  has  been  admitted  into  the  liturgy,  under  the  name  of  the 
Nicene  creed,  but  with  the  addition  of  "and  the  Son,"  after  the 
words  "who  proceedeth  from  the  Father;"  an  addition  made  by 
the  Latin  church.  The  first  copies  of  this  creed,  in  the  Council  of 
Constantinople  and  the  Councils  of  Ephesus  and  Chalcedon,  have 
only  the  words  "proceeding  from  the  Father,"  {sz  rov  JIarpog 
ixTtopsvofievov,)  without  any  mention  of  the  Son  ;  but  in  the  Latin 
councils,  the  word  "  Filioque"  is  added,  as  in  the  first  Council  of 
Bracara,  (a.  d.  411,)  and  the  third  Council  of  Toledo,  (a.  d.  589,) 
where  the  Nicaeo-Constantinopolitan  creed  is  recited.       ♦ 

The  Nicene  creed  was  generally  used  by  the  Eastern  churches 
in  the  administration  of  baptism,  from  the  time  of  its  publication. 
It  was  inserted  in  the  daily  service  of  the  oriental  churches  about 
the  middle  of  the  fifth  century.  It  appears  to  have  been  partially 
introduced  into  the  daily  service  of  the  Western  churches  about  the 
latter  end  of  the  sixth  century ;  but  this  use  of  it  was  not  fully  ad- 
mitted into  the  Roman  church  until  the  year  1014 ;  when,  to  use 
the  words  of  Lupus  quoted  by  Bingham,  the  Roman  church,  since 
she  could  not  bring  over  the  French  and  Spanish  churches  to  her 
own  way,  resolved  at  last  to  comply  with  their  custom,  that  there 
might  be  no  disagreement  between  them. 

8.  The  Apostles  Creed. — This,  which  has  been  adopted  by  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  and  is  found  in  every  prayer-book, 
need  not  be  transcribed  in  this  place,  but  the  origin  and  authorship 
of  it  is  worthy  of  consideration. 

Prelatical  and  popish  superstition  ascribes  the  authorship  of  this 
ancient  confession  of  faith  to  the  apostles  themselves.  It  is  even 
said  that  each  of  the  twelve  furnished  an  article — that  of  Peter 
being,  "  I  believe  in  God,  the  Father  Almighty ;"  that  of  John, 
"Maker  of  heaven  and  earth,"  etc.  This  legend,  however,  trans- 
cends the  credulity  of  the  most  confiding  superstition,  and  is  now 
generally  rejected,  even  by  those  who  still  receive  with  profound 
veneration  the  tradition  of  the  church.  It  exceeds  in  absurdity 
that  monstrous  figment  of  prelatical  pride  and  ghostly  superstition, 
the  doctrine  of  the  apostolical  succession. 


300  RELIGIOUS    WORSHIP.  [CHAP.  XIV. 

Others  again  attempt  to  trace  the  Apostles'  Creed  up  to  the  high 
antiquity  of  the  second  century.  It  will  be  observed,  that  earlier 
creeds  already  cited,  express  the  doctrinal  sentiments  of  this  creed, 
with  the  exception  of  the  "descent  into  hell,"  "the  communion  of 
saints,"  and  "  the  life  everlasting."  Bingham  has  instituted  a  care- 
ful collation  of  this  with  the  preceding  creeds,  and  with  ancient 
authors,  to  prove  its  high  antiquity,  but  he  has  the  candour  to  ad- 
mit, in  conclusion,  that  none  of  them  "speaks  home  to  the  pur- 
pose" except  Rufinus.  Even  this  author  only  "  speaks  home  to  the 
purpose,"  by  relating  the  fabulous  tradition  already  mentioned. 
Rufinus  lived  in  the  last  half  of  the  fourth  century ;  previous  to 
which  time,  we  have  no  satisfactory  evidence  of  the  existence  of 
the  Apostles'  Creed. 

In  the  secret  discipline  of  the  church,  the  custom  was  to  conceal 
its  creed  as  much  as  possible,  not  only  from  the  heathen,  but  even 
from  the  candidates  for  baptism  themselves,  until  the  administra- 
tion of  this  ordinance.  For  this  reason  Christians  were  required 
not  to  commit  their  creed  to  writing — or,  in  their  phraseology, 
"  not  to  permit  vile  paper  to  depreciate  this  precious  gift,  or  black 
ink  to  darken  this  mystery  of  light,"  but  to  preserve  it  in  the  most 
inward  recesses  of  their  hearts.  In  consequence  of  this  extraordi- 
nary secrecy,  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  ascertain  from  ancient 
history  the  real  origin  and  authorship  of  this  Apostles'  Creed. 
Chancellor  King,  in  his  history  of  it,  sums  up  the  result  of  his  re- 
searches respecting  it  as  follows  : — "  As  for  the  authors  thereof,  it 
cannot  be  denied  but  that  they  were  several  and  many.  The  creed 
was  neither  the  work  of  one  man,  nor  of  one  day,  but  during  a  long 
tract  of  time  passed  successively  through  hands,  ere  it  arrived  at  its 
present  perfection.  The  composure  of  it  was  gradual,  and  not  in- 
stantaneous." 

The  several  articles  of  the  creed  he  shows  at  great  length,  from 
ancient  writers,  to  have  been  framed  from  time  to  time,  against  the 
prevalent  tenets  of  the  numberless  heretical  sects,  which  disturbed 
the  peace  and  marred  the  purity  of  the  church — so  that,  "  although 
nothing  that  is  contained  therein  must  be  believed  any  further  than 
it  agrees  with  the  Holy  Scriptures,  yet  the  intended  sense  of  a  great 
part  thereof  is  not  to  be  fetched  from  them,  but  from  the  writings 
of  the  fathers,  and  from  those  heresies  against  which  it  was  de- 
signed." 

We  have  already  noticed  the  polemic  character  of  these  ancient 
creeds,  which  appear  to  have  been  subject  to  continual  change,  ad- 


SEC.  IV.]  ANCIENT   CREEDS.  301 


ditions,  amendments,  and  substitutions,  to  oppose  the  ever  A^arying 
forms  of  heresy,  that  came  in  like  the  frogs  of  Egypt  to  molest  and 
defile  the  church  of  Christ.  Socrates  gives  a  particular  account  of 
three  several  creeds  which  were  put  forth  under  Constantius  in  a 
little  more  than  twenty  years.  Evidently  the  repetitions  of  this 
creed  were  inserted  in  opposition  to  the  innovating  humour  of  the 
Arians  and  other  errorists  of  the  day. 

The  name  of  the  Apostles'  Creed,  like  that  of  the  Apostolical 
Canons  and  Constitutions,  was  evidently  a  pious  fraud,  to  give 
authority  to  this  ancient  summary  of  Christian  faith.  Clarkson, 
on  liturgies,  affirms  that  no  creed  was  put  into  set  form  until  the 
fourth  century,  or  near  it ;  and  that  "  those  forms  varied  in  seve- 
ral places  in  the  same  country."  He  further  asserts,  that  no  creed 
had  any  place  in  the  church  service  until  near  the  sixth  century, 
Dut  was  used  only  "in  baptisms,  or  in  order  to  it,  until  late." 

From  Theodore  Lector,  who  flourished  in  the  forepart  of  the 
sixth  century,  we  learn  that  the  creed  was  first  introduced  into  the 
church  service  by  Peter  the  Fuller,  of  Antioch,  a  man  of  fickle 
mind  and  worthless  character,  who  died  A.  D.  486.  "  This  Peter," 
says  Evagrius,  the  ancient  historian,  A.  D.  594,  "  never  abided  by 
one  opinion,  being  a  double-dealer  and  a  time-server." 

Timotheus,  Bishop  of  Constantinople,  a.  d.  511-17,  a  flagitious 
person  and  a  heretic,  introduced  the  creed  into  the  service  of  that 
church  to  vindicate  his  orthodoxy,  "  whereas  previously  it  was  said 
only  once  a  year — the  time  the  bishops  were  engaged  in  catechis- 
ing." The  creed,  which  now  began  to  find  a  place  in  the  ritual  of 
the  Eastern  church,  was  not,  however,  that  of  the  apostles,  but 
of  the  Council  of  Nice  or  Constantinople. 

Near  the  end  of  the  sixth  century  the  same  creed  was  introduced 
into  the  liturgical  service  of  the  Western  church.  The  Council  of 
Agde,  A.  D.  506,  decreed  that  on  the  Lord's  day  before  Easter,  the 
creed  should  be  publicly  preached  to  those  who  were  about  to  re- 
ceive baptism.  Eighty  years  afterward,  the  third  Council  of  To- 
ledo ordered  that  the  creed  of  the  Council  of  Constantinople  should 
be  used  throughout  all  the  churches  of  Spain  and  Gallicia,  "  accord- 
ing to  the  manner  of  the  Eastern  churches." 

Into  France  and  Germany  the  use  of  the  same  creed  was  intro- 
duced in  the  eighth  century,  under  Charlemagne. 

The  Apostles'  Creed  became  the  creed  of  Rome ;  and  from  this 
source,  together  with  many  other  articles  of  the  Roman  ritual,  was 
adopted  into  the  liturgy  of  the  church  of  England.     When  it  first 


302  RELIGIOUS    WORSHIP.  [CHAP.  XIV. 


found  a  place  in  the  Roman  liturgy,  does  not  appear.  That  church 
appears  first  to  have  appropriated  to  this  creed  exclusively  the  name 
and  authority  of  the  apostles.  The  creeds  of  Irenaeus,  TertuUian, 
Origen,  and  the  Apostolical  Constitutions  might  with  greater  pro- 
priety claim  this  venerable  appellation.  But  that  crafty  deceiver 
of  Rome  may  have  given  to  the  creed  its  venerable  title,  to  impress 
the  church  with  the  belief,  that  in  the  recital  of  it,  they  are  declar- 
ing their  faith  in  the  very  words  which  were  dictated  by  the  holy 
apostles,  and  dwelt  on  the  lips  of  the  earliest  disciples  of  the  Re- 
deemer. This  creed,  however,  has  no  claim  to  antiquity,  authority, 
or  veneration,  above  other  symbols  of  the  ancient  church.  It  is 
not  even  a  fair  summary  of  revealed  truth,  condensed  and  carefully 
adjusted,  but  a  crude  assemblage  of  certain  articles  of  the  faith  of 
the  early  Christians,  set  forth  in  opposition  to  the  obsolete  heresies 
of  those  distant  ages.  The  great  doctrine  of  the  atonement  is  only 
indirectly  implied  in  this  creed,  Avhile  the  death  of  Christ,  in  denial 
of  errors  which  passed  away  with  the  age  that  gave  them  birth,  is 
minutely  detailed  :  Suffered  under  Pontius  Pilate — ivas  crucified 
— dead  and  hurled.  The  descent  into  hell,  in  the  common  accepta- 
tion of  the  term,  is  not  a  doctrine  of  revelation.  What  is  its  real 
meaning,  is  still  an  unsettled  question,  even  among  those  who  every 
Sabbath-day  stand  up  together  in  the  great  congregation,  and  reve- 
rently repeat  it  as  an  article  of  their  faith  ! 

§  5.  OF  THE  CATECHETICAL  INSTRUCTIONS.^ 

"  At  the  beginning,  when  it  was  important  that  the  church 
should  rapidly  extend  itself,  those  who  confessed  their  belief  in 
Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  (among  the  Jews,)  or  their  belief  in  one  God, 
and  in  Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  (among  the  Gentiles,)  were  immedi- 
ately baptized,  as  appears  from  the  New  Testament.  Gradually  it 
came  to  be  thought  necessary  that  those  who  wished  to  be  received 
into  the  Christian  church  should  be  subjected  to  a  more  careful 
preparatory  instruction  and  to  a  stricter  examination.  This  whole 
class  were  denominated  xatYi')(pv^evoL,  axpoa^ai,  auditores  or 
audientes.  By  these  appellations  they  were  designated  as  those 
who  were  receiving  their  first  instruction  in  Christianity,  and  who 
could  only  be  permitted  to  hear  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  and 
the  preaching  of  the  word." 

No  very  clear  distinction  can  be  drawn  between  the  homilies  and 
catechetical  lessons  of  the  fathers.     The  terms  are  applied  inter- 


SEC.  v.]  CATECHETICAL  INSTRUCTIONS.  303 


changeably,  in  some  instances,  to  the  same  productions.  The  cate- 
chetical lessons  were  familiar  instructions  given  to  candidates  for 
baptism,  or  to  persons  who  had  just  received  that  ordinance ;  and 
varied  very  much  according  to  the  age,  character,  and  circum- 
stances of  the  catechumens.  Sometimes  they  were  of  a  doctrinal, 
and  at  others  of  a  practical  character  ;  and  again,  they  were  adapted 
more  especially  to  the  young ;  just  as  the  instructions  of  the  mis- 
sionary are  necessarily  qualified  by  the  circumstances  of  the  people 
to  whom  he  goes,  or  the  particular  class  whom  he  may  chance  to 
address.     But  in  either  case  they  are  strictly  catechetical. 

The  nature  of  these  instructions  in  the  ancient  church  was  greatly 
modified  by  the  general  introduction  of  infant  baptism,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  corresponding  change  of  the  relations  and  institutions 
which  attended  this  change  in  the  ordinance.  For  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  such  addresses  were  delivered,  at  first,  chiefly  to 
persons  of  full  age,  previous  to  their  admission  to  the  church  by 
baptism.  They  are,  therefore,  not  to  be  brought  into  comparison 
with  catechisms  of  the  present  day,  provided  for  the  use  of  chil- 
dren. They  were  familiar  instructions,  doctrinal  and  practical, 
like  those  which  the  modern  missionary  gives  to  converts  from 
paganism. 

The  catechetical  discourses  of  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  bearing  date, 
A.  D.  334-349,  contain  the  most  ancient  and  authentic  summary  of 
this  class  of  instructions.  These  the  catechumens  were  expected 
to  commit  to  memory,  and  habitually  to  study  as  a  compend  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  a  substitute  for  them,  to  such  as  had  not  a  Bible. 
Such  was  also  the  nature  and  intent  of  all  subsequent  formularies 
of  this  kind.  They  have  a  close  analogy  to  the  ancient  symbols 
of  the  church,  and  were  in  many  respects  the  same. 

The  principal  points  of  catechetical  instruction,  even  when  no 
catechism  in  form  was  used,  were 

1.  The  Decalogue. — The  fathers  in  the  church  unitedly  agreed 
in  regarding  this  as  essentially  a  summary  of  the  Old  Testament, 
and  obligatory  upon  Christians.  They  were  accordingly  diligently 
taught  this  compend  of  the  moral  law.  Pliny,  in  his  famous  epistle, 
has  clearly  declared  how  faithfully  the  primitive  Christians  ob- 
served this  law,  and  the  same  is  known  from  many  authorities.^ 

Many  of  the  fathers  disagreed  in  the  division  of  the  law  of  the 
two  tables,  some  making  ten,  others  seven,  etc.  In  regard  to  their 
different  views,  see  references.^ 

2.  The  Symbols,  or  Covfessions  of  Faith,  particularly  that  which 


304  RELIGIOUS    WORSHIP.  [CHAP,  XIV. 

is  styled  the  Apostles'  Creed,  after  the  adoption  of  this  famous  sym- 
bol by  the  ancient  church.  But  the  completion  of  it  in  its  present 
form,  dates  back  only  to  the  fifth  or  sixth  century."* 

3.  The  Lord's  Prayer  comprised  a  part  of  the  catechetical  in- 
structions. This  was  used  in  baptism,  and,  after  Gregory  the 
Great,  at  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper.  It  was  regarded  as 
a  summary  of  the  proper  topics  of  prayer. 

4.  While  the  secret  mysteries  of  the  church  were  continued,  in- 
structions respecting  the  sacrament  could  not  have  been  publicly 
given.  But  from  the  time  when  the  prevalence  of  infant  baptism 
changed  the  style  of  catechetical  instructions,  they  must  have  in- 
cluded the  subjects  of  baptism,  absolution,  and  the  Lord's  supper. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

OF  THE  PRAYERS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH. 
§  1.  OF  EXTEMPORE  PRAYER. 

"  The  Christian  church,  unlike  the  Jewish,"  says  Neander,  "was 
far  from  restricting  prayer  to  certain  stated  times,  as  though  there 
were  any  merit  in  these  carnal  ordinances.  It  regarded  prayer  as 
a  quickening  spirit,  drawing  forth  the  inward  aspirations  of  the  soul 
after  God.  The  entire  life  of  the  Christian  should  he  sanctified  hy 
prayer ;  and  life  should  be  but  a  continued  prayer  of  thanksgiving 
for  saving  grace  and  supplication  for  increasing  sanctification." 
Origen,  A.  D.  235,  speaks  also  of  the  life  of  the  Christian  as  one 
prolonged  prayer,  and  each  act  of  devotion  as  only  a  part  of  this 
prayer.  Some,  says  Clement  of  Alexandria,  half  of  a  century 
earlier,  contend  for  prayer  at  stated  times,  but  the  mature  Chris- 
tian prays  always ;  through  all  his  life  striving  thus  for  closer  com- 
munion with  God.  So  Cyprian  also  contends,  that  the  Christian 
should,  day  and  night,  without  ceasing,  pray  and  give  thanks  to 
God. 

The  primitive  Christians  contended  earnestly  against  all  prescribed 
attitudes  and  forms  in  prayer,  and  directed  their  attention  only  to 
the  state  of  the  heart,  as  the  requisite  qualification  for  ofi"ering  our 
prayers  acceptably  to  God.  Origen  directs  the  suppliant,  first  of 
all,  to  collect  his  thoughts  and  turn  them  inward  on  himself,  to 
impress  on  his  mind  a  sense  of  the  majesty  of  God  and  of  his  own 
sins,  and  to  lift  up  unto  God  his  heart  rather  than  his  hands ;  his 
mind  rather  than  his  eyes.  He  then  proceeds  to  say,  that  of  all 
attitudes,  that  is  to  be  preferred  in  which  the  eyes  are  upraised  and 
the  hands  outstretched,  as  an  emblem  of  the  proper  state  of  the 
mind  in  prayer ;  but  he  adds,  that  other  attitudes  may  be  equally 
acceptable  and  becoming  in  certain  circumstances. 

"  God,"  says  Tertullian,  in  opposition  to  those  whose  voice  was 
too  loud  in  prayer,   "  God  listens  not  to  the  sound  of  the  voice,  but 

20  305 


306  PRAYERS    OF   THE    ANCIENT    CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XV. 


to  the  utterance  of  the  heart,  for  he  looketh  upon  the  heart." 
Against  those  who  laid  undue  stress  upon  the  washing  of  the  hands 
before  prayer  he  says,  "  Of  what  avail  is  it  to  come  before  the  Lord 
with  clean  hands  and  an  impure  heart.  True  purity  consists  in  no 
outward  rites,  which  many  are  so  careful  to  observe,  reference  being 
had  to  superstitions  which  Jewish  and  pagan  converts  had  trans- 
ferred to  the  Christian  religion.  Our  hands,"  he  adds,  "  are  suffi- 
ciently clean,  since  the  whole  body  has  once  for  all  been  washed  in 
Christ." 

Tertullian  then  proceeds  to  censure  other  vain  superstitions, 
which,  like  these,  are  neither  authorized  by  Christ  himself,  nor  by 
the  apostles,  and  in  this  connection  adds,  "  Such  things  pertain  not 
to  true  religion,  but  to  superstition  ;  and  are  indicative  of  attention 
rather  to  useless  outward  forms  than  to  intelligent  consistent  wor- 
ship. Such  surely  ought  to  be  suppressed,  that  we  may  not  seem 
to  worship  as  the  heathen  do."* 

On  another  occasion  Tertullian  adds,  "  we  pray  ivith  head  un- 
covered, because  not  ashamed ;  without  a  monitor,  because  from  the 
heart. "t  This  he  says  in  direct  contrast  of  the  prayers  of  Chris- 
tians with  those  of  the  heathen,  and  to  show  the  sincerity  and 
loyalty  of  Christians  in  their  prayers.  The  heathen  were  accus- 
tomed, it  is  well  known,  to  make  use  of  set  forms  of  prayer,  and  a 
prompter  used  to  precede  the  suppliant  with  the  form  of  prayer, 
which  the  worshipper  repeated  after  his  monitor.  | 

*  Quae  ratio  est,  manibus  quldem  ablutis,  spiritu  vero  sordente  orationem  obire  ? 
quando  et  ipsis  manibus  spirituales  mundltiae  sint  necessariie,  ut  a  falso,  a  vene- 
ficiis,  ab  idolatria,  ceterisque  maculis,  quos  spiritu  conceptae  manuum  opera  transi- 
guntur,  purse  alleventur.  Hae  sunt  verae  munditise,  non  quas  plerique  supersti- 
tiose  curant,  ad  omnem  orationem  etiam  cum  lavacro  totius  corporis  aquara 
sumentes.  Id  cum  scrupulose  percunctarer,  et  rationem  requicerem,  comperi 
commemorationem  esse  in  Domini  deditionem.  Nos  Dominum  adoraraus,  non 
dedimus.  Imo  et  adversari  debemus  detitoris  exemplo,  nee  propterea  manus 
abluere,  nisi  quod  conversationis  humanae  inquinimentum  conscientiae  causa 
lavemus.     Cseterum  satis  mundae  sunt  manus,  quas  cum  toto  corpore  in  Christo 

semel  lavimus Sed  quoniam  unum  aliquod  attigimus  vacuae  observationis, 

non  pigebit  caetera  quoque  denotare,  quibus  merito  vanitas  exprobranda  est ; 
siquidem  sine  ullius  aut  dominici  aut  apostolici  precepti  auctoritate  fiunt.  Hu- 
jusmodi  enim  non  religioni,  sed  superstitioni  deputantur,  afFectata,  et  coacta,  et 
curiosi  potius,  quam  rationalis  oflBcii ;  certe  vel  eo  coercenda,  quod  gentilibus 
adaequent. 

f  Capite  nudo,  quia  non  erubescimus,  denique  sine  monitore,  quia  de  pectore. — 
Apol.  c.  30. 

J  In  Candida  veste,  Terbenas  manu  praeferens,  capite  velato,  praeibat  preces  regi. 
— Cited  in  note  of  Milne's  Patrologix,  vol.  ii.,  Apol.  c.  30,  p.  443. 


SEC.  I,]  EXTEMPORE    PRAYER.  307 


The  manner  in  wliicli  Christians  paid  their  devotions  to  their  God 
is  here  strongly  contrasted  with  the  forms  of  worship  which  the 
heathen  observed.  They  prayed  with  the  head  covered ;  Christians 
with  the  head  imcovered.  Their  prayers  were  heartless  forms,  dic- 
tated from  a  prayer-book  by  a  monitor.  Those  of  Christians  were 
offered  without  a  monitor,  because  from  the  heart :  "  out  of  the 
abundance  of  the  heart  the  mouth  speaketh." 

"  What  is  to  be  understood  by  praying  from  the  heart  will  best 
appear  from  inquiring  into  what  is  opposed  to  it,  viz.  the  praying 
by  a  monitor.  Now,  the  praying  by  a  monitor,  as  is  acknowledged 
by  all,  was  praying  by  a  book ;  but  thus  Tertullian  affirms  the  pri- 
mitive Christians  prayed  not:  'We  do  not  pray,'  saith  he,  'with  a 
monitor,  reading  our  prayers  out  of  a  book.  No,  but  on  the  con- 
trary, we  pray  de  pectore,  from  the  heart,  our  own  heart  and  soul 
dictating  to  us  what  is  most  proper  and  suitable  to  be  asked,  hav- 
ing no  need  of  any  other  monitor  besides.'  " 

Such  is  the  comment  of  Chancellor  King  upon  this  passage ;  and 
with  him  we  must  believe  that  the  prayer-book  belongs  to  the  cere- 
monials of  an  age  subsequent  both  to  that  of  Christ  and  the  apos- 
tles and  that  of  the  primitive  fathers  and  apologists  for  Christi- 
anity. The  use  of  forms  of  prayer  was  one  of  the  numerous 
changes  which,  from  the  third  century,  began  to  impair  the  primi- 
tive form  of  worship  and  government  of  the  church.  The  history 
of  the  church,  from  that  period,  abounds  with  instances  of  corrupt 
imitations  of  Jewish  and  pagan  worship,  which  finally  produced  an 
entire  subversion  of  the  simplicity  of  primitive  worship. 

In  the  earliest  ages  of  the  church,  no  complaint  is  made  of  any 
change  of  forms  of  prayer,  liturgy,  or  creed,  evidently  because  no 
uniformity  had  yet  been  established  by  ecclesiastical  authority. 
After  they  are  known  to  have  existed,  they  are  known  to  have 
been  the  subject  of  perpetual  change. 

The  apologists  made  use  of  many  arguments  against  their  ene- 
mies, and  often  cited  the  Scriptures  in  their  defence,  and  in  evi- 
dence of  the  unjust  imputations  of  their  opponents  against  them ; 
but  they  make  no  reference  to  prayer-book,  liturgy,  or  missal, 
neither  is  any  ever  mentioned  by  their  persecutors.  The  obvious 
inference  is,  that  none  were  then  known. 

Tertullian  affirms  the  benevolent  intentions  and  loyalty  of  the 
Christians  toward  their  rulers,  and  appeals  to  the  Scriptures  in 
proof,'  which  requires  us  to  pray  for  "  kings,  and  for  all  that  are 
in  authority."     How  naturally  and  conclusively  would  his  appeal 


308  PRAYERS    OF   THE   ANCIENT   CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XV. 


have  been  made  to  their  prayer-book  and  liturgy,  had  such  then 
been  recorded  and  authorized  in  liturgical  worship. 

He  wrote  an  elaborate  dissertation  on  the  Lord's  prayer,  which 
he  commends  as  the  basis  of  all  true  prayer,  and  says,  that  after 
this,  each  one  in  prayer  will  direct  his  supplications  according  to 
his  peculiar  circumstances.* 

Chancellor  King,f  in  commenting  on  this  passage  from  Tertul- 
lian,  has  collected  several  instances  of  occasional  requests  in  public 
prayers,  to  show  that  Christians  of  that  age  were  not  restricted  to 
any  established  forms  of  prayer.  "  Cyprian,  for  example,  assures 
Moses  and  Maximus,  two  Roman  confessors,  that  he  remembered 
them  in  his  public  prayers  with  his  congregation. |  And  in  another 
epistle,  when  he  congratulates  Pope  Lucius  upon  his  return  from 
banishment,  he  assures  him  '  that  he  did  not  cease  in  his  public 
prayers  to  bless  God  for  so  great  a  mercy,  and  to  pray  Him  that 
was  perfect  to  keep  and  perfect  in  him  the  glorious  crown  of  his 
confession.' §  And  so,  when  the  church  of  Carthage  sent  a  sum 
of  money  to  the  bishops  of  Numidia  for  the  redemption  of  some 
Christian  captives,  they  desired  those  bishops  to  '  remember  them 
in  their  public  prayers.'  ||  So  that  their  prayers  could  not  be 
stinted,  invariable  forms,  because  they  could  add  new  petitions,  as 
their  occasions  and  circumstances  did  require." 

Polycarp  exhorts  the  church  at  Philippi  to  pray  for  all  the  saints, 
and  for  kings,  rulers,  and  princes ;  for  them  that  persecute  and 
hate,  and  for  the  enemies  of  the  cross.^  Would  he  not  rather  have 
directed  them  to  the  use  of  the  collect  or  prayers  for  such,  had  they 
been  in  use  by  this  church  ? 

According  to  Justin  Martyr,  half  a  century  earlier  than  Tertul- 

*  Quoniam  tamen  Dominus  prospector  liumanarum  necessitatum,  seorsum  post 
traditam  orandi  disciplinam,  Petite,  inquit,  et  accipietis,  (Luc.  xi.  8,)  et  sunt  quae 
petantur  procircumstantia  cujusque,  prsemissa  legitima  et  ordinaria  oratione, 
quasi  fundamento,  accidentium  jus  est  desideriorum,  jus  est  superfluendi  extrin- 
secus  petitiones,  cum  niemoria  tamen  prajceptorum,  ne  quantum  a  proeceptis, 
tantum  ab  auribus  Dei  longe  simus. — De  Or  at.  c.  10. 

I  Second  Part  of  the  Enquiry  into  the  Constitution,  Discipline,  Unity,  and  Wor- 
ship of  the  Primitive  Church,  part  ii.  c.  ii.  |  7. 

J  Et  quando  in  sacrificiis  precem  cum  plurimis  facimus. — JSp.  16,  g  1,  p.  44. 

§  Hie  quoque  in  sacrificiis  atque  in  orationibus  nostris  non  cessantes  Deo — 
gratias  agere,  et  orare  pariter,  ac  petere,  ut  qui  perfectus  est  atque  perficiens, 
custodiat  et  perficiat  in  vobis  confessionis  vestrse  gloriosam  coronam. — Up.  Iviii. 
{J  2,  p.  163. 

II  In  mentem  liabeatis  in  orationibus  yestris  et  eis  vicem  boni  operis  in  sacrificiis 
et  precibus  reprsesentetis. — JEp.  Ix.  §  4,  p.  167. 


SEC.  I.]  EXTEMPORE    PRAYER.  309 


lian,  and  but  a  little  more  than  this  term  of  time  from  the  age  of 
the  apostles,  the  minister,  not  in  private,  but  m  public  tvo7'ship, 
prayed  according  to  Ms  ahility,  that  is,  extempore,  according  to  all 
just  interpretation.  The  passage  has  been  noticed  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  pp.  273-4.  In  addition  to  what  has  there  been  said,  the 
foIloAving  remarks  from  Chancellor  King  are  submitted,  illustrative 
of  the  meaning  of  this  vexed  passage. 

"As  to  these  prescribed  forms,  there  is  not  the  least  mention  of 
them  in  any  of  the  primitive  writings,  nor  the  least  word  or  syllable 
tending  thereunto  that  I  can  find,  which  is  a  most  unaccountable 
silence,  if  ever  such  there  were ;  but  rather  some  expressions  inti- 
mating the  contrary,  as  that  famous  controverted  place  of  Justin 
Martyr,  who,  describing  the  manner  of  the  prayer  before  the 
celebration  of  the  Lord's  supper,  says  that  'the  bishop  sent  up 
prayers  and  praises  to  God  with  his  utmost  ability,'  ocD?  Svvauig 
ai'TO),  that  is,  that  he  prayed  with  the  best  of  his  abilities,  invention, 
expression,  judgment,  and  the  like."^ 

"  I  have  not  found  one  place,  wherein  this  phrase  of  bffy;  ovva[.ag 
doth  not  comprehend  personal  abilities ;  and  several  scores  more 
might  I  cite,  where  it  is  so  to  be  understood,  which  I  shall  omit, 
and  mention  only  one  more,  spoken  by  Origen  with  respect  to  this 
duty  of  prayer,  where  it  must  of  necessity  imply  personal  abilities, 
and  that  is  in  his  book  De  Oratione,  (§  2,  p.  134,)  where  he  pre- 
scribes the  method  and  parts  of  prayer,  the  first  whereof  was  dox- 
ology ;  wherein,  says  he,  he  that  prays  must  bless  God  according 
to  his  power,  ^fara  hvvaiav ;  where  xatd  ^vvafiiv  must  signify 
the  performer's  abilities  of  judgment  and  expression,  because  it  is 
not  spoken  of  prescribed  words,  but  of  a  prescribed  method  of 
prayer ;  as  if  any  one  should  desire  me  to  inform  him  how,  or  in 
what  method  he  must  pray ;  I  tell  him,  as  Origen  doth  in  this 
place,  that  first  he  must  begin  with  an  invocation  of  God  by  his 
titles  and  attributes ;  then  he  must  proceed  to  praise  God  for  his 
mercies  and  benefits,  confessing  withal  his  ingi'atitude  and  unfruit- 
fulness  ;  then  beg  pardon  for  past  sins,  strength  against  future,  and 
conclude  all,  with  praising  God  through  Christ,  and  that  he  must 
do  all  this  according  to  the  utmost  of  his  ability.  What  could  any 
one  imagine  that  I  should  intend  by  this  advice  of  following  this 
method  to  the  utmost  of  his  power,  but  the  exerting  of  his  own 
abilities,  understanding,  memory,  invention,  expression,  and  the 
like,  since  I  direct  him  not  to  any  prescribed  words,  but  only  to 
the  observation  of  those  general  heads  and  parts  of  prayer  ?" 


310  PRAYERS    OF   THE   ANCIENT   CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XV. 

Basil,  in  giving  instructions  how  to  pray,  advises  to  make  choice 
of  scriptural  forms  of  thanksgiving,  and  when  you  have  praised 
him  thus,  according  to  your  ability,  dg  hvvaaai, — exactly  equivalent 
to  Svva^ig, — then  he  advises  the  suppliant  to  proceed  to  petitions.'* 
It  appears  from  this  father,  who  lived  two  hundred  years  after 
Justin,  that  in  his  age  the  church  had  not  received  any  primitive 
forms  of  prayer.  "  Who  of  the  saints  has  left  us  in  WTiting  the 
words  of  a  prayer  at  the  consecration  of  the  eucharistical  bread 
and  the  cup  of  blessing  ?"  *  But  every  liturgy  extant,  whether 
ancient  or  modern,  has  a  form  for  the  consecration  of  the  sacra- 
mental elements.  If  then  Basil  had  received  no  form  for  the  conse- 
cration of  the  bread  and  wine  of  the  Lord's  supper,  the  inference  is 
conclusive  that  no  ancient  liturgies  whatever  were  at  this  time 
known  to  him.  This  conclusion  is  in  harmony  also  with  the  teach- 
ing of  the  apostles  and  the  spirit  of  primitive  Christianity.  Regard- 
less of  all  forms,  the  religion  of  Christ  and  his  apostles  looks  only  to 
the  spirit  of  the  suppliant,  and  is  in  its  nature  opposed  to  prescribed 
forms  and  ceremonies.  Matt.  vi.  5—8 ;  John  iv.  24 ;  Jude  20. 
Several  examples  of  prayer  by  Jesus  and  his  disciples  are  re- 
corded, viz.  Acts  i.  24 ;  iv.  24—31 ;  ix.  40  ;  xii.  5 ;  xx.  36.  These 
all  appear  to  have  been  occasional,  and  offered  extempore.  St. 
Paul's  strictures  upon  the  irregularities  of  the  Corinthians,  1  Cor. 
xiv.,  evidently  indicate  that  their  prayers  were  extempore. 

It  is  also  worthy  of  remark,  that,  with  the  exception  of  certain 
forms,  such  as  Amen,  Grace  be  unto  you,  etc.,  no  instance  occurs 
of  the  repetition  of  the  same  prayer.  This  circumstance  forbids 
the  idea  of  any  prescribed  forms  of  prayer.  Even  our  Lord's 
prayer  is  recorded  with  essential  variations  by  the  evangelists 
Matthew  (vi.  9-13)  and  Luke  (xi.  1—4.)  Hence  the  inference,  that 
the  prayer  is  of  a  general  character,  expressing  rather  the  subjects 
than  the  form  of  our  petitions  to  God. 

For  a  further  consideration  of  this  topic  the  reader  is  referred  to 
the  Apostolical  and  Primitive  Church,  chap,  xi.,  where  the  discus- 
sion is  directed  to  the  defence  of  the  following  propositions  : — 

1.  That  the  use  of  forms  of  prayer  is  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  the 
Christian  dispensation. 

2.  That  it  is  opposed  to  the  example  of  Christ  and  of  his  apostles. 

3.  That  it  is  unauthorized  by  theii'  instructions. 

*  Ttt  T'ijj  f rttx^^ffitjj  lirj/xata  frfi  tvj  avaSii,^ii  "toi  aptov  r^;  ivxo-pi-O'tiai,  xai  tov 
Tiotriplov  r^j  ivXoyiai,  ttj  rCjv  oyiwi'  frtiypa(})wf  t/jnv  xataTUxotrttv. — De  Spirit.  Sanct. 
cap.  xxvii. 


SEC.  II.]  UNITY   AND   TKINITY   OF   THE    GODHEAD.  311 

4.  That  it  is  contrary  to  the  simplicity  and  freedom  of  primitive 
worship. 

5.  That  it  was  unknown  in  the  primitive  church. 

The  author  of  the  Prize  Essay  on  the  Apostolical  Constitutions, 
in  his  learned  and  able  discussion  assigns  the  origin  of  liturgical 
worship  to  the  latter  part  of  the  third  century  and  beginning  of  the 
fourth.  "Until  the  middle  of  the  third  century  there  still  prevails 
a  simple,  not  a  complicated  manner  of  service.  The  end  of  the 
third  and  beginning  of  the  fourth  century  form  the  transition,  till, 
in  the  time  of  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  f  386,  and  Chrysostom,  f  407, 
we  perceive  a  divine  service  completely  changed,  and  often  dissent- 
ing essentially  from  the  earlier." 

About  the  same  time  written  forms  of  prayer  begin  to  be  the 
subject  of  remark  and  discussion  by  the  fathers  and  in  councils.  The 
third  Council  of  Carthage,  A.  d.  397,  decreed  that  no  one  should  use 
any  prayers  which  he  may  have  copied  out  for  himself,  unless  he 
first  collated  them  in  connection  with  brethren  better  informed.* 
Augustin,  of  the  same  age,  complains  that  many,  in  the  simplicity  of 
their  ignorance,  make  use  of  prayers  composed  not  only  by  unskilful 
babblers,  but  even  by  heretics.  And  the  Council  of  Milive,  A.  d. 
402,  as  given  in  the  African  code,  ordered  that  all  prayers  which 
had  been  approved  in  council  might  be  used  by  all,  and  that  no 
other,  unless  approved  by  the  more  discreet,  should  be  rehearsed. f 

These  passages  clearly  indicate  the  absence  of  all  uniformity  in 
the  use  of  a  liturgy,  while  they  as  clearly  show  that  written  forms 
have  begun  to  take  the  place  of  extempore  prayer.  Two  hundred 
years  later  we  find  decrees  of  council  requiring  uniformity  in  litur- 
gical worship.! 

§  2.  OF  THE  UNITY  AND  TRINITY  OF  THE  GODHEAD  IMPLIED  IN 
THE  DEVOTIONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH. 

Every  prayer  and  every  song  of  praise  was  presented  by  the 
worshipper  to  one  God,  the  Maker  of  heaven  and  earth.     In  this, 

*  Quascunque  sibi  preces  aliquis  describit,  non  eis  utatur,  nisi  prius  eas  cum 
instructioribus  fratribus  contulerit. — C.  23. 

f  Placuit  etiam  hoc,  ut  preces  quae  probatis  fuerint  in  concilio  sive  praefa- 
tiones,  sive  commendationes,  seu  manus  impositiones  ab  omnibus  celebreutur, 
nee  aliae  omnino  contra  fidem  prteferantur,  sed  quxcunque  a  prudentioribus 
fuerint  collecti3e  dicantur. 

J  Unus  ordo  orandi  atque  psallendi  nobis  per  oranem  Hispaniam  atque  Galliam 
servetur,  unus  modus  in  missarum  solemnitatibus. — IV.  Cone.  Tolet,  a.  i>.  G33, 
c.  ii.     Comp.  Cone.  Vasen.  a.  d.  492,  c.  iii. 


312  PEATERS    OF    THE    AXCIENT    CHUR-CH.  [CHAP.  XV. 

Christianity  was  directly  opposed  to  the  polytheism  of  the  age, 
while  it  perfectly  harmonized  with  the  doctrine  of  the  Jewish  reli- 
gion— "Hear,  0  Israel!  the  Lord  our  God  is  one  God." 

At  the  same  time,  all  the  prayers  and  songs  of  the  church  were 
directed  to  the  triune  Cfod,  or  distinctly  implied  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity.  The  church  guarded  itself  against  the  charge  of  paganism 
by  continually  asserting  that  it  rejected  all  polytheism,  and  that 
the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  bore  no  analogy  to  tritheism.  Indeed,  it 
is  very  evident,  in  view  of  all  that  the  ancient  apologists  for  Chris- 
tianity have  said,  that,  in  worshipping  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost,  they  did  not  worship  three  Gods. 

The  distinction  between  the  Jews  and  Christians  on  this  point  is 
well  described  by  Tertullian,  who  says,  "  They  believe  God  to  be 
one  in  such  a  sense  that  it  is  improper  to  unite  with  Him  the  Son 
and  Holy  Spirit.  What  can  the  distinction  be  between  them  and 
us,  save  that  in  the  new  dispensation  God  is  revealed  to  us  as  one 
God,  through  the  Son  and  the  Spirit,  although  he  is  still  known  by 
his  own  appropriate  appellations,  and  in  his  own  person,  while  in 
the  former  dispensation  he  is  not  revealed  to  us  through  the  inter- 
vention of  the  Son  and  the  Spirit."^  Jerome,  Augustin,  and  Cos- 
mus  Indicopleustes,  and  others,  express  much  the  same  sentiments. 
Ever  since  the  time  of  the  Christian  apologists,  dogmatists,  and  po- 
lemics, the  strife  has  been  to  detect,  in  the  creeds  and  liturgy  of  the 
Jews,  in  their  names  of  the  Deity,  doxologies,  and  ascriptions  of  praise, 
implied  evidence  of  the  Trinity,  and  to  ascribe  to  the  Jews  their 
belief  in  God  as  existing  in  three  persons.^  But  however  ground- 
less this  interpretation  of  the  Jewish  Scriptures  may  be,  it  shows  dis- 
tinctly what  the  doctrine  of  the  polemics  was  respecting  the  Trinity. 

The  church  has  also  had  occasion  to  defend  herself,  in  the  wor- 
ship of  the  three  persons  of  the  Godhead,  against  numerous  classes 
of  heretics  who  are  known  under  the  general  name  of  anti-trinitari- 
ans — Patripassians,  Sabellians,  Gnostics,  Manicheans,  Arians,  etc. 
In  all  these  controversies  the  church  has  sought  to  maintain  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity  in  its  integrity.  "  Our  hope,"  says  Cyril  of 
Jerusalem,  "  is  in  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost.  We  teach, 
not  the  doctrine  of  three  Gods,  but,  with  his  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Spirit,  one  God ;  of  necessity,  our  faith  is  undivided.  We  neither 
sunder  the  Trinity,  a:s  do  some,  nor  confound  it,  like  the  Sabellians. 
But  we  acknowledge  with  piety  the  Father,  who  sent  the  Son,  our 
Saviour ;  we  acknowledge  the  Son,  who  promised  to  send  us  the 
Comforter  from  the  Father ;  we  acknowledge  the  Holy  Ghost,  who 


SEC.  II.]  UNITY   AND   TRINITY   OF   THE   GODHEAD.  313 

has  taught  us  hy  the  prophets,  and  who,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost, 
descended  in  tongues  of  fire  upon  the  apostles,  in  Jerusalem,  the 
head  of  the  church."^ 

Such  being  the  decided  testimony  of  the  church,  setting  forth  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity  as  the  grand  characteristic  of  the  Christian 
religion,  it  is  no  matter  of  surprise  that  this  doctrine  is  so  constantly 
advanced  under  all  circumstances ;  especially  that  it  is  repeated  in 
their  doxologies,  psalms,  and  hymns.  They  repeated  the  doxology 
at  each  assembly  for  religious  worship,  and  at  each  rehearsal  of  the 
liturgy ;  and  with  the  same  they  also  concluded  their  homilies  and 
their  catechetical  instructions.  This  doxology  was  as  follows : 
"  To  God  the  Father,  and  his  Son  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  with 
the  Holy  Spirit,  be  honour  and  might  for  ever  and  ever.     Amen." 

They  were  so  minutely  careful  respecting  the  phraseology  of 
these  forms,  that  it  became  a  question,  which  Basil  the  Great  dis- 
cussed at  length,  whether  the  preposition  8V,  in,  oy  hid,  through,  or 
Gvv,  with,  should  be  used  in  connection  with  the  Holy  Spirit.* 
From  this  we  learn  that  in  the  fourth  century  the  same  contro- 
versies were  had  on  this  subject  which  were  renewed  in  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries  throughout  Germany,  Holland,  England, 
France,  and  Sweden. 

Eusebius  describes  the  heresy  which  denied  the  divinity  of  Christ 
as  having  arisen  in  the  second  century,  which  Victor,  A.  d.  189, 
and  others,  opposed.  "  There  are  works  of  certain  brethren  older 
than  Victor's  time,  which  they  wrote  in  defence  of  the  truth  against 
the  heresies  then  prevailing.  I  speak  of  Justus,  and  Miltiades, 
and  Tatian,  and  Clement,  and  many  others,  in  all  which  the  divinity 
of  Christ  is  asserted.  For  who  knows  not  the  works  of  Irenaeus,  and 
Melito,  and  the  rest,  in  which  Christ  is  announced  as  God  and  man  ? 
Whatever  psalms  and  hymns  were  written  by  the  brethren  from 
the  beginning,  celebrating  Christ,  the  "Word  of  God,  by  asserting  his 
divinity.  Since  then  the  doctrine  of  the  church  has  been  proclaimed 
so  many  years,  how  could  it  happen  that  those  until  the  times  of 
Victor  preached  the  gospel  after  this  manner,  [denying  the  divinity 
of  Christ,  as  the  enemies  of  Victor  falsely  alleged,]  and  how  are 
they  so  devoid  of  shame  as  to  utter  these  falsehoods  against  Victor, 
well  knowing  that  Victor  excommunicated  that  currier  Theodotus, 
the  leader  and  father  of  this  God-denying  apostasy."^ 

So  general  was  this  recognition  of  the  Trinity  in  public  prayer, 
in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  that  merely  upon  the  mention  of 
the  name  of  God,  the  adoration  of  God  m  three  persons  was,  of 


314  PRAYERS   OF   THE   ANCIENT   CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XV. 


course,  presupposed  and  implied.  Nay,  it  may  be  affirmed  as  a 
general  truth,  that  any  petition  addressed  to  either  of  the  persons 
of  the  Godhead  was  directed  to  all.  To  prevent  confusion  of  mind, 
it  was  indeed  decreed  by  the  Council  of  Hippo,  c.  21,  A.  d.  397,  and 
confirmed  by  the  Council  of  Carthage,  A.  d.  525,  that  the  prayer 
should  be  directed  to  the  Father  only,  but  this  was  distinctly  under- 
stood and  explained  to  be  a  prayer  to  the  three  persons  of  the  God- 
head.* Similar  sentiments  are  found  abundantly  in  the  writings 
of  the  ancients,®  so  that  it  is  an  undeniable  fact  that  their  prayers 
and  psalmody  were  indited  by  zealous  trinitarians.  "  From  all 
which,"  as  Bingham  very  justly  observes,  "it  is  evident,  to  a  de- 
monstration, that  the  three  persons  of  the  Holy  Trinity  were 
always  the  object  of  divine  adoration'  from  the  first  foundation  of 
the  primitive  church,  and  that  the  giving  of  divine  honour  to  the 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  as  God,  was  not  the  invention  or  addition  of 
any  later  ages.'-^ 

§  3.    OP   DIVINE   WORSHIP   PAID    TO    CHRIST. 

It  is  a  peculiar  characteristic  of  the  Christian  religion,  that  it 
offers  divine  honours  to  Christ.  It  teaches  not  merely  that  prayer 
should  be  offered  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  but  directly  to  Him.  Every 
prayer,  and  every  hymn,  while  it  honours  the  sacred  Trinity,  has 
also  another  design.  It  distinctly  recognises  the  divinity  of  Christ, 
and  shows  what  views  the  Christian  church  had  of  the  person  of 
the  Saviour.  Pliny  says,  A.  D.  107,  that  "they  were  wont  to  meet 
together  on  a  stated  day  (the  Lord's  day)  before  it  was  light,  and 
sing  alternately,  among  themselves,  a  hymn  to  Christ,  as  God.  To 
sing  a  hymn,  carmen  dicere,  may  imply,  either  that  they  offered  to 
him  a  sacred  song  or  a  prayer  ;  but  in  either  case  it  was  the  offer- 
ing of  divine  honours  to  him. 

*  Si  qui  catholici  fideles  hujus  sacramenti  nunc  usque  videantur  ignari,  deinceps 
scire  debent,  omne  cujuslibet  honorificentiffi  et  sacrificii  salutaris  obsequium  et 
Patri  et  Filio  et  Spiritui  Sancto,  hoc  est,  sanctoe  Trinitati  ab  ecclesia  catbolica 
pariler  exhiberi.  In  cujus  utique  uno  nomine  manifestum  est,  sanctum  quoque 
baptisma  celebrari.  Neque  enim  prwjudicium  Filio  vel  Spiritui  Sancto  coj7iparatur, 
dum  ad  Patris  personam  precalio  ab  offerente  diriyitur :  cujus  consummatio,  dum  Filii 
et  Spiritus  S.  complcctiiur  nomen,  ostendit,  nullum  esse  in  Trinitate  discrimen.  Quia 
dum  ad  solius  Patris  personam  sermo  dirigitur,  bene  credentis  fide  tota  Trinitas 
lionoratur ;  et  quum  ad  Patrem  litantis  destinatur  intentio,  sacrificii  munus  omni 
Trinitati  uno  eodemque  offertur  litantis  officio. — S.  Fulgent.  Rusp.  Ad Monimum, 
lib.  ii.  c.  V.  edit.  Basil.  1621,  p.  328. 


SEC.  IV.]        SPIRIT    OF   THE    PRAYERS    OF   THE   CHURCH.  315 

Polycarp,  in  his  epistle  to  the  Philippians,  i.  12,  says,  "  Now  the 
God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  he  himself  who  is 
our  everlasting  Iligh-Priest,  the  Son  of  God,  even  Jesus  Christ, 
build  you  up  in  faith  and  in  truth,  and  in  all  meekness  and  lenity." 
The  church  of  Smyrna,  in  their  circular  epistle  respecting  the  death 
of  Polycarp,  say,  "Neither  is  it  possible  for  us  ever  to  forsake 
Christ,  who  suflfered  for  the  salvation  of  all  such  as  shall  be  saved 
throughout  the  whole  world,  the  righteous  for  the  ungodly ;  nor  to 
worship  any  other  besides  him.  For  him  indeed,  as  being  the  Son 
of  God,  Ave  adore."  ^ 

Origen  against  Celsus  says,  "  All  supplications,  prayers,  and  in- 
tercessions are  to  be  oficred  up  to  the  most  high  God  through  this 
High-Priest,  who  is  above  all  angels,  who  is  the  living  Word  and 
God.''  He  further  says,  "we  pray  also  to  the  Word  himself,  and 
make  supplication."  This  he  vindicates  at  length  against  the 
charge,  on  the  one  hand,  of  worshipping  more  Gods  than  one ; 
and  on  the  other,  against  the  imputation  of  worshipping  him  as  a 
subordinate,  and  created  being,  showing  that  he  is  one  with  God, 
and  our  Mediator  and  Intercessor  with  the  Father.  He  concludes 
this  discussion  by  declaring,  "We  worship  the  Father,  while  wc 
admire  and  adore  the  Son,  who  is  his  word,  and  wisdom,  and  truth, 
and  righteousness ;  and  whatever  else  we  are  taught  to  believe  of 
the  Son  of  God,  begotten  of  such  a  Father."^ 

This  interesting  passage  fully  illustrates  the  sentiments  of  the 
primitive  church  on  the  subject.  A  multitude  of  other  passages,  to 
the  same  effect,  may  be  found  in  the  authors  quoted  in  the  index.^ 

§4.    OF    THE    FILIAL  AND    CONFIDING    SPIRIT   OF   THE   PRAYERS   OF 

THE   CHURCH. 

By  this  the  Christian  religion  is  distinguished  from  all  others. 
It  teaches  us  to  offer  our  addresses  unto  God  as  our  Father ;  to 
come  unto  him,  not  as  a  servant  unto  his  master,  but  as  children  to 
a  parent,  confident  of  finding  audience  and  acceptance  with  him. 
"  Ye  have  not  received  the  spirit  of  bondage  again  to  fear ;  but  ye 
have  received  the  spirit  of  adoption  whereby  we  cry  Abba,  Father." 
To  the  Jew,  the  Lord  God  is  a  being  of  terrible  majesty,  repelling 
every  presumptuous  approach  to  him.  To  the  Christian,  he  is  one 
of  endearing  kindness  and  condescension,  inviting  him  to  draAv  nigh 
with  confidence.  To  the  one,  he  appears  in  stern  and  awful  sanc- 
tity ;  to  the  other,  in  the  mild  majesty  of  love. 


316  PRAYERS    OF    THE    ANCIENT    CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XV. 


§  5.    OF    THE    SIMPLICITY  AND   BREVITY   OF  THE   DEVOTIONS   OF   THE 
PRIMITIVE    CHURCH. 

The  prayers  of  the  church  were  offered  in  language  the  most 
artless  and  natural.  Even  the  most  learned  of  the  apologists  and 
early  fathers,  such  as  Justin  Martyr,  Theophilus  of  Antioch,  Cle- 
ment of  Alexandria,  Origen,  Tertullian,  Cyprian,  Arnobius,  and 
Lactantius,  who  were  no  strangers  to  the  graces  of  diction,  refused 
all  ornamental  embellishments  in  their  addresses  to  the  throne  of 
grace,  alleging  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  consists  not  in  word  but 
in  power.  1  Cor.  iv.  20.*  Their  prayers  were  accordingly  offered 
in  the  greatest  simplicity,  and  as  far  as  possible  in  the  phraseology 
of  Scripture.  This  artlessness  and  elegant  simplicity  appears  in 
striking  contrast  with  the  ostentation  and  bombast  of  a  later  date. 

This  contrast  appears  equally  great  also  in  the  brevity  of  these 
prayers.  It  was  a  maxim  in  the  primitive  church,  that  many  words 
should  never  be  employed  to  express  what  might  better  be  said  in  a 
few.  So  manifest  was  this  excellence,  that  Basil,  Chrysostom,  and 
Gregory  the  Great  successively  attempted  to  abridge  the  formu- 
laries of  the  church  and  restore  their  early  simplicity  and  brevity.^ 

§  6.    OF   THE    CATHOLIC    SPIRIT    OF    THEIR    DEVOTIONS. 

The  church,  receiving  the  acknowledged  truth  that  in  every 
place  he  that  feareth  God  and  doeth  righteousness  is  accepted  of 
Him,  restricted  her  dcA'otions  to  no  particular  tongue.  It  was, 
indeed,  a  disputed  question,  at  a  very  early  period,  in  what  lan- 
guage Christ  and  his  apostles  performed  their  devotions  ?  "Whether 
in  the  Greek,  or  Hebrew,  or  Syro-Chaldaic.  But  it  was  not  ac- 
counted essential  that  the  devotions  of  the  church  should  be  per- 
formed in  the  same  language.  Accordingly,  there  are  extant 
examples  of  prayers  and  of  spiritual  songs  which  were  uttered  in 
the  vernacular  tongue  as  early  as  the  second  and  third  centuries. 
Celsus,  indeed,  urged  it  as  a  grave  objection  against  the  Christians, 
that  they  introduced  into  their  prayers  certain  strange  and  barba- 
rous expressions,  having  reference  probably  to  such  terms  as  Amen, 
Hallelujah,  Hosanna,  etc.     To  which   Origen  replied,   that   both 

*  Cum  de  rebus  agitur  ab  ostentatione  submotis  quid  dicatur  spectandum  est, 
non  quali  cum  amoenitate  dicatur ;  nee,  quid  aures  commulceat,  sed  quas  afferat 
audientibus  utilitates. 


SEC.  VII.]  AUDIBLE    AND    SILENT    PRAYER.  317 

Greeks  and  Romans,  in  prayer,  spoke  in  their  own  native  tongue ; 
each,  in  his  own  dialect,  ofiering  prayer  and  praise  to  God  as  he  is 
best  able.  And  the  Lord  of  all  languages  listens  to  each  suppli- 
cant praying  in  his  own  tongue,  but  hears,  as  it  were,  one  voice 
expressed  by  different  signs  and  in  various  sounds.^  Similar  senti- 
ments are  expressed  by  other  writers.^ 

No  prescribed  time  or  place  for  prayer  was  required  by  the 
church.  Nor  was  any  rule  given  respecting  the  direction  of  the 
eye,  the  bending  of  the  knees,  or  position  of  the  hands.  Neither 
was  there  any  established  form  of  prayer  or  praise  for  general  use. 
With  the  single  exception  of  the  instructions  given  in  the  Apostoli- 
cal Constitutions  for  the  private  use  of  the  Lord's  prayer,  there  is 
no  instance  of  any  synodical  decree  respecting  it  until  the  sixth  and 
seventh  centuries.^  Every  church,  whether  national  or  individual, 
prescribed  its  own  mode  of  worship.  In  many  instances  the  prayers 
of  the  church  were  merely  submitted  to  the  examination  and  appro- 
bation of  the  bishop.  Beyond  all  question,  the  use  of  a  liturgy  and 
ritual  was  at  first  wholly  voluntary.  This  subject  is  discussed  at 
length  by  Bingham,  who  maintains  that  a  liturgy  and  set  forms  of 
prayer  were  used  from  the  beginning,  but  admits  that  each  church 
was  at  liberty  to  form  their  own  liturgy,  and  that  the  prayers  were 
probably  uttered  memoi'iter,  and  continued  for  one  or  two  centuries 
hy  tradition,  before  they  were  committed  to  writing.* 

Respecting  the  number  of  prayers  offered  in  public,  no  general 
rule  was  given.  It  was  customary,  however,  to  begin  and  close 
religious  service  with  prayer.  Here,  as  in  other  things,  the  same 
simplicity  was  advocated  by  Justin  Martyr,  Tertullian,  Cyprian, 
Irenseus,  Origen,  etc.  But  the  Latin  and  Greek  chui'ches,  in  time, 
greatly  departed  from  the  spirit  and  taste  of  the  primitive  church. 

§  7.    OF   AUDIBLE   AND    SILENT   PRAYER. 

This  distinction  was  first  made  in  the  secret  discipline  of  the 
church.  Silent  prayer  was  restricted  to  the  mental  recital  of  the 
Lord's  prayer,  which  neither  the  catechumens,  nor  the  profane  of 
any  description,  were  allowed  to  repeat.  Professing  Christians 
repeated  it  in  the  presence  of  such,  not  audibly  but  silently.  But 
at  the  communion,  when  withdrawn  from  such  persons,  they  re- 
peated it  aloud  at  the  call  of  the  deacon. 

There  was  another  species  of  silent  prayer,  which  consisted  in 
pious  ejaculations  ofTered  by  the  devout  Christian  on  entering  upon 


318  PRAYERS    OF    THE    ANCIENT    CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XV. 


public  worship.  This  commendable  custom  is  still  observed  in 
many  Protestant  churches.  According  to  the  Council  of  Laodicea, 
c.  19,  A.  D.  320-372,  prayer  was  offered  immediately  after  the 
sermon  for  catechumens,  then  for  penitents.  Then,  after  the  impo- 
sition of  hands  and  the  benediction,  followed  the  prayers  of  the  be- 
lievers,— the  first  in  silence  ;  the  second  and  third,  audibly.  They 
then  exchanged  the  kiss  of  charity,  during  Avhich  time  their  offer- 
ings were  brought  to  the  altar.  The  assembly  were  then  dismissed 
with  the  benediction,  Ite  in  pace,  go  in  peace. 

The  primitive  church  never  chanted  their  prayers,  as  was  the 
custom  of  the  Jews,  anxi  still  is  of  the  Mohammedans,  as  well  as  of 
the  Roman  Catholics,  and  many  of  the  Protestant  churches  both  in 
England  and  on  the  continent ;  but  reverently  addressed  the  throne 
of  grace  in  an  easy,  natural,  and  subdued  tone  of  voice. 

§  8.    OF    THE    lord's    PRAYER.^ 

The  opinions  of  the  learned,  even  to  the  present  day,  are  greatly 
divided  respecting  the  design  of  our  Lord  in  giving  this  prayer. 
Three  several  theories  have  been  advanced  on  this  subject. 

1.  That  the  Lord  Jesus  did  not  give  this  as  a  prescribed  form ; 
but  only  to  illustrate  that  spirit  of  filial  love  and  reverence  in  which 
all  prayers  should  be  offered  to  God.  It  was  given  to  teach  the 
tiafure  and  appropriate  subjects  of  prayer. 

2.  That  it  was  a  prescribed  form,  to  be  used,  not  only  by  his  dis- 
ciples, but  by  believers  in  every  ago  and  country,  like  the  prescribed 
form  in  which  baptism  is  to  be  administered. 

3.  That  it  is  an  epitome  of  the  Jewish  liturgy  which  was  at  that 
time  extant.  The  several  parts  of  this  prayer  are  supposed  to  be 
the  very  words  in  which  the  several  prayers  of  the  Jewish  service 
began ;  and  that  the  whole  was  embodied  by  our  Lord  as  a  substi- 
tute for  so  many  long  and  unmeaning  prayers. 

The  historical  facts  connected  with  the  use  of  the  Lord's  prayer, 
may  be  stated  as  follows : — 

1.  It  was  not  in  use  in  the  church  in  the  age  of  the  apostles. 
Not  the  remotest  hint  is  given  in  the  history  of  the  apostles  that 
this  prayer  constituted  any  part  of  their  religious  worship.  The 
apostle  is  silent  on  this  point  even  in  1  Cor.  xiv.,  where  he  is  treat- 
ing of  their  devotions.  In  the  absence  of  written  testimony,  we 
are,  indeed,  directed  to  uncertain  tradition  to  supply  its  place. 
But  in  every  view  of  the  subject,  the  assertion  that  this  prayer  was 


SEC.  VIII.]  THE   lord's    PRAYER.  319 

used,  either  by  the  apostles  or  their  immediate  successors,  must  be 
regarded  as  arbitrary  and  groundless. 

The  apostolic  fathers  make  no  mention  of  any  prayer  which  can 
be  referred  to  the  authority  of  Christ.  Justin  Martyr,  the  earliest 
after  the  apostolic  fathers,  in  the  passage  already  noticed,Mistinctly 
indicates  that  the  clergy,  in  their  public  prayers,  were  directed  only 
by  the  suggestions  of  their  own  hearts  and  the  wants  of  the  wor- 
shippers. This  freedom  in  extempore  prayer  does  not,  however, 
of  necessity  exclude  the  use  of  the  Lord's  prayer,  to  which  he  seems 
in  several  instances  to  allude.  He  speaks  of  God  as  the  Father, 
TQi^  oXqv,  the  import  of  which  is  similar  to  the  preface  of  the 
Lord's  prayer,  "  Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven." 

Irenteus,  f  A.  D.  202,  distinctly  quotes  from  our  Lord'a^prayer,* 
but  gives  no  intimation  of  its  being  used  in  public  worship  ;  Clemens 
Alexandrinus,  f  A.  D.  218,  many  times  alludes  to  it  in  like  manner.^ 
The  authority  of  the  Apostolical  Constitutions  is  irrelevant,  as  be- 
longing to  a  later  period. 

2.  Tertullian,  f  A.  D.  220,  Cyprian,  f  A.  d.  258,  and  Origen,  f  a.  d. 
254,  fully  concur  in  testifying  to  the  use  of  the  Lord's  prayer  in  the 
second  and  third  centuries. 

Tertullian  declares  it  to  be  not  only  a  form  prescribed  by  Christ 
for  all  ages,  but  asserts  that  it  contains  the  substance  of  all  prayer, 
and  is  an  epitome  of  the  whole  gospel,^  hrevarium  totius  evangelii. 
Cyprian  repeats  much  the  same  sentiments,  acknowledging  Tertul- 
lian as  his  guide  and  instructor,  and  often  explaining  more  fully  the 
sentiments  of  that  author.  He  calls  the  Lord's  prayer  "  our  pub- 
lic and  common  prayer."^  Origen  also  has  a  long  treatise  on  the 
same  subject,  in  which  he  says  that  this  was  a  prescribed  form,  con- 
taining all  that  the  true  Christian  ever  has  occasion  to  pray  for.^ 
Authorities,  in  great  numbers,  to  the  same  effect,  may  be  accumu- 
lated from  writers  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries.^ 

3.  The  use  of  the  Lord's  prayer  in  the  third,  fourth,  and  fifth 
centuries  was  restricted  to  the  faithful  only,  and  was  denied  to 
catechumens.^  By  Chrysostom  it  was  styled  ev^/i  toyv  mGrojv, 
the  prater  of  the  faithful. 

The  reason  of  this  exclusion  was,  in  general,  that  none  but  Chris- 
tian believers  had  the  true  spirit  of  adoption,  so  that  they  could 
sincerely  say,  "  Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven."  ^     Another  rea- 

*  In  oratione  dicere  nos  docuit:  et  remilte  nobis  debila  nostra. — Adv.  Haeres.  lib. 
V.  c.  xvii. 


320  PRAYERS    OF    THE   ANCIENT    CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XV. 


son  was  that  the  petition,  "  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread,"  was 
understood  in  a  mystical  sense,  as  relating  to  spiritual  gifts,  and 
appropriate  especially  to  be  used  in  the  communion  service,  at 
which  no  catechumen  or  profane  person  was  permitted,  under  any 
pretext  whatever,  to  be  present.^" 

The  ancient  liturgies  of  the  Greek  church  connect  with  the 
Lord's  prayer  a  doxology,  which  has  been  ascribed  to  Basil  and  to 
Chrysostom,  recognising  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  as  implied  in 
the  prayer,  "  Thine  is  the  kingdom,  power,  and  glory,  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Spirit,  both  now  and  for  ever,  world  without  end."  The 
doctrine  revealed  in  this  doxology,  none  but  the  faithful  were  per- 
mitted to  know.  The  doxology  which  is  given  in  Matthew,  at  the 
close  of^the  Lord's  prayer,  was  unknown  to  Tertullian,  Cyprian, 
Origen,  and  Cyril  of  Jerusalem.  But  it  was  extant  as  early  as  the 
middle  of  the  fourth  century."  Neither  this  doxology  nor  that 
above  mentioned  is  supposed  by  writers  to  have  belonged  to  the 
original  text.  Griesbach  and  Bengel  suppose  it  to  have  had  its 
origin  at  Constantinople,  about  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century. 

Believers  were  expected  to  repeat  this  prayer  at  least  three  times 
daily .^^  They  who  were  baptized  were  also  required  to  repeat  it, 
together  with  the  creed,  immediately  upon  coming  out  of  the 
water.^^  It  was  also  repeated  in  the  celebration  of  baptism  and 
the  Lord's  supper,"  marriages,  funerals,  ordinations,  etc. 

The  modern  custom  of  some  Protestants,  of  repeating  the  Lord's 
prayer  twice  in  the  course  of  a  sermon,  has  no  precedent  in  the 
primitive  church. 

The  most  ancient  prayers  of  the  church  which  have  come  down 
to  us  are  contained  in  the  Apostolical  Constitutions.  These  forms 
may  have  been  in  use  as  early  as  the  end  of  the  fourth  century. 
Among  these  are  prayers  for  the  catechumens,^^  for  candidates  for 
baptism,^''  for  penitents,^'^  for  demoniacs,^^  prayers  for  them  that 
sleep  [in  death,]^''  morning  and  evening  prayers,'"  and  prayers  to  be 
used  on  the  sabbath.^^ 

§  9.    OF   THE   RESPONSES — AMEN,  HALLELUJAH,   HOSANNA,^  ETC. 

These  were  either  short  ejaculations  to  God,  or  exclamations  de- 
signed to  enkindle  the  devotions  of  believers,  or  an  intimation  that 
the  prayer  of  the  speaker  was  heard. 

1.  Amen.  This,  in  the  phraseology  of  the  church,  is  denominated 
oratvonis  signaculum,  or  devotee  concionis  responsionem,^  the  token 


SEC.  IX.]  THE    RESPONSES.  321 

for  prayer — the  response  of  the  worshippers.  It  intimates  that  the 
prayer  of  the  speaker  is  heard  and  approved  by  him  who  gives  this 
response.  It  is  also  used  at  the  conclusion  of  a  doxology.  Rom. 
ix.  5.  Justin  Martyr  is  the  first  of  the  fathers  who  speaks  of  the 
use  of  this  response.  In  speaking  of  the  sacrament  he  says,  that 
at  the  close  of  the  benediction  and  prayer,  all  the  assembly  re- 
spond, "Amen,"  which,  in  the  Hebrew  tongue,  is  the  same  as,  "So 
let  it  be."^  According  to  Tertullian,  none  but  the  faithful  were 
permitted  to  join  in  the  response.^ 

In  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  supper  especially,  each  commu- 
nicant was  required  to  give  this  response  in  a  tone  of  earnest  devo- 
tion.^ Upon  the  reception,  both  of  the  bread  and  of  the  wine, 
each  uttered  a  loud  "  Amen  ;"  and,  at  the  close  of  the  consecration 
by  the  priest,  all  joined  in  shouting  a  loud  "Amen."  But  the 
practice  was  discontinued  after  the  sixth  century. 

At  the  administration  of  baptism  also,  the  witnesses  and  sponsors 
uttered  this  response  in  the  same  manner.  In  the  Greek  church  it 
was  customary  to  repeat  this  response  as  follows: — "  This  servant  of 
the  Lord  is  baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  Amen  ;  and  of  the 
Son,  Amen ;  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  Amen ;  both  now  and  for  ever, 
world  without  end;"  to  which  the  people  responded,  "Amen." 
This  usage  is  still  observed  by  the  Greek  Church  in  Russia.  The 
repetitions  were  given  thrice,  with  reference  to  the  three  persons 
of  the  Trinity. 

2.  Hallelujah. — This  was  adopted  from  the  Jewish  psalmody, 
particularly  from  those  psalms  (cxiii.-cx^dii.)  which  were  sung  at 
the  passover,  called  the  Great  Hillel  or  Hallel.  It  was  this  that 
our  Saviour  sang  with  his  disciples  at  the  institution  of  the  sacra- 
ment. The  word  itself  is  an  exhortation  to  praise  God,  and  was  so 
understood  by  Augustin,  Isidorus,  and  others.'*  The  use  of  this 
phrase  was  first  adopted  by  the  church  at  Jerusalem,^  and  from  this 
was  received  by  other  churches.  But  the  use  of  it  was  restricted 
in  the  Eastern,  but  not  in  the  Western  church,  to  the  fifty  days  be- 
tween Easter  and  Whitsunday.^ 

In  the  Greek  Church  it  was  subsequently  used  on  occasions  of 
grief,  sorrow,  and  penitence,  to  indicate  that  the  Christians  were  in 
such  circumstances  bound  still  to  rejoice  and  praise  God.^  In  the 
Latin,  on  the  contrary,  it  denoted  a  joyful  spirit — love,  praise, 
thanksgiving,  and  was  omitted  on  other  occasions. 

3.  Hosanna. — The  church,  both  ancient  and  modern,  have  con 

eurred  in  ascribing  to  this  word,  contrary  to  its  original  import,  a 

21 


322  PKAYEKS    OF    THE    ANCIENT    CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XV. 


signification  similar  to  that  of  Hallelujah.  The  true  signification 
of  it  is,  "Lord,  save,"  Ps.  cxviii.  25,  and  was  so  understood  by 
Origen,  Jerome,  and  Theophylact,  in  their  commentaries  upon 
Matt.  xxi.  15. 

Eusebius  gives  the  first  instance  on  record  of  its  use,^"  where,  at 
the  death  of  a  certain  martyr,  the  multitude  are  said  to  have 
shouted  "Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David."  The  use  of  it  is  pre- 
scribed in  the  Apostolical  Constitutions,"  in  connection  with  a  dox- 
ology  to  Christ,  and  the  first  mention  of  it  in  religious  worship  is 
found  also  in  the  same  work.  It  occurs  also  in  the  liturgy  of 
Chrysostom.  By  the  ancients  it  was  uniformly  regarded  as  a  dox- 
ology. 

4.  0  Lord,  have  mercy,  Krpte  eXeriGov. — There  are  many  au- 
thorities, both  sacred  and  profane,  from  which  this  phrase  may  have 
been  adopted,^^  but  it  doubtless  was  derived  from  the  frequent 
supplications  in  the  Psalms,  such  as  li.  1;  cxxiii.  3.  Comp.  Matt, 
ix.  27 ;  XV.  23 ;  xx.  30 ;  Mark  x.  47.  According  to  Augustin, 
Epist.  clxxxviii.,  it  was  in  use  both  in  the  Syriac,  Armenian,  and 
other  oriental  languages.  The  Council  of  Vaison,  A.  D.  492,  c.  3, 
ordained  that  this  response  should  be  introduced  into  the  morning 
and  evening  worship,  and  into  the  public  religious  service.  Gregory 
the  Great  introduced  a  threefold  form : — 1.  0  Lord.  2.  Lord,  have 
mercy.  3.  Christ,  have  mercy.  And  each,  it  would  seem,  was  to 
be  thrice  repeated,  with  reference  to  the  sacred  Trinity.^^ 

5.  Glory  ;  Grlory  in  the  highest. — This  exclamation  was  in  use, 
in  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  century,  on  all  Sundays  and  holidays 
except  Advent,  the  feast  of  the  Innocents,  and  the  season  of  Lent. 
In  the  seventh,  the  angelical  doxology  Avas  used  with  various  modi- 
fications. 

6.  The  Lord  he  tvith  you  ;  Peace  be  with  you. — The  Council  of 
Braga,  a.  d.  561,  ordained  that  this  should  be  the  uniform  saluta- 
tion both  of  bishops  and  presbyters,  when  addressing  the  people.^* 
During  the  prevalence  of  the  system  of  secret  instruction,  this  salu- 
tation was  not  allowed  to  excommunicated  persons,  or  to  penitents, 
or  even  to  catechumens ;  but  only  to  the  faithful.  Examples  of 
the  scrupulous  observance  of  prescribed  forms  of  salutation  are 
cited  in  the  index.^^ 

7.  Let  us  pray  ;  Lift  up  your  hearts,  etc.  ;  osyj^Qfiev,  oremus ; 
swsum  corda. — In  the  ancient  service  of  the  church,  it  was  the 
duty  of  the  deacon  to  summon  each  class  of  worshippers  separately 
to  engage  in  prayer  by  saying,  "Let  us  pray."    Whether  they  were 


SEC.  IX.]  THE   RESPONSES.  323 

to  pray  in  silence  or  audibly,  they  received  a  similar  intimation 
from  the  deacon.  This  was  followed  by  another  injunction  to 
kneel ;  and  at  the  conclusion  he  also  directed  them  to  arise.  There 
were  various  forms  of  announcing  the  time  of  prayer  besides  the 
one  above  mentioned,  such  as  "Give  audience;"  "Attend;"  "Lift 
your  hearts  on  high,  pray,  pray  earnestly,"  etc.  To  Afhich  the 
congregation  replied,  "  Our  heart  is  unto  the  Lord,"  etc.^" 

The  exhortation,  "Lift  up  your  hearts  to  God,"  occurs  first  in 
Cyprian,  A.  D.  250.  Justin  Martyr,  one  hundred  years  earlier, 
makes  no  mention  of  it,  though  particularly  describing  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  Lord's  supper.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  A.  D.  350,  says  that 
at  this  awful  summons,  the  whole  soul  should  be  fixed  upon  God, 
and  no  unworthy  or  earthly  thought  should  be  allowed  to  intrude. 
Much  more  to  the  same  effect  is  said  by  him,  and  by  the  authors 
quoted  in  the  index.^'^  During  the  Middle  Ages,  this  custom  was 
perverted  to  the  maintenance  of  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation, 
— the  elevation  of  the  host,  etc.  In  the  English  church,  it  continued 
unchanged  until  the  seventeenth  century.  In  the  Lutheran  church 
a  similar  usage  remains  to  the  present  time. 

The  long  prayer  which,  in  the  missa  fideUum,  the  service  de- 
signed for  the  faithful  alone,  in  connection  with  the  Lord's  supper, 
usually  followed  the  sermon,  was  introduced  as  follows : — The  dea- 
con first  commanded  silence  and  attention  by  exclaiming,  "  Let  us 
pray;"  the  officiating  minister  then  addressed  the  assembly  in  these 
words :  "  The  peace  of  God  be  with  you  all ;"  to  which  the  assem- 
bly responded,  "And  with  thy  spirit."  Then  said  the  deacon, 
"  Salute  ye  one  another  with  an  holy  kiss ;"  upon  which  the  clergy 
saluted  the  bishop ;  and  one  another ;  and  the  laity  of  both  sexes 
saluted  those  of  their  own  sex.  During  this  time,  some  of  the  dea- 
cons, and  subdeacons  are  occupied  in  preserving  order.  One  of  the 
latter  brino;s  water  for  the  officiating;  minister  to  wash  his  hands  in 
token  of  the  purity  of  mind  which  is  acceptable  to  God.  The  dea- 
con then  says,  "  Let  no  catechumen,  disciple,  or  unbeliever,  or  any 
of  Caesar's  party  remain;  all  you  who  have  attended  the  first 
service  retire ;  mothers  withdraw  with  your  infant  children ;  let 
no  one  cherish  enmity  in  his  heart  toward  another ;  let  there  be 
no  hypocrisy  in  any ;  let  us  set  our  hearts  with  fear  and  trembling 
to  bring  our  offerings."  These  offerings  are  then  laid  upon  the 
altar  by  the  deacon,  while  the  minister,  with  the  elders,  stands  be- 
fore it  praying  for  himself,  and  with  a  white  cloth,  crossing  himself 
upon  the  breast.     After  this  he  says  to  the  assemby,  "  The  grace 


324  PRAYERS    OF    THE    ANCIENT    CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XV. 


of  Almighty  God,  the  love  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  fel- 
lowship of  the  Holy  Spirit  be  with  you  all,  Amen;"  to  which  the 
people  respond,  "And  with  thy  spirit."  The  bishop  says,  "Lift  up 
youi- hearts  on  high."  "  Our  heart  is  unto  the  Lord."  "Let  us  bless 
the  Lord."  "It  is  meet  and  right."  He  then  leads  the  devotions 
of  the  church  in  a  prayer  which  refers  to  the  great  events  of  our 
Savioui''s  mission,  and  particularly  to  the  institution  of  the  Lord's 
supper,  followed  by  supplications  and  intercessions,  and  concluded 
with  a  doxology  and  the  Lord's  Prayer,  as  prescribed  in  the  Apos- 
tolical Constitutions. 

§  10.    OF   THE   ATTITUDE   AND    GESTURE   IN   SINGING,    AND   IN 

PRAYER.^ 

1.  Standing. — In  the  Eastern  church  it  was  customary,  as  it  still 
is  with  Mohammedans,  Arabians,  and  the  Parsees  of  Persia,  to 
stand  in  prayer.^  Many  examples  of  this  custom  occur  also  in  the 
Scriptures :  Gen.  xviii.  22 ;  xix.  27 ;  2  Chron.  xx.  13 ;  1  Sam.  i. 
26 ;  Job  XXX.  20 ;  Luke  xviii.  11,  13 ;  Matt.  vi.  5 ;  Mark  xi.  25.^ 
And  from  the  writings  of  Basil,  Chrysostom,  and  the  Apostolical 
Constitutions,  it  would  seem  that  this  was  the  usual  attitude,  and 
not  an  exception  to  the  general  rule,  as  has  often  been  asserted,  but 
an  established  custom  from  the  earliest  ages  of  Christianity.  The 
Council  of  Nice,  a.  d.  325,  formally  ordered  that  the  churches 
everywhere  should  observe  the  custom  of  standing  in  prayer.* 
According  to  Origen,  the  eyes  and  the  hands  should  be  lifted  up 
to  heaven,  that  the  body  may  indicate  the  elevation  of  the  soul. 
But  he  allows  exceptions  in  case  of  infirmity,  and  according  to  cir- 
cumstances.^ He  also  insists  that  it  is  necessary  for  one  to  kneel 
when  he  prays  for  the  forgiveness  of  his  sins.  But  he  is  here 
speaking  not  of  public,  but  of  private  prayer.  The  author  of  Ques- 
tions and  Answers  to  the  Orthodox,  which  some  erroneously  have 
ascribed  to  Justin  Martyr,  asserts  that  the  custom  which  is  observed 
through  the  days  of  Pentecost  was  of  apostolic  origin,  and  refers  to 
a  passage  from  Irenseus,  which  is  lost,  in  proof  of  the  assertion. 
Epiphanius,  Jerome,  Augustin,^  and  Basil, '^  also  concur  in  sanc- 
tioning the  custom  of  standing  in  prayer.  And  it  is  particularly 
worthy  of  remark,  that  penitents  were  denied  this  privilege,  it  being 
the  prerogative  and  right  only  of  believers  and  consistent  profes- 
sors of  religion. 

In  singing,  this  was  regarded  as  the  only  proper  and  becoming 
attitude.^ 


SEC.  X.]  ATTITUDE   AND    GESTURE.  325 

2.  Kneeling. — Abundant  authority  for  this  is  also  found  in  the 
Scriptures  :  Gen.  xvii.  3, 17  ;  Num.  xvi.  22  ;  Josh.  v.  14  ;  2  Chron. 
XX.  18  ;  Luke  xxii.  41 ;  Acts  vii.  59,  60  ;  ix.  40  ;  xxi.  5  ;  Eph.  iii. 
14.  The  act  of  kneeling  was  thought  peculiarly  to  indicate  hu- 
mility before  God ;  to  exhibit  a  sinner  who  had  fallen  away  from 
him,  and  in  need  of  Divine  grace  and  mercy.  Accordingly,  it  was 
uniformly  required  of  all  who  had  fallen  under  censure  of  the  church 
for  their  offences,  as  an  indispensable  condition  of  their  restoration 
to  their  former  covenant  relations.  Basil  denominates  it  the  less 
penance,  in  distinction  from  prostration,  which  was  called  the 
greater  penance. 

It  must,  indeed,  be  admitted,  that  it  was  very  common  both  to 
kneel  and  to  stand  in  prayer.  But  the  assertion  that  kneeling  was 
the  uniform  posture  in  prayer,  in  all  acts  of  worship  except  on  the 
Sabbath  and  festive  occasions,  is  an  unwarranted  assumption.  The 
most  important  authorities  from  the  fathers  are  given  in  the  index.'' 

3.  Bowing  the  head. — This  was  a  kind  of  intermediate  attitude 
between  standing  and  kneeling.  Occasionally  the  inclination  of 
the  body  is  also  mentioned.  The  bowing  of  the  head  was  especi- 
ally required  in  connection  with  intercessory  prayers  and  the  re- 
ceiving of  the  benediction.^*' 

4.  Prostration  upon  the  ground.  —  This  is  occasionally  men- 
tioned, but  was  not  required  as  a  rule  of  worship.  It  was  chiefly 
appropriate  to  deep  humiliations  and  expressions  of  shame  or  sor- 
row upon  some  very  remarkable  occasion,  but  was  not  the  general 
practice  of  the  church. ^^ 

Sitting  in  prayer,  according  to  Bingham,  was  never  allowed  in 
the  ancient  church.  It  was  universally  regarded  as  an  irreverent 
and  heathenish  posture  in  their  devotions.  Even  the  very  heathen, 
as  well  as  the  whole  ancient  church,  might  justly  rebuke  the  shame- 
ful irreverence  of  many  Christian  assemblies  in  sitting  in  prayer,  a 
custom  alike  repugnant  to  every  sentiment  of  devotion  and  every 
dictate  of  decency  and  propriety. 

5.  The  lifting  up  of  the  hands. — This  was  a  common  rite  in 
pagan  worship,  but  with  the  Christian  fathers  it  was  peculiarly  sig- 
nificant as  an  emblem  of  the  cross,  designed  to  assist  them  in  hold- 
ing in  lively  remembrance  Christ  crucified, ^^  Occasionally  the 
hands  were  clasped  together  in  prayer. 

In  regard  to  the  covering  of  the  head,  the  church  strictly  ob- 
served the  rule  given  by  the  apostle,  1  Cor,  xi.,  requiring  the  men 
to  be  uncovered,  and  the  women  to  wear  their  appropriate  covering 


326  PRAYERS   OF   THE   ANCIENT   CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XV. 


in  prayer.  In  tliis  their  custom  was  directly  opposed  to  that  of 
both  Jews  and  Gentiles.  With  them,  to  appear  with  the  head 
covered,  denoted  freedom  and  independence.  But  the  Christian, 
as  the  servant  of  the  Lord,  appeared  uncovered,  in  token  of  his 
humility  and  dependence. 

From  the  period  of  the  second  century  it  was  customary,  both  in 
the  Eastern  and  Western  church,  to  pray  facing  toward  the  east, 
contrary  to  the  custom  of  the  Jews,  who  prayed  toward  the  west. 
1  Kings  viii.  4  ;  2  Chron.  xxix.  6  ;  Dan.  vi.  10.  The  altars  of  the 
Christian  churches  were  situated  toward  the  east,  and  the  dead 
were  buried  so  that  the  eye  might  be  turned  in  the  same  direction. 
The  reason  for  all  this  seems  to  have  been  derived  from  the  cere- 
monies of  baptism,  in  which  they  were  accustomed  to  turn  toward 
the  west  as  the  region  of  darkness,  where  the  prince  of  darkness 
might  be  supposed  to  dwell,  and  solemnly  to  renounce  the  devil  and 
his  works ;  and  then  to  turn  about  to  the  east  and  enter  into  cove- 
nant with  Christ.  They  might,  therefore,  very  naturally  suppose 
that  in  prayer  they  ought  to  direct  themselves  to  God  in  the  same 
manner  in  which  they  first  entered  into  covenant  with  him.^^  Seve- 
ral other  reasons  are  assigned  by  Bingham^^  and  Dr.  Cave.^^ 

Of  the  time  for  prayer. — Christ  and  his  apostles  give  no  specific 
instructions,  but  generally,  to  pray  at  all  times  and  in  every  place. 
But  it  became,  in  the  second  and  third  centuries,  a  prevalent  senti- 
ment in  the  church,  that  every  Christian  ought  to  pray  three  times 
a  day ;  at  the  third,  sixth,  and  ninth  hour,  corresponding  to  the 
hours  of  nine,  twelve,  and  three  o'clock.  For  the  observance  of 
these  hours  they  had  certain  mystical  reasons  drawn  from  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Trinity.  The  third  being  emblematical  of  the  Trinity, 
and  the  sixth  and  ninth  being  formed  by  repetitions  of  three}^  But 
Tertullian  and  Cyprian  both  urge  the  propriety  of  morning  and 
evening  prayer,  at  the  rising  and  setting  of  the  sun,  in  remem- 
brance of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  whose  absence  we  have  so 
much  occasion  to  deplore,  and  in  whose  light  we  must  rejoice. 
The  Apostolical  Constitutions  also  prescribe  the  ofi"ering  of  prayer 
five,  six,  and  even  seven  times  a  day.^^ 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

OF  THE    PSALMODY   OF    THE   CHURCH. 
§  1.    OF    ORIGINAL    AUTHORITIES. 

There  is  undeniable  evidence  that  the  sacred  song  has,  in  the 
Christian  church,  ever  been  a  delightful  part  of  social  and  public 
worship.  At  the  institution  of  the  Lord's  supper,  our  Saviour  and 
his  disciples  "sang  an  hymn;"  and  repeated  reference  is  made  to 
this  devotional  exercise  in  the  subsequent  writings  of  the  apostles. 
Acts  xvi.  25  ;  Eph.  v.  19  ;  Col.  iii.  16  ;  James  v.  13.  Grotius  con- 
tends that  in  Acts  iv.  24-30,  we  have  the  substance  of  a  hymn  to 
Christ,  and  the  first  Christian  song.  Other  examples  he  finds  in 
the  Apocalypse,  and  his  views  are  approved  by  Augusti. 

The  earliest  historical  notices  of  the  psalmody  of  the  church  have 
been  collected  by  writers  on  this  subject,  of  Avhich  the  following 
summary  is  taken  from  the  author's  Apostolical  and  Primitive 
Church,  to  which  reference  may  be  had  for  a  fuller  consideration 
of  this  interesting  portion  of  public  worship  : — 

The  earliest  authentic  record  on  this  subject  is  the  celebrated  let- 
ter from  Pliny  to  Trajan,  just  at  the  close  of  the  apostolical  age, 
A.  D.  103,  104.  In  the  investigations  which  he  instituted  against 
the  Christians  of  his  period,  he  discovered,  among  other  things, 
that  they  were  accustomed  to  meet  before  day,  to  offer  praise  to 
Christ  as  God,  or  as  a  God,  as  some  contend  that  it  should  be 
i-endered.*  The  expression  is  somewhat  equivocal,  and  might  be 
used  with  reference  to  the  ascription  of  praise  in  prayer,  or  in  song. 
But  it  appears  that  these  Christians  rehearsed  their  carmen^  invicem 
alternately^  as  if  in  responsive  songs,  according  to  the  ancient  cus- 
tom of  singing  in  the  Jewish  worship.  Tertullian's  exposition  of 
this  passage  is,  that  these  Christians  met  before  the  dawn  of  the 
morning  to  sing  praise  to  Christ  and  to  God,  ad  canendum  Christi 

*  Carmen  Christo  quasi  Deo  dicere  secum  invicem. — Epist.  lib.  x.  xcvii. 

327 


328  PSALMODY   OF   THE    CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XVI. 

et  Deo  ;^  that  of  Eusebias  that  they  sang  the  praises  of  Christ  as 
God,  rov  XptO'Toi'  deov  hixiqv  vp^elv?  Both,  also,  make  distinct 
mention  of  sacred  psalmody  as  a  part  of  public  worship.^  Justin 
Martyr  makes  mention  of  the  psalmody  of  the  Ephesian  Christians. 
He  is  also  supposed  to  have  written  a  treatise  on  Christian  psalmody, 
the  loss  of  which  we  have  deeply  to  deplore.  Origen  informs  us 
that  the  Christians  sang  hymns  to  Him  alone  who  is  called  God  over 
all,  and  to  his  only  begotten  [Son.]* 

Eusebius  also  has  left  on  record  the  important  testimony  of  Caius, 
as  is  generally  supposed,  an  ancient  historian,  and  contemporary 
of  Tertullian.  "  Who  knows  not  the  writings  of  Irenaeus,  Melito, 
and  others,  which  exhibit  Christ  as  God  and  man  ?  And  how  many 
songs  and  odes  of  the  brethren  there  are,  written  from  the  begin- 
ning, OJl  Oip^'^^g,  by  believers,  which  offer  praise  to  Christ  as  the 
Word  of  God,  ascribing  divinity  to  him."f  This  passage  not  only 
presents  a  new  and  independent  testimony  to  the  use  of  spiritual 
songs  in  the  Christian  church,  from  the  remotest  antiquity,  to  the 
praise  of  Christ  as  divine,  but  it  shows  that  these,  in  great  num- 
bers, had  been  committed  to  writing,  as  it  appears,  for  continued 
use.  So  that  we  here  have  evidence  of  the  existence  of  a  Christian 
hymn-book  from  the  beginning. 

Christ,  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  is  the  burden  of  these 
primitive  songs  and  hymns.  Here  is  he  set  forth  doctrinally, 
^EoT^oyixcdg,  as  the  incarnate  Word  of  Grod,  as  God  and  man. 
His  mediatorial  character  was  the  subject  of  the  songs  of  these 
apostolical  and  primitive  saints.  This  sacred  theme  inspired  the 
earliest  anthems  of  the  Christian  church ;  and  as  it  has  ever  been 
the  subject  of  her  sweetest  melodies  and  loftiest  strains,  so  doubt- 
less will  it  continue  to  be  until  the  last  of  her  ransomed  sons  shall 
end  the  songs  of  the  redeemed  on  earth,  and  wake  his  harp  to 
nobler,  sweeter  strains  in  heaven. 

The  songs  of  the  primitive  Christians  were  not  restricted  to  their 
public  devotions.  In  their  social  circles,  and  around  their  domestic 
altars,  they  worshipped  God  in  the  sacred  song ;  and  in  their  daily 
occupations  they  were  wont  to  relieve  their  toil  and  refresh  their 
spirits  by  renewing  their  favourite  songs  of  Zion.  Persecuted  and 
afflicted  as  they  often  were, — in  solitary  cells  of  the  prison,  in  the 

*  Ertt  ftaao  vfivovi  ftj  fiowv  -ihv  %iy6y.ivov  Oiov,  xai,  iov  juoi'oyfi/j^  aviov. —  Contr. 
Celsum.  viii.  c.  Ixvii. 

t  ncraXjUot  hi  ooot  xai  tiSat  u^tX^Ziv  a.na.px''Qi  "^'^^  Tiia-tHiv  ypafeiaai,  -tov  ^yov  tov 
Qeov  tbv  Xpiofov  vfji.vovac  ^lo'Koyovvtci. — £!ecl.  Hist.  lib.  y.  xxviii. 


SEC.  III.]  MODE    OF   SINGING.  329 


more  dismal  abodes  of  the  mines  to  which  they  were  doomed,  or  as 
wandering  exiles  in  foreign  countries, — still  thej  forgot  not  to  sing 
the  Lord's  song  in  the  prison  or  the  mine,  or  in  the  strangO  lands 
to  which  they  were  driven. 

§  2.    OF    THE    MATERIAL    AND    SUBJECT    OF    CHRISTIAN    PSALMODY. 

The  poetical  parts  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  especially  the 
Psalms  of  David,  supplied  chiefly  the  spiritual  songs  of  the  primitive 
church.  At  first  the  sacred  psalmody  of  the  synagogue  is  supposed 
to  have  been  transferred  to  the  worship  of  the  Christian  church. 
The  apostles  and  their  first  converts  were  Jews,  and  in  the  Chris- 
tian church  doubtless  sang  praises  to  God  in  their  own  sacred 
psalmody,  with  which  they  were  already  familiar. 

The  distinction  between  psalms  and  hym7is  is  not  very  clear. 
The  former  term  is  restricted  to  the  psalms  of  David ;  the  latter, 
to  other  poetical  songs,  like  that  of  Moses,  Exod.  xv. ;  Deut.  xxxii., 
xxxiii. ;  the  song  of  Deborah ;  the  elegy  on  the  death  of  Saul  and 
Jonathan ;  and  the  song  of  Hezekiah,  Isa.  xxxviii.  10-22,  &c.  Latin 
writers  like  Augustin  and  Rufinus,  define  a  hymn  to  be  a  song  sung 
to  the  praise  of  Grod.^ 

The  earliest  songs  of  the  Christian  church  of  which  profane  his- 
tory gives  us  any  knowledge,  as  has  been  already  remarked,  and  as 
may  appear  from  the  ancient  hymns  subjoined  to  this  chapter,  was 
the  Divine  character  and  mission  of  our  Redeemer.  This,  indeed, 
has  in  every  age  been  the  inspiring  theme  of  the  Christian  poet 
and  of  the  psalmody  of  the  Christian  church.  Christ  and  his  cross 
are  and  ever  have  been  all  her  theme. 

§  3.  OF  the  mode  of  singing. 

1.  Congregational  singing.  —  The  prevailing  mode  of  singing 
during  the  first  three  centuries  was  congregational.  The  whole 
congregation  united  their  voices  in  the  sacred  song  of  praise,  in 
strains  suited  to  their  ability.  Their  music,  if  such  it  could  be 
called,  was,  of  necessity,  rude  and  simple.  Indeed,  it  appears  to 
have  been  a  kind  of  recitative  or  chant.  The  charm  of  their  sacred 
music  w^as  not  in  the  harmony  of  sweet  sounds,  but  in  the  melody 

*  Si  sit  laus,  et  non  sit  Dei,  non  est  hymnus :  si  laus  et  Dei  et  non  cantatur, 
non  est  hymnus. — Rufinus  in  Ps.  72.  Hymnus  scitis  quid  est ;  cantiis  est  cum 
laude  Dei. — August,  in  Fs.  148. 


330  PSALMODY   OF   THE    CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XVI. 


of  the  lieart.  But  Gerbert  has  collected  authorities  Avhich  show 
that  it  was  not  devoid  of  taste. 

Burnev,  in  his  history  of  music,  supposes  that  the  psalmody  of 
the  church  corresponded  with  that  of  the  Hebrews  ;  but  that  of  the 
churches  where  paganism  prevailed,  resembled  also  that  which  had 
been  used  in  the  temple  worship  of  the  Greeks.  Of  this  he  finds 
indisputable  proof  in  the  versification  of  the  hymns  which  are  found 
in  the  breviaries  and  missals  of  the  ancient  church. 

But,  however  this  may  be,  the  most  ancient  and  the  most  com- 
mon mode  of  singing  was  confessedly  for  the  whole  assembly,  men, 
women,  and  children,  to  blend  their  voices  in  their  songs  of  praise 
in  the  great  congregation.  Such  is  the  testimony  of  Hilary,^  of 
Augustin,"  and  Chrysostom.  "  Formerly  all  came  together,  and 
united  in  their  song,  as  is  still  our  custom."^  "  Men  and  women, 
the  aged  and  the  young,  were  distinguished  only  by  their  skill  in 
singing,  for  the  spirit  which  lead  the  voice  of  each  one,  blended  all 
in  one  harmonious  melody."* 

2.  Responsive  singing. — This  style  of  singing  was,  according  to 
Theodoret,  first  introduced  at  Antioch  by  two  heretical  monks,  A.  D. 
350.  "  They  were  the  first  who  divided  the  choir  and  taught  them 
to  sing  the  psalms  of  David  responsively.  This  custom,  which  they 
thus  originated  in  Antioch,  spread  everywhere,  even  to  the  very 
ends  of  the  habitable  world."  ^  This  statement,  however,  must  be 
received  with  caution.  The  authorities  of  Augustin  and  Chry- 
sostom above,  subsequent  to  this  period,  are  in  favour  of  congre- 
gational singing. 

Ambrose,  a  few  years  later,  introduced  a  highly  artistic  and  re- 
sponsive style  of  sacred  music  into  the  church  at  Milan,^  which 
prevailed  extensively  in  the  "Western  church.  The  practical  efiect 
of  this  change  was  that  sacred  music  became  highly  artistic  and 
theatrical,  which  Jerome  and  Chrysostom  severely  censured.*  The 
congregation,  unpractised  in  such  refinements,  were  compelled  of 
necessity  to  remit  this  delightful  part  of  public  worship  to  a  few 


*  Audiunt  hjec  adolescentuli  hi,  quibus  psallendi  in  ecclesia  officium  est,  Deo 
non  voce  sed  corde  cantandum;  nee  in  tragoedorum  modum  guttur  et  fauces  dulci 
medicamine  colliniendae,  ut  in  ecclesia  theatrales  moduli  audiantur  et  cantica, 
sed  in  timore,  in  opere,  in  scientia  scripturarum.  Quamvis  sit  aliquis,  ut  solint 
illi  appellare,  xaxo^uivo^,  si  bona  opera  habuerit,  dulcis  apud  Deum  cantor  est,  Sic 
cantet  servus  Cliristi,  ut  non  vox  canentis,  sed  verba  placeant,  quis  leguntur,  ut 
spiritus  malus,  qui  erat  in  Saule,  ejiciatur  ab  his,  qui  similiter  ab  eo  possidentur, 
et  non  introducatur  in  eos,  qui  de  Dei  domo  scenam  fecere  populorum. 


SEC.  IV.]  POWER   OF   SACRED    MUSIC.  331 

trained  musicians,  •^aXn^ai,  cantatores,  "s^•llo  in  the  fourth  centuiy 
became  a  distinct  class  of  ecclesiastical  officers. 

3.  Choral  singing. — Gregory  the  Great,  two  hundred  years  later, 
undertook  again  the  reformation  of  sacred  music.  Great  attention 
was  paid  by  him  to  the  rhythm  of  sacred  music,  though  regardless 
of  poetical  measure  and  rhyme.  Both  prose  and  poetry  were  sung 
in  a  peculiar  chant  by  a  choir  of  singers.  But  his  music  became 
so  complicated,  that  a  good  proficient  in  music  would  scarcely 
master  it  by  diligence  and  skill  in  less  than  ten  years.^ 

For  the  cultivation  of  this  style  of  sacred  music,  singing-schools 
were  established,  the  leaders  of  wliich  rose  to  great  distinction. 
Instrumental  accompaniments  were  introduced,  and  especially  that 
of  the  organ ;  which  was  transferred  from  the  theatre  to  the  church 
as  an  instrument  of  sacred  music. 

Church  music  was  thus  a  refined  art  of  difficult  attainment,  and 
limited  to  a  few  professional  singers.  The  congregation  were  by 
the  exigencies  of  their  condition  excluded  from  all  participation  in 
it.  The  devotional  tendency  of  sacred  music  was  lost  in  the  artistic 
style  of  its  profane  and  secular  airs.  Thus,  like  our  modern  church, 
the  ancient  soon  impaired  the  devotional  tendency  of  sacred  music 
by  raising  it  above  the  congregation,  and  limiting  it  to  an  orchestra 
or  a  choir,  as  they  did  that  of  their  prayers  by  restricting  them  to 
the  cold  and  formal  rehearsals  of  a  prayer-book. 

§  4.    OF    THE    POWER    OF    SACRED    MUSIC. 

The  ancient  fathers  are  singularly  full  and  eloquent  in  praise  of 
the  moral  power  of  their  psalmody.  "Nothing,"  says  Chrysostom, 
"  so  lifteth  up,  and,  as  it  were,  wingeth  the  soul,  so  freeth  it  .from 
earth,  and  looseth  it  from  the  chains  of  the  body,  so  leadeth  it  unto 
wisdom,  and  a  contempt  of  all  earthly  things,  as  the  choral  sym- 
phony of  a  sacred  hymn  set  in  harmonious  measure."^  Schone  has 
collected^  several  of  these  encomiums  from  Athanasius,  Ambrose, 
Basil,  and  Ephraem  the  Syrian,  which  for  felicity  of  thought  and 
expression  are  hardly  surpassed  by  any  thing  that  the  venerable 
fathers  of  the  church  have  left  to  us.  We  must  reluctantly  omit 
them,  and  content  ourselves  with  Herder's  beautiful  commendation 
of  these  ancient  hymns.  "  Who  can  deny  their  influence  and  power 
over  the  soul  ?  These  sacred  hymns  of  many  hundred  years'  stand- 
ing, and  yet,  at  every  repetition,  still  new  and  unimpaired  in  inte- 
rest— what  a  blessing  have  they  been  to  poor  human  nature !    They 


332  PSALMODY    OF    THE    CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XVI. 


go  with  tlie  solitary  man  into  his  cell,  and  attend  the  afflicted  in 
distress,  in  want,  and  to  the  grave.  While  singing  these,  one 
forgets  his  toils,  and  his  fainting,  sorrowful  spirit  soars  in  heavenly 
joys  to  another  world.  Back  to  earth  he  comes,  to  labour,  to  toil, 
to  suffer  in  silence,  and  to  conquer.  How  rich  the  boon,  how  great 
the  power  of  these  hymns!"  He  proceeds  to  say  that  there  is  in 
these  an  efficacy  and  power  which  lighter  songs,  which  philosophy 
itself  can  never  have  ;  a  power  which  is  not  ascribable  to  any  thing 
new  or  striking  in  sentiment  or  powerful  in  expression.  And 
then  raises  the  question,  "Whence  then  have  they  this  mighty 
power?  what  is  it  that  so  moves  us?"  To  which  he  replies,  sim- 
plicity  and  truth.  "Embodying  the  great  and  simple  truths  of 
religion,  they  speak  the  sentiment  of  a  universal  creed — they  are 
the  expression  of  one  heart  and  one  faith.  The  greater  part  are 
suitable  to  be  sung  on  all  occasions,  and  daily  to  be  repeated. 
Others  are  adapted  to  certain  festivals  ;  and  as  these  return  in  end- 
less succession,  so  the  sacred  song  perpetually  repeats  the  Christian 
faith.  Though  rude  and  void  of  refined  taste,  they  all  speak  to  the 
heart,  and,  by  ceaseless  repetition,  sink  deep  the  impress  of  truth. 
Like  these,  the  sacred  song  should  ever  be  the  simple  offering  of 
nature,  an  incense  of  sweet  odour,  perpetually  recurring,  with  a 
fragrance  that  suffers  no  abatement."^  Such  is  the  simple  power  of 
truth  wrought  in  the  soul  by  the  hallowed  devotions  of  the  sanctuary. 
Striking  the  deepest  principles  of  our  natui'e,  stirring  the  strongest 
passions  of  the  heart,  and  mingling  with  our  most  tender  recollec- 
tions and  dearest  hopes,  is  it  strange  that  the  simple  truths  and 
rude  air  of  the  sacred  song  should  deeply  move  us  ?  So  presented, 
they  only  grow  in  interest  by  continued  repetition.  And  in  the 
lapse  of  years,  these  time-hallowed  associations  do  but  sink  deeper  in 
the  soul : 

"  Time  but  the  impression  stronger  makes, 
As  streams  their  channels  deeper  wear." 

Chrysostom  eloquently  descants  upon  the  power  of  music  in  the 
family.  "Wheresoever  ungodly  songs  are  sung,  there  will  the 
devils  be  gathered  together ;  and  wheresoever  spiritual  songs  are 
sung,  there  will  the  grace  of  the  Spirit  fly,  and  sanctify  both  mouth 
and  soul.  I  say  these  things,  not  only  that  ye  yourselves  may  give 
praise,  but  that  ye  may  teach  both  your  wives  and  children  to  sing 
such  songs  when  engaged  at  the  loom,  or  in  other  labours ;  but  es- 
pecially at  meat.  Let  us,  with  our  wives  and  children,  arise  and 
say,  ^  Thou,  Lord,  hast  made  me  glad  through  thy  works :  I  will 


SEC.  v.]  ANCIENT    HYMNS.  333 

triumph  in  the  -works  of  thj  hands.'  Let  the  psalm  be  followed  by- 
prayer,  that  our  own  souls  and  those  of  our  household  may  be 
sanctified.  Those  who  invite  David  with  his  harp,  through  him  call 
Christ  into  their  dwellings ;  and  where  Christ  is,  there  no  evil 
spirit  dareth  to  approach  or  even  cast  a  look.  Thence  will  flow, 
as  from  a  never  failing  fountain,  peace,  and  love,  and  fulness  of 
blessings.  Make  thou  thy  house  a  church ;  for  a  company  of  souls 
who  love  God,  joined  together  in  holy  song  and  prayer,  may  well 
be  called  a  church."* 

Augustin  gives  the  following  account  of  the  power  of  this  music 
over  him  on  the  occasion  of  his  baptism.  "  Oh,  how  freely  was  I 
made  to  weep  by  these  hymns  and  spiritual  songs ;  transported  by 
the  voices  of  the  congregation  sweetly  singing.  The  melody  of 
their  voices  filled  my  ear,  and  divine  truth  was  poured  into  my 
heart.  Then  burned  the  sacred  flame  of  devotion  in  my  soul,  and 
gushing  tears  flowed  from  my  eyes,  as  well  they  might.""* 

§  5.    OF   ANCIENT    HYMNS. 

Two  or  three  hymns  appear  to  have  come  down  to  us  from  a 
remote  antiquity.  Basil,  f  A.  D.  878,  cites  an  evening  hymn  by 
some  unknown  author,  which  he  describes  as  in  his  time  very 
ancient,  handed  down  from  their  fathers,  and  in  use  among  the 
people.  This,  Dr.  J.  Pye  Smith  considers  the  oldest  hymn  extant. 
The  following  is  his  translation  of  the  hymn  : 

"  Jesus  Christ,  Joyful  Light  of  the  holy  !  Glory  of  the  eternal, 
heavenly,  holy,  blessed  Father  1  Having  now  come  to  the  setting 
of  the  sun,  beholding  the  evening  light,  we  praise  the  Father,  and 
the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God.  Thou  art  worthy  to  be 
praised  of  sacred  voices  at  all  seasons,  0  Son  of  God,  who  givest 
life.     Wherefore  the  universe  glorifieth  thee." 

Another  is  found  in  the  works  of  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  who 
himself  lived  at  the  distance  of  only  a  century  and  a  half  from  the 
age  of  the  apostles.  He  gives  it  as  the  production  of  an  age  still 
higher.  It  is  a  hymn  to  Christ,  and  though  exhibiting  little  poet- 
ical skill  or  taste,  is  worthy  of  particular  notice,  as  perhaps  the  most 
ancient  example  extant  of  those  sacred  hymns  which  kindled  the 
devotions  of  the  primitive  Christians.  For  this  reason  it  is  inserted 
in  the  note  below.* 

*  Sro/itoj/  rtii^xov  dSawv,  Fraenum  pullorum  indocilium, 

n-ttpoi-  opw^ioi'  arfKavwv,  Penna  volucrum  nun  errantium, 


334 


PSALMODY    OF    THE    CHURCH. 


[chap.  XVI. 


The  Gloria  in  excelsis  Deo,  glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  the 
morning  prayer  of  the  Apostolical  Constitutions,  which,  with  some 
modifications,  is  still  retained  in  the  English  and  Roman  Catholic 
liturgies,  is  generally  assigned  to  the  third  centmy.  By  many  it  is 
regarded  as  the  most  ancient  hymn  that  has  descended  to  us  from 
the  Christian  church.     It  is  as  follows  : — 


IloLfjiyjv  apvuiv  jSaaiXiPcwv" 
Toij  ooiij  ai|)£^fij 
IlcwSaj  wyi  ipov, 

Tfivelv  adoXuii, 
Axuxoi^  atof-iauiv 
IlaiStov  r^yyjtopa  XpKJfov. 

Aoyf  jtat'§a/Ltar<op 

rittT'pOJ  V'^l,0-iOV, 

Xo^LOi  Ttpvfavi, 
'^trjpi^fia  rtovitiV 

BpoTftt;  ytvfaj 
Swtfp    Ir^rsov, 
Tloiixrji',  ttporjjp, 
Ota5,  (jrwjuioi', 
ntfpoi'  oiipaviov 
IlafayoiJ;  rtot/tti'j^j* 

AXllV  fJLfpOTti^V 

IlfXayovj  xaxiOi 
'l;^^^?  ayt'otjj 
Ki);Uttro5  f;|^^por 

Hyoii,  rtpoj3aTwi' 
Aoytjctoj'  rioifir^' 
Aytf  ijyoti 

Izvta  'X.pi.otov, 

Odo;  oipavi.a, 
Aoyoj  air'ttos, 
Aiwv  dnXfroj, 

EXtoi'5  rtrjyri, 
Pixtrjp  apitr^i' 

©fov  'iiftj'owrcoj',  Xp£5t£   Itjaov, 
rdxa  ovpdvLOv 
'M.aatCjv  y'Kvxipujv 


Verus  clavus  infantium, 

Pastor  agnorum  regalium, 

Tuos  simplices. 

Pueros  congrega, 

Ad  sancte  laudandum : 

Sincere  canendum 

Ore  innoxio 

Christum  puerorum  ducem. 

Rex  sanctorum, 

Verbum,  qui  domas  omnia, 

Patris  altissimi, 

SapientifB  rector, 

Laborum  sustentaculum, 

JEvo  gaudens, 

Humani  generis 

Servator  Jesu, 

Pastor,  arator, 

Clavus,  fraenum, 

Penna  coelestis 

Sanctissimi  gregis 

Piscator  hominum, 

Qui  salvi  fiunt, 

Pelagi  vitii 

Pisces  castos 

Unda  ex  infesta 

Dulci  vita  inescans. 

Sis  dux,  ovium 

Rationalium  pastor: 

Sancto,  sis  dux. 

Rex  puerorum  intactorum. 

Vestigia  Christi, 

Vita  coelestis, 

Verbum  perenne, 

^vum  infinitum, 

Lux  aeterna, 

Fons  misericordiae, 

Operatrix  virtutis, 

Honesta  vita, 

Deum  laudantium  Christe  Jesu  ; 

Lac  cocleste 

Dulcibus  uberibus 


SEC.  V."] 


ANCIENT   HYMNS. 


335 


"  We  praise  thee,  we  sing  hymns  to  thee,  we  bless  thee,  Ave 
glorify  thee,  we  worship  thee,  by  thy  great  High-Priest ;  thou  who 
art  the  true  God,  who  art  the  One  unbegotten,  the  only  inacces- 
sible Being.  For  thy  great  glory,  0  Lord,  and  heavenly  King,  0 
God,  the  Father  Almighty,  0  Lord  God,  the  Father  of  Christ,  the 
immaculate  Lamb,  who  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world,  receive 
our  prayer,  thou  that  sittest  upon  the  cherubim ;  since  thou  only 
art  holy.  Thou  only,  0  Jesus,  art  our  Lord,  the  Christ  of  the  God 
of  all  that  have  been  brought  forth,  of  the  God  our  King.  Through 
this  our  Lord,  glory  be  to  thee,  and  honour  and  worship." 

A  venerable  antiquity,  dating  back  even  to  the  third  century, 
is  also  assigned  to  the  Evening  Prayer  and  the  Prayer  at  Dinner, 
from  the  same  source. 

Eveniyig  Prayer. — "  "We  praise  thee,  we  sing  hymns  to  thee,  we 
bless  thee  for  thy  great  glory,  0  Lord,  our  King,  the  Father  of 
Christ,  the  immaculate  Lamb  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world. 
Praise  becometh  thee,  hymns  become  thee,  glory  becometh  thee, 
the  God  and  Father,  through  the  Son,  in  the  most  Holy  Spirit,  for 
ever  and  ever.     Amen." 

Prayer  at  Dinner. — "  Blessed  art  thou,  0  Lord,  who  dost  nourish 
me  from  my  youth ;  who  givest  food  to  all  flesh.  Fill  our  hearts 
with  joy  and  gladness,  that,  having  always  what  is  sufficient  for  us, 
we  may  abound  to  every  good  work,  in  Christ  Jesus,  our  Lord, 


Oi  vrjrtiaxoi, 
A'faXotj  otofiaaw 

XIwi'iuaT'i  5po(5fp^ 
AiVouj  a^iXtli, 

TflVOVi  O.T'pf XflJ, 

Ba(ji>,fc.  Xptarcj, 
Mkj^oojj  ocri'ovj 

^iXriioixev  Ofiov, 

ncu6a  xpattpov' 
Xopo;  lipr^vrj^ 
Ot  Xpiaroyoi/oi, 
Aooj  stoifipwr, 


Nymphae  Gratiarum, 

Sapientise  tuae  expressum, 

Infantuli 

Ore  tenero 

Enutriti, 

Mammae  rationalis 

Roscido  spiritu 

Impleti, 

Laudes  simplices, 

Hymnos  veraces, 

E-egi  Christo, 

Mercedes  sanctas 

Vitse  doctringe, 

Canamus  simul. 

Canamus  simpliciter 

Puerum  valentem, 

Chorus  pacis, 

Christo  geniti, 

Populus  modestuR, 

Psallamus  simul  Deum  pacis. 

Feed.  lib.  lii 


336 


PSALMODY    OF    THE    CHUKCH. 


[chap.  XVI. 


through  wliom    glory,   honour,   and   power  be  to   thee  for  ever. 
Amen." 

The  most  ancient  hymns  extant  from  the  Latin  chm'ch  are  those 
of  Ambrose,  of  the  fourth  centm-y.  Thirty  are  ascribed  to  him,  of 
which  twelve  are  reputed  to  be  genuine.  The  following  is  Bishop 
Mant's  version  of  one  of  these  hymns,  of  which  the  original  is  given 
in  the  note : — 

Lord,  who  didst  bless  thy  chosen  band, 

And  forth  commission'd  send, 
To  spi'ead  thy  name  from  land  to  land, 

To  thee  our  hymns  ascend. 

The  princes  of  thy  church  were  they, 

Chiefs  unsubdued  by  fight, 
Soldiers  on  earth  of  heaven's  array. 

The  world's  renewing  light. 

Theirs  the  firm  faith  of  holy  birth. 

The  hope  that  looks  above. 
And,  trampling  on  the  powers  of  earth, 

Their  Saviour's  perfect  love. 

In  them  the  heavens  exulting  own 

The  Father's  might  reveal'd. 
Thy  triumph  gain'd,  begotten  Son, 

Thy  Spirit's  influence  seal'd. 

Then  to  thy  Father,  and  to  Thee, 

And  to  thy  Spirit  blest. 
All  praise  for  these  thy  servants  be 

By  all  thy  church  addrest.* 


*■     .Sterna  Christi  niunera 
Et  martyrum  victorias, 
Laudes  ferentes  debitas, 
Lsetis  canamus  mentibus. 

Ecclesiarum  principes. 
Belli  triumphales  duces, 
Cselestis  aulaj  milites, 
Et  vera  mundi  lumina. 

Terrore  victo  sasculi 
Spretisque  poenis  corporis. 
Mortis  sacra;  compendio, 
Vitam  beatam  possident. 

Traduntur  igni  martyres, 
Et  bestiarum  dentibus, 
Armata  stcvit  ungulis 
Tortoris  insani  manua. 


Nundata  pendent  viscera. 
Sanguis  sacratus  funditur, 
Sed  permanent  immobiles 
Vitse  perennis  gratia. 

Devota  sanctorum  fides, 
Invicta  spes  credentium ; 
Perfecta  Christi  caritas, 
Mundi  triumphat  principem. 

In  his  paterna  gloria. 
In  his  voluntas  filii, 
Exsultat  in  his  Spiritus, 
Caelum  repletur  gaudiis. 

Te  nunc,  redemtor,  qutesumus, 
Ut  ipsorum  consortio 
Jungas  precantes  servulos. 
In  sempiterna  sa^cula.     Amen. 


SEC.  v.]  ANCIENT   HYMNS.  337 


The  folio-wing  are  also  mentioned  among  the  hymns  of  Ambrose ; 

Vini  Redemptor  gentium, 
Ostende  partum  Virginis, 
Miretur  omne  sseculum ; 
Talis  decet  partus  Deum,  &c. 

0  Lux  beata  Trinitas 
Et  principalis  unitas, 
Jam  sol  recedet  igneus, 
Infunde  lumen  cordibus,  &c. 

Illuminans  altissimus 
Micantium  astrorum  globos, 
Pax,  vita,  lumen,  Veritas, 
Jesu  fave  precantibus,  &c. 

It  may  interest  some  readers  to  know  the  date  of  some  of  the  ancient  Latin 
hymns  which  were  most  frequently  rehearsed.     Among  these  are  the  following : 
Of  the  fifth  century — by  Prudentius  Clemens : 

1.  On  the  crowing  of  the  cock — Ales  diei  nuntius,  &c. 

2.  A  morning  hymn — Lux  ecce  surgit  aurea,  &c. 

3.  On  the  nativity — Corde  natus  ex  parentis,  &c. 

4.  On  the  Innocents — Salvete  flores  martyrum,  &c. 

Of  the  sixth  century : 

1.  On  the  cross — Pange,  lingua,  gloriosi 

Prselium  certaminis,  &c. 

2.  On  the  Passion — Vexilla  regis  prodeunt 

Fulget  crucis  mysterium,  &c. 

3.  On  the  Resurrection — Salve  festa  dies,  toto  venerabilis  sevo,  &c. 

Gregory  the  Great,  in  the  seventh  century : 

1.  Lord's  supper — Rex,  Christe  factor  omnium,  &c. 

2.  On  the  Lord's  day — Primo  dierum  omnium,  &c. 

3.  Morning  hymn — Ecce  jam  noctis  tenuatur  umbra,  &c. 
In  the  age  of  Charlemagne — Veni  Creator  Spiritus,  &c. 
Robert,  King  of  France,  a.  d.  1031. 

Veni  Sancte  Spiritus, 

Et  emitte  coelitus 

Lucis  tuse  vadium,  &c. 
To  the  above  should  be  added  the  Judgment  hymn  by  the  Franciscan,  Thomas 
Von  Celano,  of  the  thirteenth  century : 

Dies  irse,  dies  ilia, 

Solvet  saeculum  in  favilla 

Teste  David  cum  Sibylla, 

Tuba  mirum  spargens  sonum, 

Per  sepulchra  regionum, 

Coget  omnes  dante  thronum,  &c. 
And  the  Elegy  of  the  Franciscan,  Japonus,  of  the  fourteenth  century : 

Stabat  mater  dolorosa, 

Juxta  crucem  lachrymosa,  &c. 
22 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

OF  THE  USE  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES  IN  RELIGIOUS  WORSHIP 
§  1.    PRELIMINARY   REMARKS/ 

The  Christian  church  at  first  adopted,  without  essential  varia- 
tion, the  Jewish  form  of  worship  in  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures, 
which,  after  the  Babylonish  captivity,  constituted  an  important 
part  of  religious  service.  The  books  of  Moses  were  divided  into 
fifty-four  sections,  corresponding  to  the  sabbaths  in  a  year,  one 
being  allowed  for  their  intercalated  years,  in  which  there  might  be 
fifty-four  sabbaths.  These  sections  were  read  successively,  one  on 
each  sabbath.  When  a  less  number  of  sabbaths  occurred  in  a  year, 
two  sections  were  read  together  as  one  on  the  last  sabbath,  so  that 
the  reading  of  the  whole  might  be  completed  every  year. 

Selections  were  also  made  from  the  historical  and  prophetical 
books,  which  were  denominated  the  prophets.  One  of  these  selec- 
tions was  read  every  sabbath-day  in  connection  with  the  correspond- 
ing portion  of  the  law.  This  custom  originated  from  the  persecu- 
tion of  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  who  forbade  the  Jews  the  reading  of 
their  law  on  the  sabbath.  They  accordingly  selected  from  the 
prophets  certain  portions  which  they  read  successively,  in  the  place 
of  like  portions  of  the  law.  And  after  the  persecution,  they  con- 
tinued to  read  both  in  connection.  Paul,  at  Antioch  in  Pisidia, 
stood  up  to  preach  after  the  reading  of  the  lato  and  the  prophets. 
Acts  xiii.  15. 

The  Psalms  and  other  devotional  parts  of  the  Scriptures,  which 
with  the  Jews  constituted  a  third  division,  were  probably  not  read 
at  all  on  the  sabbath.  They  were  the  Psalter  of  the  Jewish  syna- 
gogue, and  were  sung  or  chanted  whenever  introduced  into  religious 
worship. 

Justin  Martyr  is  the  first  who  mentions  the  reading  of  the  Gos- 
pels and  of  the  Acts  together  with  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment.^   According  to  this  author,  they  were  read  in  public  assembly 


SEC.  I.]  PRELIMINARY    REMARKS.  339 

on  the  sabbath,  by  a  reader  appointed  for  the  purpose ;  and  after 
the  reading,  an  exhortation  and  exposition  was  delivered  bv  the 
minister. 

Tertullian  also  insists  upon  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  both 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  as  an  important  part  both  of  public 
and  of  private  worship.^  He  mentions  the  eommentatio  literarum 
divinarum,  for  the  instruction  and  strengthening  of  the  faithful,  as 
the  chief  exercise  of  public  worship.*  In  another  treatise,  the  read- 
ing of  the  Scriptures,  in  connection  with  the  singing  of  psalms,  ex- 
hortations, allocutiones,  are  specified  as  the  several  parts  of  public 
worship.^ 

Both  Tertullian  and  Cyprian  speak  of  the  reader,  as  an  officer  in 
the  church,  the  latter  of  whom  particularly  describes  the  ordination 
of  two  readers  to  this  office.^ 

The  Apostolical  Constitutions  enjoin  the  reading  of  the  Scrip- 
tures as  the  most  important  part  of  public  worship.  And  Origen 
and  Chrysostom  insist  upon  this  as  the  foundation  of  all  correct 
religious  service.^  To  these  authorities,  again,  may  be  added  those 
of  various  councils,  on  the  same  subject.^ 

As  a  general  rule,  none  but  the  books  which  were  received  as  ca- 
nonical were  allowed  to  be  read  in  public  worship.  The  reading  of 
other  books  in  private  was  recommended  for  personal  edification, 
but  not,  like  the  Scriptures,  as  being  of  divine  authority.^  As  in 
diiferent  provinces  the  church  was  divided  in  opinion  respecting  the 
true  character  of  certain  books,  so  they  difi"ered  in  regard  to  the 
propriety  of  permitting  the  same  to  be  read  in  religious  worship. 
The  apochryphal  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  Antilegomena 
of  the  New,  were  chiefly  the  subject  of  dispute.  The  diligent  peru- 
sal of  the  apocryphal  books  was  recommended  to  catechumens,  but 
their  authority  was  seldom  or  never  allowed  in  doctrinal  discussions. 
These  books  were  held  in  higher  repute  by  the  church  in  Africa 
than  by  any  other. 

The  controversy  relating  to  the  Antilegomena,  in  a  great  measure 
ceased  in  the  fourth  century.  The  authority  of  the  Apocalypse 
Avas,  however,  still  controverted ;  and  the  churches  of  Constantino- 
ple, Antioch,  and  others  continued  to  refuse  it  a  place  in  the 
sacred  canon. ^"^  Ephraemof  Syria,  Athanasius,  Cyril  of  Alexandria, 
Pseudo-Dionysius,  and  Leontius  of  Byzantium,  Avere  apparently  the 
first  to  remove  the  prejudice  against  this  book." 

No  distinction  was  made  between  the  books  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testament,  but  both  were  regarded  as  of  equal  authority,  and  m 


J40  THE   SCRIPTURES   IN    RELIGIOUS   WORSHIP.     [CHAP.  XVII. 


religious  worship  selections  from  each  were  read  in  connection. 
The  selections  even  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  century  were  made  by 
the  bishops  at  pleasure ;  and  on  the  festivals  of  the  church,  particu- 
lar portions,  especially  from  the  New  Testament,  were  read  :  all 
which  indicates  that  a  uniform  order  of  liturgical  worship  had  not 
yet  been  established.  While  both  the  Jewish  and  the  Christian 
sabbath  continued  to  be  observed,  it  was  customary  on  the  former 
occasion  to  read  the  Old  Testament ;  and  on  the  latter,  the  New.^^ 
The  controverted  portions  of  Scripture  above  mentioned,  and 
other  religious  works,  were  frequently  read  in  public  on  certain 
occasions ;  such  as  the  Epistles  of  Peter,  the  Apocalypse,  the  Doc- 
trines of  the  Apostles,  the  Shepherd  of  Hermas,  the  first  epistle  of 
Clemens  Romanus  to  the  Corinthians,  the  Homilies  of  the  cele- 
brated fathers.  Public  Symbols  and  Rules  of  Faith,  and  Memoirs 
of  Martyrs  and  Saints.^^ 

§  2.    OF   THE    ORDER   IN   WHICH   THE   SCRIPTURES   WERE    READ. 

At  first  there  was  no  established  order  for  the  reading  of  them. 
Before  the  canon  of  the  new  Testament  was  completed,  no  certain 
order  was  practicable.  The  divisions  of  the  Old  Testament  by  the 
Jews  was  not  suited  to  Christian  churches.  It  was  accordingly  left 
to  the  discretion  of  the  bishops  to  direct  the  selections  to  be  read, 
the  canons  of  the  church  having  established  the  divine  authority  of 
the  several  parts  of  the  New  Testament. 

Even  as  late  as  tbe  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  instances  occur  of 
such  appointments  by  the  bishop.^  In  all  matters  pertaining  to 
the  church,  usage  has  a  great  influence.  The  traditions  of  the 
apostles,  and  especially  usages  established  by  them,  were  very  care- 
fully observed.  Every  innovation  was  regarded  with  jealousy 
proportionate  to  the  antiquity  of  the  usage  which  it  would  super- 
cede. 

The  canon  of  the  New  Testament  was  only  gradually  formed,  and 
some  time  elapsed  before  it  was  completed.  In  the  course  of  the 
second  century,  the  four  Gospels  were  received  by  the  church  in  the 
form  in  which  we  now  have  them.  On  the  contrary,  the  gospels 
of  the  heretics,  as  they  were  called,  were  rejected.  At  the  close 
of  the  present  period,  (a.  d.  254,)  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  the 
Thirteen  Epistles  of  Paul,  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews — which,  how- 
ever, only  one  part  of  the  church  considered  as  a  work  of  Paul — and 
lastly,  the  First  Epistle  of  John,  and  the  First  Epistle  of  Peter,  had 


SEC.  II.]  PRELIMINARY   REMARKS.  341 

been  admitted  into  the  canon.  With  regard  to  the  canonical  au- 
thority of  the  Second  and  Third  Epistles  of  John,  the  Epistles  of 
James,  Jude,  and  Second  of  Peter,  and  lastly  of  the  Book  of  Reve- 
lation, the  opinions  were  yet  for  some  time  divided.  On  the  other 
hand,  some  other  writings,  which  are  not  now  considered  as  form- 
ing a  part  of  the  canon,  viz.  the  Epistles  of  Barnabas  and  Clement, 
and  the  Shepherd  of  Hermas,  were  held  by  some  (especially  Cle- 
ment and  Origen)  in  equal  esteem  with  the  Scriptures,  and  quoted 
as  such. 

"  The  Synod  of  Laodicea  was  held  about  the  middle  of  the  fourth 
century,  between  the  years  360  and  364.  In  the  fifty-ninth  canon 
it  was  enacted  that  no  uncanonical  book  should  be  used  in  the 
churches ;  and  in  the  sixtieth  a  list  was  given  of  the  canonical  books. 
In  this  list,  all  the  Hebrew  writings  of  the  Old  Testament  are  re- 
ceived. The  canon  of  the  New  Testament  is  the  same  as  ours,  ex- 
cept the  Book  of  Revelation,  which,  however,  was  considered 
genuine,  in  Egypt,  by  Athanasius  and  Cyril." 

The  earliest  division  of  the  New  Testament  was  into  the  Gospels 
and  the  Apostles,  corresponding  to  the  law  and  the  prophets  of  the 
Jewish  Scriptures.  This  division  appears  in  the  writings  of  Tertul- 
lian  and  Irenseus,^  and  must,  accordingly,  have  been  anterior  to 
their  time.  The  reading  was  directed  according  to  this  division, 
one  lesson  from  each  being  read  alternately.  Between  the  reading 
of  these,  Psalms  were  sung,  or  selections  from  the  Old  Testament 
were  read.  When  there  was  nothing  peculiar  to  direct  the  reading, 
the  Scriptures  were  read  consecutively,  according  to  their  established 
order ;  but  this  order  was  interrupted  on  the  festivals  of  the  church 
and  other  occasions.^  At  Easter,  the  account  of  the  resurrection 
was  read  from  each  of  the  evangelists  successively.*  The  season  of 
Pentecost,  from  Easter  to  Whitsuntide,  was  set  apart  for  the  read- 
ing of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.^  The  Western  church  connected 
with  this  the  reading  of  the  Epistles  and  of  the  Apocalypse.® 
During  Lent,  Genesis  was  read,^  and,  as  early  as  the  third  century, 
the  Book  of  Job  was  read  in  Passion-week.  In  a  word,  though  we 
have  no  complete  order  of  the  lessons  read  through  the  year,  it  is  to 
be  presumed  that  the  reading  was  directed  by  an  established  rule 
and  plan,  especially  on  all  the  principal  festivals  and  solemnities  of 
the  church. 

At  the  close  of  the  lesson,  the  assembly  kneeled  and  prayed  for 
pardon  of  the  sins  of  which  they  might  have  been  guilty  in  the 
reading;  saying,  "Lord  have  mercy  upon  us."     Instead  of  this 


342  THE  SCRIPTURES  IN  RELIGIOUS  WORSHIP.       [CHAP.  XVI. 


prayer,  however,  other  forms  were  frequently  used  ;  such  as,  "  Thus 
saith  the  Lord,"  etc.  The  reading  at  the  burial-service  was  ended 
with  the  exclamation,  "Blessed  are  the  dead  that  die  in  the  Lord." 

§  3.    OF    THE    MODE    OF    DESIGNATING    THE    DIVISIONS  AND   LESSONS. 

In  many  manuscripts,  these  divisions  are  denoted  by  certain 
marks,  like  the  masoretic  notes  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  These, 
however,  are  not  to  be  regarded  as  of  necessity  the  most  ancient 
divisions,  for  none  of  the  manuscripts  themselves  have,  in  the  opi- 
nion of  critics,  a  higher  antiquity  than  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries, 
and  most  of  them  are  of  an  origin  much  later.  But  it  is  worthy  of 
remark  that  the  ancient  versions,  which  date  back  to  a  much  higher 
antiquity  than  any  manuscripts  now  extant,  and  from  which,  almost 
without  exception,  the  lessons  were  read,  are  also  di\dded  in  the 
same  manner.  Such  for  example  are  the  divisions  of  the  Syriac 
Peshito.  From  all  which,  it  is  probable  that  these  divisions  were 
made  as  early  as  the  second  century.  According  to  this  method, 
the  New  Testament  was  divided  into  two  kinds  of  chapters,  some 
longer  and  some  shorter.  The  divisions,  however,  were  not  uni- 
form in  the  different  churches,  and  were  subject  to  revision  from 
time  to  tirae.^ 

To  prevent  misunderstanding,  it  was  customary  to  refer  to  texts 
of  Scriptui-e  by  quoting  a  few  words  of  the  passage  in  question,  oi- 
by  a  description  of  it,  thus :  As  it  is  said  in  the  parable  of  the 
sower, — or.  As  it  is  written  in  the  passage  relating  to  the  woman 
that  had  an  issue,  etc. 

The  division  into  chapters  was  singularly  indiscreet  and  inju- 
dicious, often  sadly  interrupting  the  sense  and  sundering  parts  of  the 
text,  which  ought  to  be  closely  united  in  the  same  paragraph  or 
verse.*  This  division  was  the  work  of  Hugo  de  Sancto  Caro,  in 
the  thirteenth  century.  The  New  Testament  was  first  divided  into 
verses  in  the  edition  of  Robert  Stephens,  A.  D.  1551. 

§  4.    OF    THE    MANNER    IN    WHICH    THE    SCRIPTURES    WERE    READ, 
AND    OF    OTHER    EXERCISES    IN    CONNECTION. 

Certain  portions  of  the  Scripture,  as  has  been  already  remarked, 
were  sung,  others  were  recited  or  read.    The  Psalms  were  uniformly 

*  In  the  last  century,  an  anonymous  writer  published  the  following  calculation, 
eimilar  to  that  of  the  Masorites,  for  the  English  version  of  the  Bible,  under  the 


SEC.  IV.]  MANNER   OF   READING   THE    SCRIPTURES.  343 


sung,  and  from  the  time  of  Gregory  the  Great,  the  same  "was  true 
of  the  Gospels  and  the  Epistles.  All  other  parts  of  the  Scriptures 
were  read ;  but  the  mode  of  reading  was  very  unlike  that  in  com- 
mon use ;  it  was  indeed  a  recitative  or  chant ;  each  syllable  was 
uttered  with  a  measured  cadence  and  modulation,  in  a  style  and 
manner  midway  between  that  of  singing  and  ordinary  reading.  In 
the  East  especially  was  this  art  of  chanting  greatly  cultivated ;  and 
the  Koran  to  this  day  is  thus  read. 

It  was  a  prevailing  sentiment  of  the  oriental  church,  that  the 
words  of  the  Most  High  ought  to  be  pronounced  in  a  higher  and 

title  of  the  Old  and  Neio  Testament  Dissected.  It  is  said  to  have  occupied  three 
years  of  the  compiler's  life,  and  is  a  singular  instance  of  the  trifling  employments 
to  which  superstition  has  led  mankind. 

The  Old  and  New  Testament  Dissected. 

Books  in  the  Old 39 In  the  New 27 Total 66 

Chapters 929 260 1,189 

Verses 23,214 7,959 31,173 

Words 592,439 181,253 773,692 

Letters 2,728,800 838,380 3,566,480 

Apocrypha. 

Chapters 183 

Verses 6,081 

Words 252,185 

The  middle  chapter  and  least  in  the  Bible,  is  Psalm  117. 
The  middle  verse  is  the  eighth  of  the  118th  Psalm. 
The  middle  time,  2d  of  Chronicles,  4th  chapter,  16th  verse. 
The  word  And  occurs  in  the  Old  Testament  35,543  times. 
The  same  word  occurs  in  the  New  Testament  10,684  times. 
The  word  Jehovah  occurs  6855  times. 

Old  Testament. 
The  middle  book  is  Proverbs. 
The  middle  chapter  is  Job  29th. 

The  middle  verse  is  the  2d  Chronicles,  20th  chapter,  between  the  17th  and 
18th  verses. 

The  least  verse  is  1st  Chronicles,  1st  chapter,  and  25th  verse. 

Neiv  Testament. 

The  middle  book  is  Thessalonians  2d. 

Tlie  middle  chapter  is  between  the  13th  and  14th  Romans. 
The  middle  verse  is  in  chapter  17th  of  Acts,  17th  verse. 
The  least  verse  is  11th  chapter  of  John,  35th  verse. 

The  21st  verse  of  the  7th  chapter  of  Ezra  has  all  the  letters  of  the  alphabet 
except  j. 

The  19th  chapter  of  the  2d  of  Kings  and  the  37th  of  Isaiah  are  alike. 


344  THE  SCRIPTURES  IN  RELIGIOUS  WORSHIP.      [CHAP,  XVI. 

more  joyful  strain  than  that  of  common  conversation  and  reading. 
On  this  interesting  point  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  so  little  is  known. 
The  ancient  art  of  chanting  the  Scriptures  was  perpetuated  by  tra- 
dition, and  only  some  slight  traces  of  it  can  now  be  observed  in  the 
Greek,  Roman,  and  Protestant  churches. 

Augustin,  the  great  rhetorician  and  musician  of  the  ancient 
church,  contends  earnestly  for  an  easy,  simple,  and  unstudied  style 
of  psalmody,  and  commends  highly  the  singing  of  Athanasius, 
bishop  of  Alexandria,  which  more  resembled  the  performance  of  a 
reader  than  of  a  singer.'  In  accordance  with  this  author,  the  ap- 
proved style  of  conducting  the  services  of  the  church  seems  to  have 
been  to  conform  the  exercise  of  singing  as  nearly  as  possible  to  that 
of  reading ;  and  the  reading,  to  that  of  singing.  The  style  was 
much  the  same  both  in  the  Jewish  synagogue  and  the  Grreek 
church.  In  both,  the  rehearsals  were  so  rapid,  that  it  would  be 
difficult  to  determine  whether  it  most  resembled  that  of  singing  or 
of  reading. 

The  reading  was  begun  and  closed  with  a  set  form.  The  reader, 
according  to  Cyprian,  saluted  the  audience  by  saying,  "  Peace  be 
with  you."  This  prerogative  was  by  the  third  Council  of  Carthage, 
A.  D.  397,  denied  to  the  reader,  as  belonging  exclusively  to  the 
presbyter  or  bishop.^  Then  again,  it  became  the  usual  salutation 
at  the  opening  of  public  worship  and  before  the  sermon. 

Before  the  reading  began,  the  deacon  enjoined  silence,  and  often 
called  aloud  again,  TtpoO^a^ev,  attendamus,  attention !  Then 
the  reader  proceeded,  saying,  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  in  the  lesson 
from  the  Old  Testament,  or  from  the  Gospels,"  etc.,  or  again,  "  Be- 
loved brethren,  in  the  Epistles  it  is  written."  This  was  said  to 
awaken  attention  and  veneration  for  the  word  read.^ 

At  the  close  of  the  lesson,  the  people  responded  frequently,  if  not 
uniformly,  by  saying,  "Amen."  The  purport  of  which  was,  accord- 
ing to  Alexander  Halesius,  "  God  grant  us  to  continue  steadfast  in 
the  faith."  Or  they  said,  "We  thank  thee,  Lord;"  "We  thank 
thee,  0  Christ," — for  the  previous  word.  Such  abuses  finally  arose 
from  this  custom,  that  the  people  were  forbidden  to  join  in  the  re- 
sponse, and  the  minister  closed  the  reading  of  the  epistles  by  say- 
ing, "Blessed  be  God,"  and  that  of  the  evangelists  by  saying, 
"  Glory  be  to  thee,  0  Lord."* 

Whenever  the  deacon,  presbyter,  or  bishop,  performed  the  office  of 
reader,  he  introduced  the  service  by  a  form  which  was  substantially, 
the  same  as  that  which  is  still  observed  in  the  Episcopal  service. 


SEC.  IV.]  MANNER    OF   HEADING   THE    SCRIPTURES.  345 


At  first  the  reading  was  performed  from  the  amho,  a  pulpit  or 
desk,  prepared  for  the  purpose ;  afterward  the  reading  was  from 
the  pulpit,  with  the  exception  of  that  of  the  Gospels  and  the 
Epistles  which,  out  of  reverence  for  these  parts  of  Scripture,  were 
rehearsed  near  the  altar ;  the  former  on  the  right  hand,  and  the 
latter  on  the  left,  of  the  altar.  It  was  the  duty  of  the  subdeacon 
to  read  or  chant  the  Epistles ;  and  of  the  deacon  to  rehearse  the 
Gospels. 

The  reader  was  at  all  times  required  to  stand  in  the  discharge 
of  his  office ;  the  people  preserved  the  same  attitude  in  the  rehear- 
sal of  the  Psalms,  and  the  reading  of  the  lessons  from  the  Gospels 
and  the  Epistles  at  the  celebration  of  their  festivals.  Cyprian  repre- 
sents this  to  have  been,  on  all  occasions,  the  custom  in  Africa.  The 
Apostolical  Constitutions  recommend  both  the  clergy  and  the  people 
to  stand  in  profound  silence  during  the  reading  of  the  Gfospels.^ 
Augustin  urges  all  who  are  lame,  or  afflicted  with  any  infirmity,  so 
that  they  cannot  conveniently  stand,  to  sit  and  reverently  listen  to 
the  word  of  God.^  But  it  was  a  general  rule  of  the  ancient  church, 
which  has  at  all  times  been  observed,  and  still  is  to  some  extent, 
that  the  hearers  sat  during  the  ordinary  reading  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  arose  when  the  Gospels  were  recited.  If  in  the  delivery  of  a 
sermon  the  preacher  introduced  a  passage  from  the  Gospels,  the 
assembly  immediately  arose  ;  which  was  the  frequent  occasion  of 
much  noise  and  confusion.  The  reason  for  this  usage  in  relation 
to  the  Gospels  is  given  by  Chrysostom  as  follows  : — "  If  the  letters 
of  a  king  are  read  in  the  theatre  with  great  silence,  much  more 
ought  we  to  compose  ourselves,  and  reverently  to  arise  and  listen 
when  the  letters,  not  of  an  earthly  king,  but  of  the  Lord  of  angels, 
are  read  to  us."^ 

Jerome,  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  century,  is  the  first  who  mentions 
the  custom  of  burning  lighted  candles  in  the  Eastern  church,  though 
not  in  the  Western,  when  the  Gospels  were  read.^  But  all  antiquity 
offers  no  earlier  conclusive  authority  for  this  unmeaning  supersti- 
tion, which  is  still  observed,  not  only  in  the  Romish  church,  but 
in  the  Lutheran  churches  on  the  continent.  The  authorities  for 
this  rite,  as  given  by  Jerome,  are  the  lighting  of  lamps  by  the  vir- 
gins in  the  Gospel,  the  exhortation  to  have  our  loins  girded  and 
our  lamps  burning,  together  with  such  passages  as  the  following : 
Luke  xii.  35 ;  John  v.  35 ;  Ps.  cxix.  105. 


346  THE   SCRIPTURES   m  RELIGIOUS   "WORSHIP.        [CHAP.  XVII. 


§  5.    OF    THE    PSALTER. 

The  use  of  the  Psalter  as  a  system  of  psalmody  iS  an  imitation  of 
tlie  synagogue  and  temple  service.  The  usage  is  of  great  antiquity, 
and  very  general,  both  in  the  ancient  and  modern  church.  But  the 
Psalter  also  partook  very  much  of  the  character  of  a  symbolical  book, 
and  constituted  an  essential  part  of  the  liturgy  of  the  chui'ch.  It 
contains  appropriate  lessons  for  reading,  and  religious  formularies, 
suited  to  the  capacities  of  the  youth  and  of  the  people  generally. 
These,  the  clergy  were  required  to  commit  to  memory,  and  to  ex- 
plain,^ Such  indeed  was  the  consideration  in  which  it  was  held, 
that  it  was  styled  the  Bible  in  miniature,  a  manual  of  all  sacred 
things,  and  a  representative  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures.^  Even  in 
the  dark  ages,  Avhen  men  were  denied  the  use  of  the  Bible,  the 
Psalter  was  allowed  to  the  laity  generally.^ 

The  Psalms  were  very  early  introduced  as  a  constituent  part  of 
religious  worship,  and  were  variously  numbered  and  divided ;  some- 
times into  five  books,  corresponding  to  the  books  of  Moses ;  and 
again  they  were  arranged  in  different  classes  according  to  their 
character,  as  Hallelujah,  Baptismal,  Penitential  Psalms,  and  many 
others. 

§  6.    OF   THE    PERICOP^. 

It  has  been  before  remarked  that  particular  lessons  were  set 
apart  from  the  Gospels  and  Epistles,  to  be  read  on  certain  sabbaths 
and  special  festive  occasions.  The  custom  was  derived  from  the 
Jews,  who  were  accustomed  to  read  different  portions  of  their  Scrip- 
tures on  their  several  festivals.  These  specific  selections  from  the 
■wi'itings  of  the  New  Testament  were  denominated  Pericopse.  When 
these  selections  were  first  made,  is  a  question  on  which  the  learned 
are  greatly  divided.  Some  contend  that  they  are  of  apostolic  ori- 
gin ;  others  that  they  originated  in  the  fourth  century ;  and  others 
again,  date  them  back  no  farther  than  the  eighth  century.  For  a 
discussion  of  these  several  theories,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Au- 
gusti,  and  to  the  authorities  quoted  by  him. 

To  aid  those  who  could  not  read,  pictures  of  Scriptuj-e  scenes 
were  also  hung  upon  the  walls.  In  the  idolatrous  devotion  with 
which  popish  superstition  bows  down  before  the  images  and  paint- 
ings of  the  sainted  dead,  the  intelligent  reader  will  easily  discover 


SEC.  VI.]  THE    PERICOPiE.  347 

only  a  perversion  of  the  pure  intents  for  which  primitive  piety  first 
introduced  them  into  the  ancient  churches. 

These  remarks  respecting  the  use  of  images  are  particularly  ap- 
plicable to  the  Christians  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries.  Pre- 
vious to  this  period,  pictorial  representations  of  all  kinds  were 
generally  repudiated,  but  in  the  sixth  century  the  superstitious 
perversions  of  such  works  of  art  had  already  begun. 

The  taste  for  pictorial  representations  and  images  was  a  corrup- 
tion of  paganism,  an  imitation  of  the  ornaments  of  its  temples.  It 
may  be  said  to  have  begun  with  Constantino.  As  a  substitute  for 
embellishments  of  pagan  art,  he  lavished  on  the  public  monuments, 
with  which  he  adorned  the  imperial  city,  representations  of  scenes 
from  the  Scriptures,  such  as  Abraham  offering  up  Isaac,  Daniel  in 
the  lions'  den,  Christ  as  the  Good  Shepherd,  &c.  Constantia,  the 
sister  of  Constantino,  sought  to  obtain  an  image  of  Christ.  At 
Rome,  the  images  of  the  apostles  Peter  and  Paul  attending  Christ 
were  painted  upon  the  walls. 

Similar  representations  of  scenes  in  sacred  history  adorned  the 
dress  of  Christian  women,  such  as  the  marriage-feast  at  Cana,  the 
man  sick  of  the  palsy,  the  blind  restored  to  sight,  Mary  Magdalene 
embracing  the  feet  of  Jesus,  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus.  Asterius, 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  fourth  century,  severely  censured  these 
ornaments,  admonishing  Christian  women,  that  instead  of  wearing 
a  kneeling  penitent  in  embroidery,  they  might  more  fitly  mourn 
over  their  own  sins  with  a  penitent  spirit. 

Augustin  and  Chrysostom  inveighed  against  images  in  churches 
in  such  terms  as  clearly  show  that  many  had  already  begun  to  make 
+hem  objects  of  religious  worship.  John  of  Damascus,  A.  D.  750, 
defended  the  worship  of  images.  The  Synod  of  Constantinople, 
A.  D.  754,  decided  against  the  worship  of  images  ;  the  second  Synod 
of  Nice,  A.  D.  787,  pronounced  in  favour  of  it.  These  data  indicate 
the  progress  of  degeneracy  in  the  worship  of  images,  of  saints, 
and  martyrs,  and  of  the  virgin,  all  which  were  closely  connected. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

OF  HOMILIES.' 
§  1.    GENERAL    REMARKS,  NAMES,  ETC. 

Evert  religious  discourse,  almost  without  exception,  was  based 
on  some  text,  or  distinctly  related  to  some  passage  of  Scripture. 
It  aimed  at  nothing  more  than  to  explain  and  enforce  the  same. 
In  the  Latin  church,  instances  frequently  occur  of  sermons  without 
any  text,  but  they  had  reference  distinctly  to  the  Scripture  lesson 
which  had  just  been  read,  which  is  sometimes  cited,  and  at  others 
is  passed  over  in  silence.  But  in  either  case  the  discourse  is  a 
paraphrase  or  explanation  of  the  passage  in  question.  A  sermon, 
according  to  the  idea  of  the  ancient  church,  may  be  defined  to  be 
a  rhetorical  discourse  upon  some  passage  of  ScrijJture,  having  for 
its  object  the  spiritual  edification  of  the  hearers.  It  is  an  exposi- 
tion and  application  of  Scripture,  not  merely  a  religious  discourse 
designed  for  the  instruction  of  the  audience. 

This  discourse  was  called  by  different  names,  as  "koyoc,,  an  ora- 
tion, 0[iL2.ia,  a  homily :  the  latter  implies  a  more  familiar  discourse 
than  the  former.  When  the  deacon  officiated  in  the  place  of  the 
bishop,  his  discourse  was  frequently  denominated  xri^vy^a.  It 
was  also  styled  SiSaGxa^ia,  i^y;yr,GLg,  kxdeGLg,  etc.  In  the  Latin 
church  it  was  styled  tractatus,  disputatio,  allocutio. 

The  modern  divisions  and  parts  of  a  sermon,  such  as  the  intro- 
duction, the  proposition,  the  illustration  and  application,  were  to- 
tally unknown  in  form,  to  the  ancient  fathers.  The  strife  then 
was,  as  Gregory  Nazianzen  justly  observes,  not  about  terms,  but 
doctrines. 

Mosheim  asserts  that  the  sermon  was  not  at  first  a  necessary 

part  of  religious  worship.     In  answer  to  this  absurd  hypothesis  it 

must  be  admitted  that  the  discourses  of  Christ  and  his  apostles  were 

not  indeed  homilies  like  those  of  Chrysostom  and  Augustin,  but 

they  resemble  these  much  more  than  they  do  the  catechetical  in- 
348 


SEC.  I.]  GENERAL   REMARKS,  NAMES,  ETC.  349 


structions  of  Cyril  and  Gregory  Nazianzen,  to  say  nothing  of  our 
Lord's  sermon  on  the  mount,  which  may  truly  be  regarded  as  a 
pattern  for  a  formal  discourse.  The  same  may  also  be  said  of  most 
of  the  discourses  of  Peter  and  Paul,  as  recorded  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles. 

We  may  also,  with  propriety,  refer  to  all  those  passages  which 
relate  to  the  usage  of  Jewish  worship  in  their  synagogues,  accord- 
ing to  which  that  portion  of  Scripture  which  had  been  read  was 
made  the  subject  of  discourse.  Luke  iv.  16 ;  Matt.  iv.  23 ;  xiii. 
54 ;  Acts  xiii.  15-27 ;  xv.  21 ;  2  Cor.  iii.  15,  etc :  from  all  which 
it  appears  that  a  discourse  based  on  the  Scriptures  was  an  essential 
part  of  the  worship  of  the  Jews.  The  first  instance  of  such  on  re- 
cord is  in  the  eighth  chapter  of  Nehemiah.  The  homilies  of  the 
Christian  church  were  only  an  imitation  of  these  discourses  in  the 
synagogue,  from  which  they  were  derived.^  The  discourses  of  the 
apostles  were  either  based  on  some  specific  portions  of  Scripture, 
or  else  they  were  an  abstract  of  sacred  history.  Instances  of  the 
former  class  are  found  in  Acts  i.  15 ;  ii.  14-36 ;  of  the  latter, 
Acts  vii.  2-53  ;  xvii.  22-31 ;  Acts  xxii.  and  xxiii. 

For  further  illustration  we  may  refer  to  2  Tim.  iii.  14-17,  and  to 
the  miraculous  gift  oi  propliesying,  i.  e.  of  teaching,  which  is  men- 
tioned in  1  Cor.  xii.  28,  29 ;  Eph.  iv.  11.  The  churches  to  whom 
the  apostles  addressed  their  epistles  were  required  to  have  them 
read  in  public,  accompanied,  no  doubt,  with  suitable  explanations 
and  applications.  Col.  iv.  16  ;  1  Thess.  v.  27  ;  2  Peter  iii.  15,  16. 

Justin  Martyr  expressly  asserts,  that  "  certain  selections  from 
the  prophets  and  memoirs  of  the  apostles  were  not  only  read,  but 
explained  and  enforced''  By  the  prophets  and  memoirs,  he  evi- 
dently means  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  NeAv  Testament. 
"  After  the  reading  is  ended,  the  minister  of  the  assembly  makes  an 
address  in  which  he  admonishes  and  exhorts  the  people  to  imitate 
the  virtues  which  it  enjoins."^  This  is  the  first  mention  made  in 
ecclesiastical  history  of  a  Christian  sermon. 

So  also  Tertullian,  in  the  second  century  :  "  We  come  together 
to  acquaint  ourselves  with  the  sacred  Scriptures,  and  to  hear  what, 
according  to  the  circumstances  of  the  present  time,  may  be  applicable 
to  us,  either  now  or  at  any  future  time.  At  least,  we  establish  our 
faith,  Ave  encourage  our  hope,  we  assure  our  confidence  ;  and,  by  the 
injunctions  of  the  divine  word,  we  make  its  life-giving  power  effica- 
cious to  our  hearts.  We  admonish  and  reprove  one  another,  and 
give  ourselves  up  to  the  teacjiings  of  the  divine  word.     And  this 


350  HOMILIES.  [chap,  xviii. 


word  of  God  has  the  greater  weight,  because  each  regards  himself 
as  standing  in  the  presence  of  God."*  Who  can  doubt  that  this 
extract  describes  the  office  of  the  preacher  as  an  essential  part  of 
public  worship. 

This  duty  is  also  specified  in  the  Apostolical  Constitutions : 
"  When  the  gospel  is  read,  let  all  the  elders  and  deacons,  and  the 
whole  assembly  stand  in  silence.  Afterward,  let  the  elders,  one  by 
by  one,  but  not  all  of  them,  exhort  the  people ;  and  lastly,  let  the 
bishop,  as  the  master,  address  them."^  Again,  they  speak  of  the 
bishop  as  "  the  preacher  of  the  word  of  God,"  and  as  preaching  to 
the  people  the  things  pertaining  to  their  salvation.^ 

Again,  the  notes  of  Peter's  addresses  to  the  people  which  Clemens 
Romanus  has  left,  are  proof  positive  to  the  point  in  dispute,  pro- 
vided they  are  genuine ; ''  but  they  are  confessedly  of  doubtful 
authority.  Enough,  however,  has  been  said  to  show  that  a  sermon 
or  homiletic  address  was,  in  the  first  and  second  centimes,  a  part 
of  public  worship.  In  regard  to  this  point  at  a  later  period,  there 
can  be  no  question. 

§  2.    OF   THOSE   BY   WHOM   THE   HOMILIES   WERE   DELIVERED. 

Justin  Martyr  informs  us,  that  after  the  reading,  the  president 
of  the  assembly,  o  Trpearcjg,  makes  an  application  of  the  word, 
vov'^eaiav  xai  7tp6x?.y;GLV  noidrai,  and  exhorts  to  an  imitation 
of  the  virtues  which  it  inculcates.^  This  passage  distinctly  ascribes 
to  the  presiding  minister  the  duty  of  explaining  and  applying  the 
Scriptures  which  were  read.  And  the  same  is  manifest  from  the 
whole  history  of  the  ancient  church.  To  preach,  or  as  Ambrose 
expresses  it,  to  teach  the  j^eople,  was  uniformly  the  bishop's  duty. 
The  case  of  Ambrose  himself  is  a  clear  illustration  of  this  duty. 
He  was  promoted  from  a  civil  office  to  that  of  bishop,  without  hav- 
ing even  been  baptized  as  a  catechumen ;  and,  in  view  of  his  unpre- 
paredness,  sought  in  vain  to  excuse  himself  from  the  discharge  of 
this  part  of  his  duties,  alleging  that  he  had  need  himself  to  learn, 
instead  of  teaching  others.  But,  as  he  himself  confesses,  he  was 
obliged  to  begin  to  teach  before  he  had  himself  been  a  learner.^ 

The  distinction  between  ruling  and  teaching  elders  resulted 
simply  from  the  circumstance  that,  in  those  trying  times,  men  were 
sometimes  required  to  manage  the  concerns  of  the  church  who  yet 
were  not  qualified  to  act  as  preachers ;  and  a  competent  teacher 
was  not  always  suited  to  direct  the  afiairs  of  the  church.     But  the 


SEC.  II.]       BY   WHOM   THE   HOMILIES   WERE   DELIVERED.  351 


office  of  a  ruling  elder  who  did  not  teach,  was  regarded  as  an  ex- 
ception to  a  general  rule — as  an  extraordinary  provision  for  a 
peculiar  emergency,  while  the  office  of  preaching  was  accounted 
the  most  honourable  and  important  part  of  the  bishop's  duties. 
"Far  from  this  seat,"  says  Chrysostom,  "let  him  be  removed  who 
knows  not  how  to  teach  sound  doctrine  as  he  ought."  ^  The  neglect 
of  this  duty  is,  by  the  Apostolical  Canons,  c.  58,  to  be  punished 
with  suspension  and  removal  from  office. 

There  is,  indeed,  no  case  on  record,  of  a  bishop  who  was  removed 
for  his  inability  to  teach ;  but  there  are  many  in  which  the  bishops 
were  disregarded  and  neglected  for  this  cause.  Such  was  the  case 
of  Alexander,  bishop  of  Alexandria,  and  Atticus,  bishop  of  Con- 
stantinople.* On  the  contrary,  they  who  excelled  in  this  duty  were 
held  in  the  highest  consideration,  as  Gregory  Nazianzen,  Chry- 
sostom, Augustin,  etc. 

The  deacon  and  even  the  presbyter  officiated  only  as  substitutes 
of  the  bishop  in  case  of  his  absence  or  inability  from  sickness  or 
other  causes.  Both  Augustin  and  Chrysostom  preached  for  their 
bishops  in  this  capacity.^  In  such  cases  the  bishop  was  held  re- 
sponsible for  what  was  said  by  his  substitute,  of  which  we  have  a 
striking  instance  in  the  history  of  Nestorius,  bishop  of  Constanti- 
nople. 

From  all  this  we  are  not,  however,  to  conclude  that  the  right  to 
preach  was  restricted  under  all  circumstances,  to  the  bishops  alone. 
For  how,  in  that  case,  were  the  churches  which  had  no  bishop  to  be 
supplied  with  the  preaching  of  the  word  of  God  ?  In  all  such  cases 
the  presbyter  occupied  the  place,  and  discharged  the  duties  of  the 
bishop  ;  and  in  his  absence  or  failure,  the  deacon  supplied  his  place ; 
not,  however,  hy  delivering  an  original  discourse,  but  by  reading 
one  from  the  fathers.  The  Apostolical  Canons,  c.  58,  require  the 
bishop  or  the  presbyter  to  deliver  the  sermon,  and  exact  upon  both 
the  same  penalty  for  neglect  of  duty. 

In  times  of  persecution,  presbyters  and  deacons  were  entrusted 
with  the  office  of  preaching.  Still,  the  deacon  was  regarded  only 
as  an  assistant,  like  a  licentiate  or  candidate  for  the  sacred  office. 
Origen,  in  Palestine,  was  invited  "  by  the  bishops  to  expound  the 
sacred  Scriptures  publicly  in  the  church,  although  he  had  not  yet 
attained  the  priesthood  by  the  imposition  of  hands."  ^  From 
Justin  Martyr  it  would  seem  that  freedom  of  remark  was  allowed 
to  all  laymen  in  social  worship,  and  Hilary  explicitly  declares  that 


352  HOMILIES.  [chap.  XVIII. 


it  was  the  common  privilege  of  all,  first  to  teach  and  then  to 
baptize.* 

Laymen  who  had  not  received  ordination  were  not  allowed  to 
preach,  but  there  are  instances  on  record,  notwithstanding,  of  such 
permission  being  granted  to  them  under  certain  circumstances.'" 

But  the  apostolic  rule  forbidding  a  woman  to  teach  was  most 
cautiously  observed.^  The  Montanists  are,  indeed,  an  exception  to 
this  remark,  but  Tertullian,  himself  one  of  this  sect,  complains  of 
this  abuse.''  The  fourth  Council  of  Carthage  forbid  both  the  laity 
and  women  to  teach  in  public.  "Let  no  laymen  teach  in  the 
presence  of  the  clergy." ^'^  "Let  no  woman,  however  learned  or 
pious,  presume  to  teach  the  other  sex  in  public  assembly."  ^^ 

§  3.    OF   THE   FREQUENCY   OF   SERMONS. 

It  has  already  been  stated  that  the  sermon  consisted  originally 
in  an  explanation  and  application  of  the  Scripture  lessons  which 
had  just  been  read.  Sermons  were,  therefore,  as  a  general  rule, 
as  frequent  as  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures.  If,  in  any  instance, 
a  sermon  was  delivered  without  any  foregoing  lesson  from  the 
Scriptures,  it  was  an  exception  to  the  general  rule.  In  some 
cases,  several  sermons  were  delivered  by  different  speakers  in  suc- 
cession at  the  same  meeting.  At  other  times,  several  were  de- 
livered by  the  same  speaker  on  the  same  day.^  Sermons  were  an 
appropriate  part  of  every  form  of  public  worship,  but  they  were 
especially  designed  for  the  catechumen ;  and  for  this  reason  were 
a  part  of  the  services  designed  for  them.^  The  frequency  with 
which  they  were  delivered  varied  greatly  in  different  countries  and 
dioceses.  They  were  expected  of  course  on  the  Sabbath,  frequently 
on  Saturday,  i.  e.  both  on  the  Jewish  and  Christian  Sabbath,  espe- 
cially while  both  days  were  observed  in  connection,  as  was  custom- 
ary until  the  fourth  century.  A  sermon  was  also  essential  to  a  due 
celebration  of  the  festivals  of  the  church.  During  the  fifty  festive 
days  from  Easter  to  Whitsunday,  a  sermon  from  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  was  delivered  each  day,  in  the  oriental  churches ;  and 
also  on  each  day  of  Lent.  Afterward  they  became  less  frequent, 
but  were  still  delivered  on  fast-days.  On  other  occasions  they 
were  delivered  in  the  afternoon.  A  sermon  was  also  delivered  at 
some  time  during  the  middle  of  the  week ;  usually  on  Friday. 

*  Primum  omnes  docebant  et  baptizabant. — In  Eph.  xv.  12. 


SEC.  v.]  POSITION    OF  THE    SPEAKER.  353 


Instances  also  occur  in  the  writings  of  the  fathers,  of  sermons  for 
the  forenoon  and  for  afternoon.^  But  it  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  a  uniform  arrangement.  No  better  evidence  of  the  consider- 
ation in  which  this  part  of  religious  worship  was  held  can  be  given, 
than  the  fact  that  Julian  the  Apostate,  in  his  endeavours  to  restore 
idolatry,  recommended  the  pagan  priests  to  imitate  the  Christian 
preachers  by  delivering  similar  discourses. 

§4.    OF    THE    LENGTH    OF    TIME    ALLOTTED    FOR    THE    DELIVERY    OF 

THE    SERMON. 

This  does  not  appear  to  have  been  determined  by  any  canon  or 
rule  of  custom.  It  appears  rather  to  have  been  regulated  by  times 
and  circumstances.  Sermons  were,  however,  much  shorter  in  the 
Latin  than  in  the  Greek  church.  Some  conjecture  as  to  their  length 
may  be  formed  from  the  circumstance  that  more  than  one  was 
delivered  in  succession ;  and  yet  it  is  remarkable  that  some  of  the 
longest  sermons  which  remain  to  us  were  delivered  in  churches 
where  this  custom  prevailed.  Some  of  Chrysostom's  must  have 
occupied  two  hours  in  the  delivery,  although  this  was  the  usual 
time  for  the  whole  service,  as  Chrysostom  himself  asserts.^  Bing- 
ham is  of  opinion  that  the  sermons  of  the  fathers  could  not  have 
been  an  hour  in  length ;  most  of  the  sermons  of  the  Latin  fathers, 
according  to  him,  could  not  have  occupied  one  half  hour,  and  many 
not  ten  minutes.^ 

Like  the  ancient  orators,  the  preacher  is  supposed  to  have  spoken 
by  an  hour-glass,  a  water-clock,  or  a  sand-glass. 

§  5.    OF    THE    POSITION    OF    THE    SPEAKER. 

In  many  countries  the  speaker  habitually  occupied  an  elevated 
desk  in  the  body  of  the  house,  which  was  also  used  for  the  reading, 
and  for  various  exercises.  In  other  places  this  was  used  by  the 
speaker  occasionally,  but  not  habitually.  Chrysostom  and  Augus- 
tin  were  accustomed  to  speak  from  this  place,  that  they  might 
more  easily  be  heard  by  the  immense  multitudes  that  thronged  to 
listen  to  them. 

The  custom  originally  was  for  the  preacher  to  speak  either  from 

the  bishop's  scat  or  from  before  the  altar,  and  behind  the  lattice 

that  separated  the  sanctuary  or  shrine  from  the  body  of  the  house  ;^ 

but  most  frequently  from  the  former  place,  which,  as  Augustio 

23 


354  HOMILIES.  [chap.  XVIII. 

says,  was  an  elevated  throne,  that  from  it  the  bishop  might  watch 
his  flock,  as  the  vintager  does  his  vineyard  from  his  watch-tower. 

At  a  later  period,  when  the  care  of  the  church  became  more 
cumbersome,  and  the  bishops  began  to  neglect  or  omit  the  duty  of 
preaching,  the  deacons  became  the  moderators  of  the  assembly,  and 
the  preacher  occupied  the  desk  of  the  reader.  This  position  was, 
of  necessity,  allotted  to  the  preacher  in  the  vast  Gothic  cathedrals 
which  were  erected  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

Sermons  were  frequently  delivered  in  other  places  besides  the 
church  ;  but  this  was  an  exception  to  the  general  rule.  The  eulo- 
gies of  the  martyrs  were  usually  delivered  in  the  exedrge,  baptiste- 
ries, cemeteries,  etc.  The  monks  frequently  preached  from  the 
trees,  and  the  top  of  a  post  or  pillar. 

§  6.    OF    THE    ATTITUDE    OF    THE    SPEAKER,  MODE    OF   DELIVERY, 
DEPORTMENT    OF    THE    AUDIENCE,  ETC. 

In  regard  to  the  attitude  both  of  the  speaker  and  of  the  audience 
during  the  delivery  of  the  sermon,  the  ancient  custom  was  precisely 
the  reverse  of  the  modern.  In  the  primitive  church  it  was  custom- 
ary for  the  speaker  to  sit,  and  for  the  audience  to  stand.  As  in 
attending  to  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  they  stood,  in  token  of 
reverence  for  the  word  of  God,  so  in  listening  to  the  sermon,  in 
which  it  was  explained  and  enforced,  for  the  same  reason  they  pre- 
served a  similar  attitude.  To  this,  however,  there  were  exceptions, 
and  the  usage  was  different  in  different  places.  In  Africa  the  cus- 
tom above  mentioned  was  observed  with  great  care.  Augustin 
insists  often  upon  it,  and  rebukes  every  departure  from  it  except  in 
cases  of  infirmity,  which  rendered  it  inconvenient  for  the  hearer  to 
preserve  this  attitude.  At  one  time  he  apologizes  for  the  inconve- 
nient length  of  his  sermon,  especially  inasmuch  as  he  is  permitted 
to  sit,  while  they  are  required  to  stand. 

The  hearers  of  Gregory  Nazianzen  and  Chrysostom  preserved 
the  same  posture.  It  is  related  even  of  Constantino  the  Great,  that 
he  did  not  resume  his  seat  during  a  long  sermon  by  Eusebius,  and 
that  all  the  assembly  followed  his  example.^  From  all  which  it  is 
fairly  inferred  that  this  was  the  prevailing  custom.  Compare  Luke 
ii.  46  ;  iv.  20  ;  v.  3  ;  John  viii.  2  ;  Matt.  v.  1 ;  etc. 

The  hearers,  it  would  seem,  were  accustomed  to  take  great  liber- 
ties in  regard  to  their  attendance  upon  public  worship,  and  often 
demeaned  themselves  very  unworthily.     At  one  time,  they  would 


SEC.  VI.]  DEPORTxMENT    OF    THE    AUDIENCE.  355 

absent  themselves  from  the  service  except  during  the  sermon — an 
irregularity  against  which  Chrysostom  inveighs  Avith  great  spirit.^ 
At  other  times,  they  treated  even  the  preaching  "with  great  indif- 
ference and  neglect,^  complaining  bitterly  of  long  sermons,  and  even 
left  the  house  while  the  preacher  was  yet  speaking.  To  prevent 
this,  the  doors  were  ordered  to  be  fastened  after  the  reading  and 
before  the  sermon,*  as  is  still  the  custom  in  Sweden.  The  fourth 
Council  of  Carthage^  forbade  this  contempt  of  the  preacher  under 
pain  of  excommunication. 

Another  impropriety,  of  which  Chrysostom  complains  with  his 
accustomed  spirit,  is  that  of  disturbing  the  preacher  by  needless 
noise  and  frivolous  conversation :  the  loquacity  of  the  women  and 
the  wantonness  of  the  young  people  are  among  his  subjects  of  com- 
plaint. Similar  complaints  are  made  by  others,  particularly  by 
preachers  in  the  large  cities,  Rome,  Constantinople,  Antioch,  Alex- 
dria,  Carthage,  etc. 

The  indecent  custom  was  also  introduced  into  the  ancient  church 
of  applauding  the  speaker  by  acclamations,  by  clapping,  waving  of 
handkerchiefs,  and  other  similar  customs,  which  disgraced  the 
ancient  theatres,  as  they  still  do  the  modern.  A  multitude  of  ex- 
amples may  be  found  in  the  references ;  ^  but  the  custom  was 
severely  censured.^ 

"  Of  what  avail  to  me  is  this  applause  and  tumult  ?  One  thing 
only  I  require  of  you — that  ye  prove  to  me  your  approbation  and 
obedience  by  your  works.  That  will  be  praise  for  me — gain  for 
yourselves ;  that  will  be  to  me  a  greater  honour  than  the  imperial 
crown.  I  desire  not  your  applause  and  clamour.  I  have  but  one 
wish — t|jiat  you  hear  me  with  calmness  and  attention,  and  that  ye 
practise  my  precepts.  For  this  is  not  a  theatre :  ye  sit  not  here 
to  behold  actors  and  to  confer  upon  such  men  your  applause.  Here 
is  the  place  to  learn  the  things  of  God."^ 

The  ancient  Christians  had  also  the  custom  of  taking  notes  and 
writing  out  at  length  the  sermons  which  they  heard.  To  this  laud- 
able custom  we  owe  many  of  the  sermons  of  the  fathers  which 
have  come  down  to  us.  It  was  not,  however,  a  universal  practice.^ 
Sermons  in  which  the  hearer  took  little  interest,  he  was  not  careful 
to  retain  in  this  manner.  Some  preachers  refused  to  have  their 
sermons  preserved  in  this  imperfect  manner.  Origen  allowed  no 
notes  to  be  taken  of  his  sermons  until  he  was  sixty  years  of  age.^** 


356  HOMILIES.  [chap.  XVIII. 


§  7.    OF   THE   CONSTRUCTION   OF   THE   SERMON. 

In  the  Middle  Ages  it  became  customary  for  the  preacher  to  draw 
his  topics  of  discourse  from  Aristotle;  but  this  strange  custom  has 
not  the  least  authority  from  the  practice  of  the  early  fathers.  Not 
only  did  the  Bible  furnish  them  their  text  and  subject  of  discourse, 
but,  as  has  been  already  observed,  they  confined  themselves  strictly 
to  the  duty  of  expounding  the  sacred  Scriptures,  "  To  the  word 
and  the  testimony,"  says  Augustin,  "for  I  perform  the  ofiice  not 
merely  of  a  preacher,  but  of  a  reader  also ;  so  that  this  my  dis- 
course may  be  supported  by  the  authority  of  the  sacred  word.  If 
my  recollection  fails  me,  far  be  it  from  me  to  build  upon  the  sand 
by  human  reasoning.  Hear,  therefore,  the  gospel  according  to 
John :   'Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,'  "  etc.^ 

Nothing  like  the  modern  division  of  a  sermon  into  separate  heads 
was  formally  practised  by  the  ancients.  This  mode  of  division  was 
borrowed  from  the  schoolmen.  But  the  ancient  fathers  confined 
themselves  strictly  to  their  text,  and  contented  themselves  with  the 
explication  of  it,  or  quickly  returned  to  it  again  if  at  any  time 
they  allowed  themselves  in  a  digression. 

It  was  a  fundamental  principle  with  them  that  the  truths  of  Chris- 
tianity possessed  their  own  intrinsic  force,  and  needed  not  the  aid  of 
eloquence  or  of  art.  It  was  also  their  usual  custom  to  speak  ex- 
tertipore.  And,  for  this  twofold  reason,  their  sermons  were  generally 
devoid  of  ornament.  The  ability  to  speak  extemporaneously  as  oc- 
casion might  require,  and  without  previous  study,  was  indispensable 
to  an  acceptable  discharge  of  the  duties  of  a  preacher.  His  popu- 
larity was  proportionate  to  his  success  in  this  art  of  speaking.  For 
this  reason  the  fathers  were  influenced  to  cultivate  this  art  with  so 
much  success  that,  even  as  late  as  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries, 
they  fancied  themselves  to  be  assisted  by  the  miraculous  gifts  of 
the  Spirit.  "  I  could  not  have  spoken  thus  hy  myself,'"  says  Chry- 
sostom,  "but  God,  foreseeing  the  result,  Ttt  n^XkovtaTt^OEihoHog, 
dictated  those  words."  Augustin  and  Gregory  the  Great  also  ex- 
press similar  sentiments.^  At  the  same  time  it  is  sufficiently  evi- 
dent that  they  did  not  so  rely  upon  the  aid  of  the  Spirit  as  to 
excuse  themselves  from  careful  study,  and  from  preparation  accord- 
ing to  the  best  of  their  ability.  They  expected  his  aid  rather  as 
a  blessing  upon  their  labours  and  studies,  and  in  answer  to  their 
prayers. 


SEC.  VII.]  CONSTRUCTION    OF   THE    SERMON.  357 


Whether  the  fathers  spoke  wholly  without  notes  and  committed 
to  memory  their  discourses,  is  not  so  easy  to  determine.  No  gene- 
ral rule  prevailed  on  this  point.  Many  examples  may  be  found  in 
which  the  sermons  of  celebrated  preachers  toere  read — in  some 
cases  indeed  by  the  deacon,  (on  whom  it  devolved  to  conduct  the 
meeting  in  the  absence  of  the  regular  preacher,)  but  in  others, 
they  were  either  read  or  dictated  by  the  author  himself.  Augustiu, 
in  one  of  his  sermons,  complains  that  he  is  embarrassed  by  }m  notes, 
and  entreats  the  audience  to  aid  him  by  their  prayers.*  Gregory 
the  Great  also  complains  of  the  difficulty  of  speaking  from  his  notes, 
and  of  inattention  and  want  of  interest  on  the  part  of  his  hearers, 
and  for  these  reasons  resolves  to  speak  without  notes,  contrary  to 
his  usual  custom.'^  The  prevailing  mode  of  speaking,  however, 
was  evidently  Avithout  notes. 

The  speaker  usually  began  with  a  short  invocation  to  God  for  his 
aid,  and  closed  his  discourse  with  a  benediction — Peace  be  with 
you — or  something  to  that  effect.^  Every  address,  says  Optatus,  is 
made  to  begin  and  end  with  God.*  But  long  and  formal  prayers, 
such  as  in  modern  times,  precede  and  follow  the  sermon,  were  not 
offered  in  that  connection.  To  every  sermon,  whether  in  the  Greek, 
Syriac,  or  Latin  church,  there  was  affixed  the  customary  doxology : 
"  To  God  through  Jesus  Christ  his  Son,  our  Lord  who  lives  and 
reigns  with  him,  world  without  end.  Amen."  We  subjoin,  as  quoted 
by  Bingham  from  Ferrarius,  the  prayer  which  St.  Ambrose  was 
wont  to  offer  for  himself  before  rising  to  address  the  assembly : 

"I  beseech  thee,  0  Lord,  and  earnestly  entreat  thee,  give  me 
an  humble  knowledge  which  may  edify.  Give  me  a  meek  and 
prudent  eloquence,  which  knows  not  how  to  be  puffed  up,  or  vaunt 
itself  upon  its  own  worth  and  endowments  above  that  of  its  bre- 
thren. Put  into  my  mouth,  I  beseech  thee,  the  word  of  consolation, 
and  edification,  and  exhortation,  that  I  may  be  able  to  exhort 
those  that  are  good  to  go  on  to  greater  perfection,  and  reduce  those 
that  walk  perversely  to  the  rule  of  thy  righteousness,  both  by  my 
word  and  by  my  example.     Let  the  words  which  thou  givest  to  thy 


*  Quoniam  video  disputationes  graphio,  ceraque  ligari,  et  nequaquam  sumus 
idonei  lectitare,  adjuvate  me  ipsum,  quteso,  intercessu  vestro. — Serm.  6,  De  Sanctis. 

■j-  Multis  vobis  lectionibus,  fratres  carissimi,  per  dictatum  loqui  consuevi ;  sed  quia, 
lasiente  stomacho,  ea  quae  dictaverim,  legere  non  possum,  et  quosdam  vestrum 
minus  libenter  audientes  intueor  ;  unde  nunc  a  meipso  exigere  vole  contra  morem 
meum,  ut  inter  sacra  missarum  solemnia  lectionem  S.  Evangelii,  non  dictando,  sed 
eolloquendo  edisseram. — Gregoe.  M.  Uom.  Serm.  21. 


358  HOMILIES.  [chap.  XVIII. 

servant  be  as  the  sharpest  darts,  and  burning  arrows  which  may 
penetrate  and  inflame  the  minds  of  my  hearers  to  thy  fear  and 
love."^ 

§  8.    OF    THE    SUBJECTS    OF    DISCOURSE    BY   THE    FATHERS. 

It  is  very  justly  remarked  by  Bingham,  that  their  topics  of  dis- 
course were  of  a  grave  and  serious  character.  Their  object  was  to 
instruct,  to  edify,  and  to  improve  the  hearer.  The  leading  subjects 
of  their  discourses  are  described  by  Gregory  Nazianzen  and  Chrysos- 
tom.  "To  me  it  seems,"  says  Gregory,  "to  require  no  ordinary 
qualifications  of  mind  rightly  to  divide  the  word  of  truth, — to  give 
to  every  one  a  portion  in  due  measure,  and  discreetly  to  discourse 
of  the  great  doctrines  of  our  faith ;  to  treat  of  the  universe  of 
worlds — of  matter  and  of  mind — of  the  soul  and  of  intelligent  beings, 
good  and  bad — to  treat  of  a  superintending  and  ruling  Providence, 
controlling  with  unerring  wisdom  all  things,  both  those  that  are 
within,  and  those  that  are  above  human  comprehension — to  treat 
of  the  first  formation  and  of  the  restoration  of  man,  of  the  two 
covenants,  and  of  the  types  of  the  Old  and  antitypes  of  the  New 
Testament — of  Christ's  first  and  second  coming,  of  his  incarnation 
and  passion,  of  the  resurrection,  of  the  end  of  the  world,  of  the 
day  of  judgment,  of  the  rewards  of  the  just,  and  the  punishment 
of  the  wicked ;  and,  above  all,  of  the  blessed  Trinity,  which  is  the 
principal  article  of  the  Christian  faith. "^ 

In  like  manner,  Chrysostom,  in  reminding  his  hearers  of  the  lead- 
ing topics  of  religious  discourse  which  all  who  frequent  the  house 
of  God  expect  and  demand,  enumerates  the  following : — "  The 
nature  of  the  soul,  of  the  body,  of  immortality,  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  of  hell  and  of  future  punishment — of  the  long-suffering  of 
God,  of  repentance,  baptism,  and  the  pardon  of  sin — of  the  crea- 
tion of  the  world  above  and  the  world  below — of  the  nature  of  men 
and  of  angels — evil  spirits  and  of  the  wiles  of  Satan — of  the  con- 
stitution of  Christian  society,  of  the  true  faith  and  deadly  heresies. 
With  these  and  many  other  such  like  subjects  must  the  Christian 
minister  be  acquainted,  and  be  prepared  to  speak  on  them  as  occa- 
sion may  require." 

§  9.    OF   THE   HOMILIES   IX   THE   EASTERN  AND  WESTERN   CHURCHES. 

The  homilies  of  the  Eastern  and  Western  churches  Avere  essen- 
ally  different  in  several  characteristics,  which  are  specified  in  an- 


SEC.  IX.]         IN  THE  EASTEHN  AND  WESTERN  CHURCHES.  359 


other  work/  and  "wliicli  are  briefly  recapitulated — tlie  period  under 
consideration  being  about  two  hundred  years,  from  the  third  to  the 
fifth  centuries. 

I.  Homilies  in  the  Eastern  church. 

1.  Origen  introduced  that  allegorical  mode  of  interpreting  the 
Scriptures,  which,  while  it  affected  to  illustrate,  continued,  for  a 
long  time,  to  darken  the  sacred  page.  Not  content  with  a  plain 
and  -natural  elucidation  of  the  historical  sense  of  the  text,  it  sought 
for  some  hidden  meaning,  darkly  shadowed  forth  in  allegorical, 
mystical  terms. 

2.  The  sermons  of  the  period  under  consideration  were  occupied 
with  profitless  polemical  discussions  and  speculative  theories. 

The  question  with  the  preacher  seems  too  often  to  have  been,  not 
what  will  produce  the  fruits  of  holy  living,  and  prepare  the  hearer 
for  eternity ;  but  how  the  opinions  of  another  can  best  be  contro- 
verted ;  worthless  dogmas,  it  may  be,  deserving  no  serious  con- 
sideration. 

3.  The  preachers  of  this  period  claimed  most  undeserved  respect 
for  their  own  authority. 

Flattered  by  the  great  consideration  in  which  they  were  held, 
and  the  confidence  in  which  the  people  waited  on  them  for  instruc- 
tion, they  converted  the  pulpit  into  a  stage  for  the  exhibition  of 
their  own  pertinacity,  ignorance,  and  folly. 

4.  The  sermons  of  this  period  were  as  faulty  in  style  as  they 
were  exceptionable  in  the  other  characteristics  which  have  been 
mentioned. 

Not  only  was  the  simplicity  which  characterized  the  teachings  of 
Christ  and  his  apostles,  in  a  great  measure  lost,  in  absurd  and 
puerile  expositions  of  Scripture,  and  corrupted  by  the  substitution 
of  vain  speculations,  derived  especially  from  the  Platonic  philoso- 
phy, but  the  style  of  the  pulpit  was  in  other  respects  vitiated  and 
corrupt.  Philosophical  terms  and  rhetorical  flourishes,  forms  of 
expression  extravagant  and  far-fetched,  biblical  expressions  unin- 
telligible to  the  people,  unmeaning  comparisons,  absurd  antitheses, 
spiritless  interrogations,  senseless  exclamations  and  bombast,  dis- 
figure the  sermons  of  the  period  now  under  consideration. 

II.  Homilies  in  the  Western  church. 

1.  The  Latins  were  inferior  to  the  Greeks  in  their  exegesis  of 
the  Scriptures.  They  accumulated  a  multitude  of  passages  with- 
out just  discrimination  or  due  regard  to  their  application  to  the 
people. 


360  HOMILIES.  [chap.  XVIII. 

2.  They  interested  themselves  less  with  speculative  and  polemic 
theology  than  the  Greeks. 

3.  They  insisted  upon  moral  duties  more  than  the  Greeks,  hut 
were  equally  unfortunate  in  their  mode  of  treating  these  topics,  ' 
hy  reason  of  the  undue  importance  which  they  attached  to  the 
forms  and  ceremonies  of  religion ;  hence  their  reverence  for  saints 
and  relics,  their  vigils,  fasts,  penances,  and  austerities  of  every 
kind. 

4.  In  method  and  style  the  homilies  of  the  Latin  fathers  are 
greatly  inferior  to  those  of  the  Greeks. 

Causes  productive  of  these  characteristics : 

1.  The  lack  of  suitable  means  of  education. 

They  neither  had  schools  of  theology,  like  the  Greeks,  nor  were 
they  as  familiar  with  the  literature  and  oratory  of  their  own  people. 
Ambrose  was  promoted  to  the  office  of  bishop  with  scarcely  any 
preparation  for  its  duties. 

2.  Ignorance  of  the  original  languages  of  the  Bible. 

Of  the  Hebrew  they  knew  nothing ;  of  the  original  of  the  New 
Testament  they  knew  little ;  and  still  less  of  all  that  is  essential  to 
its  right  interpretation.  When  they  resorted  to  the  Scriptures,  it 
was  too  frequently  to  oppose  heresy  by  an  indiscriminate  accumu- 
lation of  texts.  When  they  attempted  to  explain,  it  was  by  per- 
petual allegories. 

3.  The  want  of  suitable  examples,  and  a  just  standard  of  public 
speaking. 

Basil,  Ephraem  the  Syrian,  and  the  two  Gregories,  were  contem- 
poraries, and  were  mutual  helps  and  incentives  to  one  another. 
Others  looked  to  them  as  patterns  for  public  preaching.  But  such 
advantages  were  unknown  in  the  Latin  church.  The  earlier  classic 
authors  of  Greece  and  Rome  were  discarded  from  bigotry ;  or, 
through  ignorance,  so  much  neglected,  that  their  influence  was  lit- 
tle felt. 

4.  The  unsettled  state  of  the  Western  churches  should  be  men- 
tioned in  this  connection. 

Persecuted  and  in  exile  at  one  time,  at  another  engaged  in  fierce 
and  bloody  contests  among  themselves,*  the  preachers  of  the  day 
had  little  opportunity  to  prepare  for  their  appropriate  duties. 
Literature  was  neglected.  Under  Constantine,  Rome  herself  ceased 

*  The  contests  for  the  election  of  bishops  often  ran  so  high  as  to  end  in  blood- 
shed and  murder,  of  which  an  example  is  given  in  Walch's  History  of  the  I'ojies, 
p.  87. — Ammianus  Marcellinus,  lib.  ixvii.  c.  iii. 


SEC.  IX.]  IN  THE  EASTERN  AND  WESTERN  CHURCHES.  361 

to  be  the  seat  of  the  fine  arts,  and  barbarism  began  its  disastrous 
encroachments  upon  the  provinces  of  the  Western  church. 

5.  The  increasing  importance  of  the  bishop's  office. 

The  pride  of  the  bishops  and  their  neglect  of  their  duty  as 
preachers  kept  pace  with  their  advancement  in  authority.  As  in 
the  Greek  church,  so  also  in  the  Latin,  this  sense  of  their  own  im- 
portance gave  a  polemic  character  to  their  preaching. 

6.  The  increase  of  the  ceremonies  and  forms  of  public  worship. 
The  effect  of  all  these  was  to  give  importance  to  the  bishop ;  and 

in  his  zeal  for  the  introduction  and  general  adoption  of  them,  the 
essential  points  of  the  Christian  religion  were  forgotten.  Need  we 
relate  with  Avhat  zeal  Victor,  the  Roman  bishop,  engaged  in  the 
controversies  respecting  Easter  and  the  ceremonies  connected  with 
it  ?  What  complicated  rites  were  involved  with  the  simple  ordi- 
nance of  baptism,  and  the  abuses  with  which  they  were  connected ; 
what  importance,  what  sanctity  was  ascribed  to  their  fasts,  and 
what  controversies  arose  between  the  Latin  and  the  Greek  chm'cli 
from  the  reluctance  of  the  latter  to  adopt  the  rites  of  the  former  ? 
What  incredible  eiFects  were  ascribed  to  the  sign  of  the  cross  ? 
Where,  indeed,  would  the  enumeration  end,  if  we  should  attempt  a 
specification  of  all  the  ceremonies,  with  their  various  abuses,  which 
were  introduced  during  the  period  under  consideration  ?  Thus 
ancient  episcopacy  touched  with  its  withering  blight  the  ministra- 
tions of  the  pulpit,  both  in  the  churches  of  the  East  and  of  the 
West.* 

*  Many  other  particulars  in  relation  to  the  homilies  of  the  ancient  church  are 
given  in  the  author's  Christian  Antiquities,  c.  xii.  pp.  237-252. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

OF  BAPTISM. 
§  1.    HISTORICAL   SKETCH. 

The  learned  of  every  age  have  generally  regarded  baptism  as  an 
independent  institution,  distinct  alike  from  the  washings  and  con- 
secrations by  water,  so  common  among  the  pagan  nations,  and 
from  the  ceremonial  purifications  and  proselyte  baptisms  of  the 
Jews.  Neither  have  they  accounted  it  the  same  as  the  baptism  of 
John.  Even  those  who  have  contended  for  the  identity  of  the  two 
institutions,  recognise  a  resemblance  in  nothing  but  in  the  mode 
of  administering  the  rite. 

But  the  opinions  of  authors  are  greatly  divided  in  regard  to  the 
time  when  this  ordinance  was  instituted  by  our  Lord.  It  might 
seem,  from  the  account  given  by  Matthew  and  Mark,  to  have  been 
instituted  when  he  gave  his  final  commission  to  his  disciples  just 
before  his  ascension.  Such  was  the  opinion  of  Chrysostom,  Leo 
the  Great,  Theophylact,  and  others.  But  this  supposition  is  contra^ 
dieted  by  John  iii.  22 ;  iv.  1,  2 ;  from  whom  we  learn  that  Christ, 
by  his  disciples,  had  already  baptized  many  before  his  death.  Au- 
gustin  supposed  Christ  to  have  instituted  this  ordinance  when  he 
himself  was  baptized  in  Jordan ;  and  that  the  three  persons  of  the 
Godhead  were  there  distinctly  represented :  the  Father,  by  the 
voice  from  heaven  ;  the  Son,  in  the  person  of  Christ  Jesus  ;  and  the 
Holy  Ghost  by  the  form  of  the  dove  descending  from  heaven.^ 
Others,  without  good  reason,  refer  the  time  of  instituting  it  to  the 
conversation  of  Christ  with  Nicodemus ;  and  others  again,  to  the 
time  when  he  commissioned  the  twelve  to  go  forth  preaching  re- 
pentance and  the  approach  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Matt.  x.  7. 
But  this  supposition  is  contradicted  by  the  fact  that  these  same 
truths  had  been  before  preached,  and  that  those  who  duly  regarded 
this  ministry  received  John's  baptism.  Matt.  iv.  17  ;  iii.  1,  2 ;  Luke 
vii.  29. 

362 


SEC.  I.]  HISTORICAL    SKETCH.  363 


On  this  subject,  the  truth  seems  to  be  that  our  Lord,  on  entering 
upon  his  ministry,  permitted  the  continuance  of  John's  baptism  as 
harmonizing  well  with  his  own  designs.  The  import  of  the  rite  was 
the  same,  whether  administered  by  John  himself,  or  by  the  disciples 
of  Jesus.  In  either  case  it  implied  the  profession  of  repentance 
and  a  consecration  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  To  this  baptism 
none  but  Jews  were  admitted ;  to  whom  the  ministry  of  John  was 
wholly  restricted.  Our  Lord  did,  indeed,  at  a  later  period,  declare 
that  he  had  other  sheep,  not  of  that  fold,  which  must  also  be 
gathered ;  but  his  disciples  understood  not  the  import  of  that  de- 
claration until  after  his  ascension ;  and,  even  then,  were  slow  to 
yield  their  national  prejudices  so  far  as  to  receive  the  Gentiles  to 
participate,  in  common  with  the  Jews,  in  the  privileges  of  the 
gospel. 

The  introduction  of  Christian  baptism,  strictly  so  called,  was  im- 
mediately consequent  upon  our  Lord's  ascension ;  and  the  most 
important  commission  for  receiving  it,  as  an  universal  ordinance  of 
the  church,  is  given  by  its  Divine  author  in  Matt,  xxviii.  19  :  "  Go 
ye  therefore  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of 
the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  Those  who 
had  been  baptized  by  John,  now  received  Christian  baptism ;  which 
was  regarded  by  the  fathers  rather  as  a  renewal  of  the  ordinance 
than  as  a  distinct  rite.  It  differed  from  the  former,  in  that  it  was 
administered  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  This  was  the  sacramentum  plenum,  the  plenary  bap- 
tism of  Ambrose  and  Cyprian.^ 

Baptism  was  uniformly  administered  as  a  public  ordinance,  even 
to  the  end  of  the  second  century.  In  no  instance,  on  record  in  the 
New  Testament,  was  it  administered  privately  as  a  secret  rite. 
Nor  is  there  any  intimation  to  this  effect  given  by  the  earliest  au- 
thorities. The  apostolic  fathers,  indeed,  give  no  instruction  respect- 
ing the  mode  of  administering  this  rite.  Justin  Martyr,  who  is  the 
first  to  describe  this  ordinance,  distinctly  intimates  that  it  was  ad- 
ministered in  the  presence  of  the  assembly.  From  the  third  cen- 
tury it  became  one  of  the  secret  mysteries  of  the  church.  Such  it 
continued  to  be  until  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century,  when  Chris- 
tianity became  so  prevalent,  and  the  practice  of  infant  baptism  so 
general,  that  the  instances  of  adult  baptism  were  comparatively 
rare.  But  during  that  period  of  time  it  was  administered  privately, 
in  the  presence  of  believers  only ;  and  the  candidates,  without  re- 


364  BAPTISM.  [chap.  XIX. 

spect  to  age,  or  sex,  were  divested  of  all  covering  in  order  to  be 
baptized,  and  in  this  state  received  tlie  ordinance.^ 

It  was  customary  for  adults  immediately  after  baptism  to  receive 
the  sacrament.  This  usage  gave  rise  to  the  custom  of  administer- 
ing the  sacrament  also  to  children  at  their  baptism — a  superstition 
which  continued  in  the  Western  churches  until  the  twelfth  and  thir- 
teenth centuries,  and  in  the  Eastern  remains  unto  this  day.* 

Certain  religious  sects,  contrary  to  the  established  usage  of  the 
church,  were  accustomed  to  rehaptize;  others  again  contended  that 
it  must  be  thrice  administered,  to  be  valid.  Such  was  the  custom 
of  the  Marcionites  and  Valentinians. 

The  Novatians  maintained  that  those  who  had  apostatized  from 
the  faith,  on  being  restored  to  the  church  ought  to  be  baptized 
anew ;  having  lost,  by  their  apostasy,  the  benefit  of  their  former 
baptism.  Against  this  Tertullian  and  Cyprian  earnestly  contended, 
alleging  that  the  validity  of  the  ordinance,  once  rightly  adminis- 
tered, could  never  be  annulled;^  subsequent  writers  also  concur 
with  them  in  this  opinion. 

Baptism  by  heretics  was  early  regarded  as  null  and  void.  Clemens 
of  Alexandria  declared  it  strange  and  uncongenial,  ""Toop  dP^-/l6- 
tOLOV.  Tertullian  classed  heretics  with  idolaters,  and  declared  their 
baptism  of  no  effect ;  unless  rightly  administered,  it  was  no  baptism. 
Cum  baptisma  rite  non  habeant,  omnino  non  habent.^  Cyprian  also 
agreed  with  him,  and  generally  the  churches  of  Africa,  together 
with  that  of  Csesarea  and  Alexandria.  These  required  that  their 
converts  from  heretical  sects  should  be  rebaptized,  limiting  them- 
selves, however,  to  those  sects  who  differed  most  widely  from  the 
true  church.  The  churches  of  Rome,  and  France,  and  of  some 
parts  of  Asia,  on  the  other  hand,  received  such  to  their  communion 
by  prayer  and  the  imposition  of  hands,  with  the  exception  of  such 
as  disowned  the  Catholic  church,  and  of  those  who  were  not  bap- 
tized in  the  names  of  the  Trinity.  Baptism  in  the  name  of  the 
Trinity,  even  by  heretics,  with  certain  exceptions,''  was  considered 
valid.  The  Council  of  Nice  proceeded  on  the  same  principle.  The 
efficacy  of  the  rite  depended  upon  the  Divine  power  accompany- 
ing it,  not  upon  the  character  of  him  who  administered  it.  For 
a  further  discussion  of  this  point,  see  references.^ 


SEC.  III.]       JOHN'S    BAPTISM    NOT   CHRISTIAN   BAPTISM.  365 


§  2.    PROSELYTE    BAPTISM   BY  THE   JEWS. 

After  all  the  discussions  that  have  been  had  on  the  subject,  it 
is  still  an  open  question,  What  relations  Christian  baptism  sustains 
both  to  the  baptism  of  John  and  the  proselyte  baptism  of  the  Jews  ? 
The  earliest  evidence  for  the  proselyte  baptism  of  the  Jews  is  from 
their  Mishna  and  Gemmara,  both  subsequent  to  the  Christian  era, 
but  claiming  for  the  rite,  a  higher  antiquity  than  the  Christian 
chronology.  Philo  and  Josephus  make  no  mention  of  it,  which  by 
one  party  is  urged  as  an  argument  for  the  prevalence  of  proselyte 
baptism,  on  the  supposition  that  it  was  so  common  as  to  occasion 
no  remark  from  them.  It  is  also  remarkable  that  the  baptism  of 
John  excited  no  notice  as  a  new  institution.  By  another,  this 
silence  is  urged  as  an  evidence  that  the  rite  was  unknown  by  these 
Jewish  writers.  Winer,  in  his  Realworterbuch,  has  given  the  au- 
thorities that  bear  on  this  subject.  However  curious  the  inquiry 
it  seems  not  to  possess  any  historical  importance  in  relation  to 
Christian  baptism.  It  may  not  have  been  introduced  until  after 
the  institution  of  this  ordinance  of  the  Christian  church  ;  but  how- 
ever that  may  be,  it  had  but  remote  relations  to  Christian  baptism. 

§  3.    JOHN'S    baptism    not    CHRISTIAN    BAPTISM. 

The  baptism  of  John  was  a  peculiar  ordinance,  essentially  dis- 
tinct from  Christian  baptism.  It  is  thus  distinguished  in  the  in- 
stance of  converts  at  Ephesus.  Acts  xix.  3.  Both  had  certain  points 
of  resemblance,  in  that  each  implied  a  profession  of  repentance  and 
reformation  and  corresponding  obligations  to  live  a  new  life ;  but 
they  were  essentially  different.  The  baptism  of  John  was  restricted 
to  the  Jews  only.  The  soldiers  who  inquired  of  him  respecting 
their  duty,  were  apparently  Jews  in  the  service  of  the  army.  The 
baptism  of  Jesus  was  applicable  alike  to  Jews  and  Gentiles.  The 
baptism  of  John  was  temporary,  Matt.  iii.  11,  12 ;  John  i.  15-27 ; 
iii.  27  ;  Acts  xix.  2-7  ;  that  of  Jesus  was  a  perpetual  ordinance. 
The  baptism  of  John  was  a  profession  of  repentance  and  faith  in  a 
Saviour  that  should  come  ;  that  of  Jesus,  of  repentance  and  faith 
in  a  Saviour  that  has  come.  The  baptism  of  John  was  not  in  the 
name  of  Christ ;  that  of  Jesus  was  in  his  name,  together  witli  that 
of  the  Father  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  baptism  of  Jolm  was 
by  immersion.     Is  it  credible  cither  that  that  of  Jesus  was  invaria- 


• 


366  BAPTISM.  [chap.  XIX. 

bly  by  immersion,  or  that  this  is  essential  to  the  validity  of  the 
ordinance?  Were  the  three  thousand  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  so 
baptized,  or  the  thousands  that  were  shortly  afterward  added  to  the 
church?  Were  the  jailer  and  all  his,  baptized  by  immersion  on 
the  spot  and  in  the  dead  of  night?  Believe  it  who  can.  The 
eunuch,  and  Lydia,  and  the  company  of  Cornelius,  are  baptized 
where  there  is  water  for  the  purpose.  "  Can  any  forbid  water,  that 
these  should  not  be  baptized  ?"  But  in  no  instance  of  Christian  bap- 
tism on  record  in  the  Scriptures  is  the  ijiode  of  administering,  the 
quantity  of  water  applied  or  to  be  applied,  or  any  conveniences  for 
immersion,  indicated  as  requisites  for  the  right  administration  of 
this  ordinance. 

It  is  particularly  worthy  of  notice  that  no  preliminary  prepara- 
tions are  requisite  for  baptism  in  any  instance  recorded  in  the  Scrip- 
tures. It  is  administered  to  a  vast  assembly  of  several  thousands, 
to  a  family,  or  to  a  single  individual.  It  is  administered  wherever 
and  whenever  one  or  more  candidates  present  themselves,  in  public 
or  in  private  assemblies,  by  night  or  by  day,  in  the  house  or  by 
the  river,  at  all  times  and  in  every  place.  Are  such  facilities  con- 
sistent with  the  formalities  of  baptism  by  immersion,  or  is  the  mode 
of  administering  the  ordinance  of  no  account  in  the  estimation  of 
the  apostles,  and  varied  according  to  circumstances  ? 

Dr.  Robinson,  in  his  Lexicon  of  the  New  Testament,  has  stated 
that  the  earliest  Latin  translations  approved  by  Augustin,  and  going 
back  apparently  to  the  second  century  and  to  usage  connected  with 
the  apostolic  age,  uniformly  adopt  the  Greek  word  baptizo,  and 
never  the  Latin  immergo,  to  denote  Christian  baptism  ;  "  showing 
that  there  was  something  in  the  rite  of  baptism  to  which  the  latter 
did  not  correspond."  He  urges  in  the  same  connection  the 
scarcity  of  water,  and  the  absence  of  baths,  public  or  private,  as 
strong  objections  to  the  theory  of  the  immersion  of  the  three  thou- 
sand on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  and  of  the  five  thousand  on  a  sub- 
sequent day.  He  adds,  that  the  most  ancient  baptismal  fonts  found 
among  ruins  in  Palestine,  as  at  Tekoa  and  Gophna,  and  dating 
back  apparently  to  the  earliest  times,  are  not  large  enough  to  admit 
of  the  baptism  of  adults  by  immersion. 

Are  any  other  ceremonials  of  religion  insisted  on  by  Christ  or 
his  apostles  ?  Who  does  not  know  that  they  in  all  else  insist  upon 
the  thing  signified,  with  singular  indifference  to  the  ceremonials  of 
a  religious  rite.  Why  then  this  punctilious  observance  of  a  rite 
for  which  no  precept  is  given.     If  the  mode  of  baptism  is  of  such 


SEC.  IV.]  UNSCRIPTURAL   FORMALITIES.  367 

indispensable  importance,  how  extraordinary  the  omission  of  the 
precept!  Rather,  is  there  not  here  a  "providential  omission,"  as, 
according  to  Archbishop  Whately,  there  is  in  respect  to  creeds,  and 
confessions,  and  forms  of  prayer,  that  the  church  might  not  pervert 
them  by  superstitious  observances.  We  cannot  resist  the  convic- 
tion that  this  rite  of  immersion  leads  to  superstition,  as  seen  in 
history ;  and  is  an  unauthorized  assumption,  in  direct  conflict  with 
the  teachings,  the  spirit,  and  the  example  of  Christ  and  his  apostles. 
A  sublime  simplicity,  that  overlooks  and  utterly  disregards  all 
outward  ceremonials,  characterizes  their  teachings  and  all  their 
ordinances  in  the  first  planting  of  the  Christian  church.  Careless 
of  all  forms,  the  apostles  receive  their  converts  into  the  church  by 
the  simple  rite  of  baptism  in  the  name  of  Christ ;  omitting,  as  it 
would  seem,  even  the  formula  which  Christ  himself  had  given  them. 
"Lord,  not  my  feet  only,  but  also  my  hands  and  my  head,"  said 
Peter,  while  yet  an  unenlightened  formalist ;  but  Jesus  mildly 
taught  him  that  the  significance  and  importance  of  the  act  de- 
pended not  upon  the  extent  of  the  application  of  the  water.  The 
church,  indeed,  soon  lost  the  spirituality  of  her  religion  and  the 
simplicity  of  her  ordinances,  in  endless  strife  about  forms  and  cere- 
monies. Perhaps  the  first  of  all  her  departures  from  the  institu- 
tions of  Christ  and  his  apostles  was  to  insist  upon  immersion,  as 
emblematic  of  the  sufixision  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the  only  valid 
mode  of  administering  the  ordinance.  Certain  it  is  that  this  soon 
became  the  prevailing  mode  of  baptizing.  Other  changes  soon 
followed,  as  will  appear  in  the  sequel. 

§  4.    OF    UNSCRIPTURAL   FORMALITIES   AND    DOCTRINES   RELATING 

TO    BAPTISM. 

1.  Exclusive  immersion. — We  cannot  resist  the  conviction  that 
this  mode  of  baptism  was  the  first  departure  from  the  teaching  and 
example  of  the  apostles  on  this  subject.  Certainly  it  is  not  in  har- 
mony with  the  Christian  dispensation  to  give  such  importance  to 
merely  an  outward  rite.  It  is  altogether  a  Jewish  rather  than  a 
Christian  idea,  and  indicates  an  origin  and  a  spirit  foreign  to  that 
of  the  ordinances  of  Christ  and  the  apostles.  If  it  was  a  departure 
from  their  teachings,  it  was  the  earliest ;  for  baptism  by  immersion 
unquestionably  was  very  early  the  common  mode  of  baptism. 

2.  Trine  immersion. — In  the  second  century  it  had  become  cus- 
tomary to  immerse  three  times  at  the  mention  of  the  several  per- 


368  BAPTISM.  [CIIAP.  XIX. 

sons  in  the  Godhead.*  This  is  only  an  expansion  of  the  idea  of 
the  indispensable  importance  of  immersion,  and  indicates  more  fully 
the  foreign  origin  of  this  rite. 

3,  Baptismal  regeneration. — The  Shepherd  of  Hernias  repre- 
sents the  church  under  the  similitude  of  a  tower  built  of  stones,  and 
standing  upon  the  ivater,  which  is  explained  to  mean  that  salvation 
is  by  means  of  the  water :  p)er  aquam  salva  facta  est  et  fiet}  The 
stones  of  which  it  is  built  come  up  out  of  the  water  ;  and  altogether 
this  mystical  representation  seems  to  imply  the  necessity  of  baptis- 
mal regeneration. 

But  the  date  of  this  weak  and  spurious  production  can  hardly  be 
earlier  than  the  middle  of  the  second  century,  when  lived  Justin 
Martyr,  who  gives  us  the  first  reliable  and  intelligible  account  of 
a  Christian  baptism.  The  passage  has  been  cited  above,  p.  271, 
but  the  conducting  of  the  candidate  to  a  place  where  there  is  water, 
and  there  baptizing  him,  instead  of  causing  water  to  be  brought, 
seems  to  intimate  that  at  this  time  the  Eastern  church,  or  at  least 
the  church  of  Ephesus,  had  begun  to  baptize  by  immersion. 

It  appears  from  the  same  passage,  that  the  church  had  already 
begun  to  entertain  extravagant  notions  respecting  the  supposed  re- 
lation of  baptism  to  the  forgiveness  of  sin  and  regeneration.  "  They 
are  led  by  us  to  the  water,  and  are  regenerated  after  the  same  man- 
ner of  regeneration  by  Avhich  we  ourselves  were  regenerated."  f 
Irenseus,  thirty  years  later,  is  more  explicit :  "  As  dough  cannot  be 
made  of  dry  flour,  without  the  addition  of  some  fluid,  so  we,  the 
many,  cannot  be  united  in  one  body  in  Christ  Avithout  the  connect- 
ing element  of  water,  which  comes  down  from  heaven ;  and  as  the 
earth  is  quickened  and  rendered  fruitful  by  dew  and  rain,  so  Chris- 
tianity by  the  heavenly  water.  "^  Thus  early  were  the  minds  of  men 
possessed  of  the  delusion  of  baptismal  regeneration,  which  with 
singular  tenacity  and  uniformity  the  church  has  retained  through 
every  age. 

This,  indeed,  became  the  common  delusion  of  the  subsequent 
ages  of  the  church.  Chrysostom,  on  the  regenerating  power  of 
the  baptismal  water,  uses  this  extraordinary  language :  "  They 
who  approach  the  baptismal  font  are  not  only  made  clean  from  all 
wickedness,  but  holy  also  and  just,  ayiovg  xai  Sixaiovg.    Although 

*  Ter  mergitamur,  amplius  aliquid  respondentes,  etc. — Tertull.  J)e  Cor.  Mil. 
c.  iii. 

f  "Ayoi'tai.  i'lp  r;ixuii>  tv^a  liSuip  ioti  xai  tportor  oi'ayf»)'-/j(jfujj  ov  xai  rjfiiii  avtoi 
avayfvi'rj^rjfiiv  aiayfj'd/j'T'ai. 


SEC.  IV.]  UNSCRIPTURAL   FORMALITIES.  369 

a  man  should  be  foul  with  every  human  vice,  the  blackest  that  can 
be  named,  yet  should  he  fall  into  the  baptismal  pool,  he  ascends 
from  the  divine  waters  purer  than  the  beams  of  noon." 

Even  Luther,  and  many  of  the  English  reformers,  alas  !  did  not 
advance  far  enough  in  their  reformation  to  reject  this  delusion,  but 
by  the  authority  of  their  great  names  perpetuated  it  in  the  Pro- 
testant churches  of  Germany  and  of  England. 

4.  The  anointing  with  oil  was  a  ceremony  very  early  superadded 
to  the  ordinance  of  baptism.  Ireneeus  comments  with  great  severity 
upon  this  rite,  as  a  ridiculous  superstition  of  certain  heretics."''  But 
Tertullian,  twenty  years  later,  declares  it  to  be  an  established  usage 
of  the  church  in  Africa,  to  anoint  with  oil  immediately  after  bap- 
tism, in  imitation  of  the  anointing  of  the  Jewish  priesthood.*  The 
anointing  was  applied  to  the  forehead,  ears,  nose,  and  breast ;  then 
another  council  with  equal  solemnity  specifies  the  forehead,  the 
nostrils,  the  eyes,  the  ears,  the  mouth.  In  the  fourth  century  an 
anointing  before  baptism  was  added  to  these  ceremonials.  J\  nd  at  a 
period  a  little  later  still,  this  baptismal  oil  must  first  be  consecrated 
by  the  bishop  for  the  remission  of  sins  and  the  preparation  for 
baptism.*  One  anointing  does  not  suffice,  just  as  immersion 
merely  is  not  sufficient ;  but,  in  the  age  of  Tertullian,  this  is 
three  times  repeated,  with  reference  to  the  several  persons  of  the 
Trinity,  t 

5.  Then  follows  an  exorcism  of  the  baptized,  of  which  the  Coun- 
cil of  Carthage,  A.  D.  256,  makes  mention ;  and  Cyprian,  of  the  same 
age,  distinctly  intimates  the  importance  of  this  formality.^ 

6.  The  consecration  of  the  baptismal  tvater  is  another  of  these 
superstitious  ceremonials  of  baptism,  |  as  early  as  the  ages  of 
Tertullian  and  Cyprian.  The  Apostolical  Constitutions  prescribe 
the  prayer  to  be  used  in  this  consecration  of  the  water.^ 

7.  The  imposition  of  hands,  as  early  as  the  age  of  Tertullian^ 
becomes  an  indispensable  ceremonial  of  the  ordinance  under  con- 
sideration. By  this  rite  the  apostles  imparted  miraculous  gifts. 
This  was  called  "the  receiving  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  Acts  viii.  17 ; 


*  Exinde  egressi  de  lav83ro  perungimur  benedicta  unctione  de  pristina  disci- 
plina,  qua  ungi  oleo  de  cornu  in  sacerdotium  solebant. — De  Bapt.  c.  vii. 

t  Nee  semel,  sed  ter  ad  singula  nomina  in  personas  singulas  tingimur. — Adv. 
Prax.  c-  xxvi. ;  De  Coron.  Milit.  c.  iii. 

X  Oportet  mundari  et  sanctificari  aquam  prius  a  sacerdote,  ut  possit  baptismo 
suo  peccata  hominis  qui  baptizatur  abluere.  Comp.  Tertull.  ^w<.  70 ;  De  Bap. 
c.  vi.  24 


370  BAPTISM.  [chap.  XIX. 

ix.  44-48  ;  xix.  6.  After  the  cessation  of  this  miraculous  commu- 
nication, the  bishops,  assuming  to  be  both  the  successors  of  the 
apostles  and  high-priests,  claimed  still  the  power  of  communicating, 
not  the  miraculous  power,  but  the  renewing,  sanctifying  influence 
of  the  Spirit  of  God  by  the  laying  on  of  their  hands.  None  but  a 
bishop  had  power  to  impart  this  mysterious  grace ;  accordingly, 
when  others  baptized,  it  became  necessary  for  the  bishop  to  make 
the  circuit  of  his  diocese,  to  lay  his  hands  on  these  neophytes,  that 
they  through  him  might  receive  the  Holy  Ghost.  This  is  the  origin 
of  confirmation,  which  remains  to  this  day  an  opus  operatum  of  the 
Episcopal  church,  eliminated,  we  may  charitably  believe,  of  the 
impious  assumption  originally  implied  in  it.  A  few  passages  are 
brought  together  in  the  margin,  illustrative  of  the  doctrinal  teaching 
of  the  ancient  church  on  the  subject.  Cornelius  of  Rome,  contem- 
porary with  Cyprian,  speaking  of  one  who  had  not  received  this 
act  of  the  bishop,  inquires,  "  But  not  receiving  this,  how  could  he 
receive  the  Holy  Ghost  ?"  This  was  the  basis  of  the  frequent 
discussions  and  councils  in  the  African  church  respecting  the  re- 
baptizing  of  heretics,  some  reasoning  that  their  baptism  was  valid  ; 
it  was  only  necessary  to  impart  unto  them  the  Holy  Ghost  by  lay- 
ing on  of  the  bishop's  hands.  Others,  like  Cyprian,  argued  that 
this  was  not  enough,  for  the  act  would  be  marred  by  the  lack  of 
baptism  in  the  true  church.* 

8.  Insufflation. — Jesus  breathed  upon  his  disciples  and  said,  "  Re- 
ceive ye  the  Holy  Ghost,"  John  xx.  22;  in  like  manner,  this  be- 
comes one  of  the  formalities  of  the  exorcism  connected  with  baptism. 
Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  A.  D.  350,  one  hundred  years  after  Cyprian, 


^  Eos  qui  sunt  foris  extra  ecclesiam  tincti,  et  apud  hsereticos  et  schismaticoa 
profanae  equiB  labe  maculati,  quando  ad  nos  atque  ad  ecclesiam,  quge  una  est, 
venerint,  baptizari  oportere ;  eo  quod  parum  sit  eis  manum  imponere  ad  accipi- 
endum  Spiritum  Sanctum,  nisi  accipiant  et  ecclesise  baptismum.  Tunc  enim  de- 
mum  plene  sanctificari  et  esse  filii  Dei  possunt,  si  sacramento  utroque  nascantur. 
— Cone.  Carthag.  Patrologix.  iii.  p.  1046. 

Male  ergo  sibi  quidam  interpretantur  ut  dicant  quod  per  manus  impositionem 
Spiritum  Sanctum  accipiant  et  sic  recipiantur,  cum  manifestum  sit  utroque  sacra- 
mento debere  eos  renasei  in  ecclesia  catholica.  Tunc  quippe  poterunt  filii  Dei 
esse. — Cone.  Carthag.  Patrologise.  iii.  p.  1057. 

Quod  nunc  quoque  apud  nos  geritur,  ut,  qui  in  ecclesia  baptizantur,  prsepositis 
ecclesise  ofi"erantur  et  per  nostram  orationem  ac  manus  impositionem  Spiritum 
S.  consequantur  et  signaculo  dominico  consummentur. — Cyprian,  Episl.  73. 

Per  manus  impositionem  episcopi  datur  unicuique  credenti  Spiritus  S.  sicut 
^postoli  circa  Samaritanos  post  Philippi  baptisma  manum  eis  imponendo  fecerunt 
pt  hac  ratione  Spiritum  S.  in  eos  contulerunt. — De  Bap. 


SEC.  IV.]  UNSCRIPTURAL   FORMALITIES.  371 

specifies  this  rite  as  connected  with  salvation.*  Gennadius,  toward 
the  close  of  the  next  century,  testified  that  this  had  hecome  an  uni- 
versal custom  throughout  the  whole  world,  both  in  regard  to  infants 
and  adult  persons,  before  they  were  admitted  to  the  sacrament  of 
regeneration  and  the  fountain  of  life.f 

9.  Opening  the  ears. — As  our  Saviour,  in  one  of  the  cities  of  De- 
capolis,  put  his  finger  in  the  ears  of  the  deaf,  and  said  Ephpliatha^ 
Mark  vii.  34,  so  this  also  was  transferred  to  the  ceremonials  of 
baptism  in  the  fourth  century. |  This  ceremony  seems  not,  how- 
ever, to  have  been  generally  observed  in  the  ancient  church. 

10.  Anointing  the  eyes  with  claij,  in  imitation  of  Jesus  healing 
the  blind  man,  John  ix.  6.  Ambrose  distinctly  specifies  this  cere- 
mony and  alludes  to  it.  It  must  have  been  one  of  the  rituals  of 
this  ordinance  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  but  to  what  extent 
it  prevailed  does  not  appear.  § 

11.  Honey  mingled  with  milk,  and  sometimes  with  wine,  was 
given  to  the  newly  baptized,  for  which  fanciful  reasons  were  sought 
out.  Baptism  was  a  new  birth,  and  he  who  received  it  was  a  spiri- 
tual child,  and  must  be  fed  with  milk,  and  not  with  strong  meat. 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  analogies  which  first  suggested  this 
ceremonial,  it  found  a  place  in  the  ritual  as  early  as  the  age  of 
Tertullian,  and  became  a  customary  rite.^ 

12.  The  application  of  salt  is  also  mentioned  by  Augustin,||  at  the 
end  of  the  fourth  century,  and  by  the  third  Council  of  Carthage, 
A.  D.  397,  c.  5.  Then  this  salt  was  first  exorcised  and  consecrated 
by  breathing  upon  it  and  ofiering  a  prayer.  Thus  prepared,  the 
priest  put  it  in  the  child's  mouth,  saying,  "  Receive  the  salt  of 
wisdom  to  eternal  life." 

13.  The  covering  and  uncovering  of  the  head  was  another  of  the 
preparatory  ceremonials  in  baptism,  for  which  also  mysterious  sig- 
nificance was  sought.     The  eyes  were  vailed,  to  indicate  the  exclu- 

*  Kctv  fjiii})ii5J7^}7J  (insufBari)  ffcor^ypia  (toc  to  rtptiy^a. — Procatech.  ^  9. 

f  Cum  sive  parvuli  sive  juvenes  ad  regenerationis  veniunt  sacramentum,  nou 
prius  fontem  vitae  adeant  quam  exorcismis  et  exsufflationibus  clericorum  spiritus 
ab  eis  immundus  abigatur. — De  Dogmat.  Eccles.  c.  xxxi. 

X  Aperite  aures  et  bonum  odorem  vitre  seternae  inhalatum  vobis  munere  sacra- 
mentorum  carpite,  quod  vobis  significavimus  cum  apertionis  celebrantes  myste- 
rium  diceremus  Ephata. — Ambrosiast.  De  Myster.  c.  i. 

^  Quando  dedisti  tuum  nomen,  tulit  latum  et  linivit  super  oculos  tuos. — Ambros. 
De  Sacram.  lib.  iii.  c.  ii. 

II  Signabar  jam  signo  crucis  ejus  et  condiebar  ejus  sale. — August.  Confess 
ii.  11. 


372  BAPTISM.  [chap.  XIX. 


sion  of  wandering  thoughts ;  and  the  vail  taken  off,  to  indicate  the 
freedom  of  the  new  birth.* 

14.  The  sign  of  the  cross  was  a  ceremonial  both  on  receiving  one 
as  a  catechumen  and  again  at  baptism.  This  was  an  indispensable 
rite,  to  which  a  mysterious  and  magical  power  was  ascribed,  and 
without  which  the  baptism  was  not  valid.  It  was  the  "seal,"  the 
sealing  act  of  the  ordinance.  "  The  water  is  instead  of  the  burial ; 
the  oil,  instead  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  the  seal,  instead  of  the  cross."t 
It  was  applied  to  the  forehead  and  to  the  breast ;  in  the  consecration 
of  the  oil,  and  of  the  water ;  in  the  application  of  the  oil,  and  even 
of  the  salt ;  and  indeed  upon  almost  all  conceivable  occasions.  No 
superstition  of  the  church,  perhaps,  was  earlier — none  has  been  more 
universal  in  its  observance — than  this  sign  of  the  cross.  Justin 
Martyr  so  speaks  of  it  as  to  intimate  that  it  had  already  become 
familiar  to  the  Christians  of  that  age.^  At  the  end  of  the  second 
century  it  is  charged  upon  them  as  an  act  of  idolatrous  worship,^ 
and  with  some  show  of  reason,  as  would  seem  from  Tertullian's 
account  of  it,  who  affirms  that  they  crossed  themselves  on  the  fore- 
head in  every  act — on  going  out,  on  coming  in,  on  putting  on  a  coat 
or  a  shoe,  on  lighting  a  lamp,  in  prayer,  at  the  table,  when  they 
sat  down,  when  they  retired  to  rest,  in  short,  whatever  they  did.^° 

From  private  use  it  soon  became  a  public  religious  rite,  with 
mystical,  talismanic  power.  The  catechumen  was  received,  bap- 
tized, and  confirmed  with  the  sign  of  the  cross.  It  was  often  re- 
peated in  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper,  as  also  in  public 
prayer  and  private  worship,  and  renewed  on  all  occasions  and  in 
every  place. 

Sometimes,  the  ancient  fathers  profess  by  this  sign  to  commemo- 
rate the  sufferings  of  Christ  upon  the  cross ;  at  others,  to  intimate 
that  salvation  cometh  only  by  the  cross  of  Christ ;  and  again,  as  a 
profession  of  their  willingness  to  take  up  their  cross  and  follow 
Christ ;  and  more  frequently,  some  mysterious  grace,  like  that  of 
the  covenants  and  other  outward  ordinances,  was  vainly  sought  by 
the  endless  repetition  of  the  sign  of  the  cross. 

15.  We  have  yet  to  enumerate  among  the  concluding  ceremo- 
nials of  baptism  the  kiss  of  peace,  by  which  the  candidates  were 
recognised  as  brethren  of  the  household  of  faith. 

*  Habet  enim  libertatem  ista  spiritalis  nativitas ;  proprie  autem  carnis  nativi- 
tap  scrvitutem. — August.  Scrm.  376. 

f  Qui  renati  et  signo  Christi  signati  sunt.  Cyprian  ad  Demet.  c.  22. — Semper 
cruci  baptisma  jungitur. — Augustin.  De,  Tem.  Comp.  Apost.  Const,  iii.  c.  17. 


SEC.  v.]  NAMES   OF   THE    ORDINANCE.  373 


16.  To  this  was  added,  in  many  churches,  the  wasJdng  of  their 
feet  by  the  bishop,  in  imitation  of  Christ  in  washing  his  disciples' 
feet,  which  is  retained  as  a  ceremony  of  the  Greek  church. 

17.  Once  more,  in  token  of  the  purity  of  life  to  which  they  were 
regenerated  in  baptism,  they  were  arrayed  in  white  robes,  an 
emblem  of  innocence,  which  they  continued  to  wear  for  eight  days. 
For  similar  emblematic  purposes,  they  laid  their  garments  by,  and 
were  baptized  in  a  state  of  entire  nudity. 

18.  Having  laid  aside  thus  their  garments  spotted  with  the  flesh, 
and  arrayed  themselves  in  white  robes,  they  were  provided  ivith 
lighted  torches,  as  a  figure  of  those  lamps  of  faith  wherewith  bright 
and  virgin  souls  shall  go  forth  to  meet  the  Bridegroom. 

We  have  now  concluded  the  wearisome  detail  of  the  ceremonials 
with  which  the  simple  and  significant  ordinance  of  baptism,  when  the 
church  began  to  lose  sight  of  that  which  is  signified  in  this  ordi- 
nance, was  soon  encumbered  in  a  vain  effort  to  obtain  that  inward 
grace  by  a  punctilious  and  superstitious  observance  of  outward  cere- 
monies. Such  to  the  church  has  been  the  disastrous  consequence, 
as  all  its  history  shows,  of  substituting  the  forms  of  religion  for  its 
spirit !  "  If  ye  be  dead  with  Christ  from  the  rudiments  of  the 
world,  why,  as  though  living  in  the  world,  are  ye  subject  to  ordi- 
nances after  the  commandments  of  men  ?"  "  Are  ye  so  foolish  ; 
having  begun  in  the  Spirit,  are  ye  now  made  perfect  by  the  fliesh  ?" 

In  view  of  all  these  vain  superstitions,  we  may  fitly  contrast  the 
spirituality  of  the  primitive  church  with  its  formality  in  a  subse- 
quent age,  in  Chrysostom's  beautiful  comparison:  "In  those  days 
the  church  was  heaven  itself;  for  the  Holy  Spirit  ruled  every 
council,  quickened  and  hallowed  every  member  of  the  church.  We 
only  now  retain  the  traces  of  these  gifts  of  grace.  The  church  is 
like  a  woman  fallen  from  her  ancient  prosperity,  who  possesses  vari- 
ous signs  of  her  former  wealth,  and  who  displayeth  the  little  chests 
and  caskets  in  which  her  treasure  was  preserved,  but  hath  lost  the 
treasure  itself.     To  such  a  woman  may  the  church  now  be  likened." 

§  5.    OF   THE    NAMES    BY   WHICH    THE    ORDINANCE    IS    DESIGNATED. 

TiiE  term  Baptism  is  derived  from  the  Greek  /^cCTtTco,  from  which 
is  formed  [SaTtri^Cd,  with  its  derivations  (SantiC^oc,  and  (56.nTL<yf.ia^ 
baptism.  The  primary  signification  of  the  original  is  to  dip,  plunge, 
immerse ;  the  obvious  import  of  the  noun  is  imviersion,  but,  in  a 
restricted  sense,  it  often  denotes  a  partial  application  of  water. 


374  BAPTISM.  [chap.  XIX. 


Muc]i  learned  labour  has  been  expended  on  its  meaning,  and  both 
parties  in  the  controversy  have  claimed  for  themselves  the  argu- 
ment based  on  the  signification  of  the  words  baptism  and  baptize.* 

The  term  ?iOVtp6v,  tvasJiing,  is  used  figuratively,  to  denote  that 
purification  or  sanctification  which  is  implied  in  the  profession  of 
those  who  are  received  by  baptism  into  the  church  of  Christ.  It 
is  equivalent  to  the  washing  of  regeneration,  and  the  receiving  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  Tit.  iii.  5.  This  phraseology  was  familiar  to  the 
ancient  fathers.^ 

Baptism  is  also  denominated  by  them  the  tvater, — and  a  fountain, 
from  whence,  according  to  Bingham,  is  derived  the  English,  font, — 
aw  anointing,  a  seal,  or  sign,  etc.  It  is  also  styled  an  illuminat- 
ing or  enlightening  ordinance,  the  light  of  the  mind,  of  the  eye,  etc., 
sometimes  with  reference  to  that  inward  illumination  and  sanctifi- 
cation which  was  supposed  to  attend  that  ordinance,  and  sometimes 
with  reference  to  the  instructions  by  which  the  candidates  for  this 
ordinance  were  enlightened  in  a  knowledge  of  the  Christian  religion. 

With  reference  to  the  secrecy  in  which,  in  the  early  ages  of  the 
church,  it  was  administered  as  a  sacred  mystery,  it  was  styled 
f.Lvatr,^LOV,  a  mystery.  A  multitude  of  other  names  occur  in  the 
Avritings  of  the  fathers,  such  as  grace,  pardon,  death  of  sin,  philac- 
tery,  regeneration,  adoption,  access  to  Crod,  way  of  life,  eternal  life, 
etc.  These  terms  are  more  or  less  defined  and  explained  in  the 
authorities  to  whom  reference  is  had  in  the  index. ^  Let  it  be  ob- 
served, that  these  appellations  were  unknown  to  the  apostolical 
churches.  They  were  the  invention  of  writers  and  ritualists  of  a 
subsequent  age. 

§  6.    OF    INFANT    BAPTISM. 

The  first  baptisms,  on  the  organization  of  the  churches,  were  of 
necessity  those  of  adults  converted  to  Christianity,  and  for  several 
centuries  until  the  prevalence  of  the  Christian  religion  over  pagan- 
ism. The  baptism  of  such  must  have  been  chiefly  the  subject  of 
historical  record.  The  silence  of  the  early  historical  records  re- 
specting infant  baptism  is  no  valid  argument  against  it.  But  the 
general  introduction  of  the  rite  of  infant  baptism,  by  reason  of  the 
prevalence  of  Christianity,  so  far  changed  the  regulations  of  the 

■*  For  a  discussion  of  this  point,  full  and  satisfactory,  the  reader  is  referred  to 
an  article  by  Prof.  Stuart,  in.  Bib.  Ilepos.  April,  1833,  and  to  a  work  on  Baptism, 
by  Edward  Beecher,  D.  D. 


SEC.  VI.]  INFANT    BAPTISM.  375 


cliurcli  concerning  the  qualifications  of  candidates,  and  tlieii*  ad- 
mission, that  what  was  formerly  the  rule  in  this  respect,  has  become 
the  exception.  The  institutions  of  the  church  during  the  first  five 
centuries,  concerning  the  requisite  preparations  for  baptism,  and 
all  the  laws  and  rules  that  existed  during  that  period,  relating  to 
the  acceptance  or  rejection  of  candidates,  necessarily  fell  into  dis- 
use when  the  baptism  of  infants  began  not  only  to  be  permitted, 
but  enjoined  as  a  duty,  and  almost  univei-sally  observed.  The  old 
rule,  which  prescribed  caution  in  the  admission  of  candidates,  and  a 
careful  preparation  for  the  rite,  was,  after  the  sixth  century,  appli- 
cable, for  the  most  part,  only  to  Jewish,  heathen,  and  other  prose- 
lytes. The  discipline  which  was  formerly  requisite,  preparatory  to 
baptism,  now  followed  this  rite,  as  a  needful  qualification  for  com- 
munion. 

Christian  baptism  has  from  the  beginning  been  characterized  for 
the  universality  of  its  application.  Proselyte  baptism  was  adminis- 
tered only  to  pagan  nations.  John's  baptism  was  restricted  solely 
to  the  Jews ;  but  Christian  baptism  is  open  alike  to  all.  Proselyte 
baptism  included  the  children  with  the  parents  ;  John's  baptism  ex- 
cluded both  children  and  the  female  sex.  Christian  baptism  ex- 
cludes no  nation,  or  sex,  or  age.  Comp.  Matt,  xxviii.  19,  20  ;  Gal. 
iii.  28 ;  1  Cor.  xii.  13 ;  together  with  the  authorities  of  Irenseus, 
Cyprian,  and  Tertullian,  quoted  below.  From  all  which,  it  ap- 
pears evident  beyond  a  doubt,  that  the  ancient  church  understood 
that  Christian  baptism  was  designed  for  all,  TCavtsc,,  Tidvra  to. 
e^VYi,  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  term — that  no  nation,  or  class,  or 
sex,  or  age  was  excluded.  Of  course  it  was  understood  to  be  uni- 
versal in  the  highest  degree. 

In  common  with  all  who  maintain  the  doctrine  of  infant  baptism, 
the  learned  in  Germany  generally  admit  the  authenticity  of  the 
historical  testimony  in  favour  of  it.  They  admit  that  infant  bap- 
tism was  an  usage  of  the  primitive  church  as  early  as  the  time  of 
Cyprian,  Tertullian,  or  even  of  Irenseus ;  but  many  of  them  refuse 
to  follow  us  in  the  conclusion  that  this  ordinance  must  have  been 
instituted  by  the  authority,  and  supported  by  the  example  of  the 
apostles.  They  either  deny  that  the  baptism  of  infant  children 
was  authorized  by  Christ  and  his  apostles,  or  they  content  them- 
selves with  stating  the  historical  facts  in  relation  to  the  subject — 
giving  the  earliest  evidence  of  the  rite  in  question,  without  advanc- 
ing any  theory  whatever  respecting  the  origin  of  this  ordinance. 

According  to  Rheinwald,  "  traces  of  infant  baptism  appear  in 


376  BAPTISM.  [chap.  XIX. 

tlie  Western  church  after  the  middle  of  the  second  century,  i.  e. 
within  about  fifty  years  of  the  apostolic  age ;  and,  toward  the  end 
of  this  century,  it  becomes  the  subject  of  controversy  in  Proconsular 
Africa.  Though  its  necessity  was  asserted  in  Africa  and  Egypt,  in 
the  beginning  of  the  third,  it  was,  even  to  the  end  of  the  fourth 
century,  by  no  means  universally  observed — least  of  all  in  the  East- 
ern church ;  and  finally  became  a  general  ecclesiastical  institution 
in  the  age  of  Augustin." 

Such  are  the  views  of  some  of  the  most  distinguished  German 
scholars  of  the  present  day,  while  others  affirm  that  infant  baptism 
was  from  the  beginning  an  ordinance  of  the  Christian  church.  But 
enough.  Authority  is  not  argument,  nor  is  an  ostentatious  parade 
of  names  of  any  avail  either  to  establish  truth  or  refute  error. 
These  authors  themselves  generally  admit  the  validity  of  the  testi- 
mony of  the  early  fathers ;  nor  does  it  appear  that,  with  all  their 
research,  directed  even  by  German  diligence  and  scholarship,  they 
have  essentially  varied  the  historical  argument  drawn  from  original 
sources  in  favour  of  infant  baptism.  Those  authorities  have  long 
been  familiar  to  the  public,  and  they  are  very  briefly  brought 
together  in  this  place  as  a  concise  exhibition  of  the  historical  evi- 
dence in  favour  of  the  theory  that  this  ordinance  was  instituted  by 
Divine  authority,  and  as  such  was  observed  by  the  learned  in  Ger- 
many on  this  subject. 

The  historical  argument  for  infant  baptism  will  be  best  presented 
by  beginning  with  the  age  of  Chrysostom,  Gregory  Nazianzen,  and 
Augustin,  in  the  last  half  of  the  fourth  century,  when  infant  bap- 
tism had  confessedly  become  a  common  ordinance  both  of  the 
Western  and  of  the  Eastern  church,  and  advance  from  this  point 
as  far  as  our  historical  data  will  carry  us  toward  the  age  of  the 
apostles. 

To  begin  with  Chrysostom :  "  Some  think  that  the  heavenly  grace 
(of  baptism)  consists  only  in  forgiveness  of  sins ;  but  I  have  reck- 
oned ten  advantages  of  it.  For  this  cause  we  baptize  infants, 
though  they  are  not  defiled  with  sin"  or,  as  Augustin  has  quoted  it, 
"though  they  have  not  any  transgressions  or  actual  sins."  "  There 
Avas  pain  and  trouble  in  the  practice  of  that  Jewish  circumcision ; 
but  our  circumcision,  I  mean  the  grace  of  baptism,  gives  cure  with- 
out pain,  and  this  for  infants  as  well  as  men."^ 

Gregory  Nazianzen :  "  Baptism  is  suited  to  every  age.  Hast 
thou  a  child  ?  wait  not  until  he  becomes  a  sinner,  but  in  his  ten- 
derest  age  sanctify  him  by  the  Spirit.     But  you  hesitate  because  of 


SEC.  VI.]  INFANT   BAPTISM.  377 

his  tender  age.  How  cold-hearted,  how  weak  in  faith,  0  mother ! 
Hannah,  before  the  birth  of  Samuel,  consecrated  him  to  God,  and, 
when  born,  devoted  him  to  the  priesthood — so  should  children  also 
in  their  tenderest  age  be  baptized,  though  having  yet  no  idea  of 
perdition  or  of  grace." 

Augustin,  remarking  on  the  passage  1  Cor.  vii.  14 :  "  There 
were  then  Christian  infants,  parvuli  Christiani,  who  were  sancti- 
fied," that  is,  baptized,  "by  the  authority  of  one  or  both  of  their 
parents."  He  treats  baptism  as  a  saving  ordinance,  which  doctrine 
"the  whole  body  of  the  church  holds,  as  delivered  to  them  in  the 
case  of  little  infants  who  are  baptized,  who  certainly  cannot  believe 
with  the  heart  unto  righteousness,  and  yet  no  Christian  Avill  say  that 
they  are  baptized  in  vain."  Indeed,  the  writings  of  Augustin  show, 
beyond  the  possibility  of  a  doubt,  that  infant  baptism  was  an  esta- 
blished usage  of  the  church  in  his  age,  that  it  was  "  an  apostolical 
tradition,''^  apostolica  traditio — that  it  came  not  by  a  general  coun- 
cil, or  by  any  authority  later  or  less  than  that  of  the  apostles. 
The  original  authorities  have  been  collected  by  Wall,  but  are  too 
numerous  and  extensive  to  be  transferred  to  these  pages. 

The  authority  of  these  eminent  fathers  of  the  fourth  century, 
representing  the  two  great  divisions  of  the  church,  is  sufficient  to 
indicate  the  prevailing  sentiments  of  the  church  in  this  age  respect- 
ing the  baptism  of  infants.  They  sufficiently  indicate  that  the  va- 
lidity and  propriety  of  infant  baptism  was  at  this  time  universally 
acknowledged  and  generally  practised,  especially  in  the  Western 
church.  A  fuller  induction  of  authorities  may  be  found  in  Wall's 
History,  from  which  the  above  have  been  chiefly  collected.  We 
may,  therefore,  safely  assume  the  general  custom  of  baptizing  the 
infant  ofi"spring  of  believers  as  an  established  fact  in  this  age  of  the 
church,  and  begin  from  this  period  to  traverse  backward  toward  the 
age  of  the  apostles,  and  collect  the  authorities  as  they  arise,  in  the 
order  of  their  succession,  respecting  the  usage  of  the  church  and 
her  authority  for  this  ordinance. 

From  these  fathers  we  advance,  omitting  intermediate  authori- 
ties of  less  importance,  to  Cyprian,  in  the  middle  of  the  third  cen- 
tury. In  the  age  of  Cyprian  there  arose  in  Africa  a  question 
whether  a  child  might  be  baptized  before  the  eighth  day  or  not. 
Fidus,  a  country  bishop,  referred  the  inquiry  to  a  council  of  sixty- 
six  bishops,  convened  under  Cyprian,  a.  d.  253,  for  their  opinion. 
To  this  inquiry  they  reply  at  length,  delivering  it  as  their  unani- 
mous opinion  that  baptism  may,  with  propriety,  be  administered  at 


378  BAPTISM.  [chap.  XIX. 

any  time  ^yrevious  to  the  eighth  day.  No  question  was  raised  on 
the  point  whether  children  ought  to  be  baptized  at  all  or  not.  "  This, 
therefore,  was  our  opinion  in  the  council,  that  we  ought  not  to 
hinder  any  one  from  baptism  and  the  grace  of  God.  And  this  rule, 
as  it  holds  for  all,  is,  we  think,  more  especially  to  be  observed  in 
reference  to  infants,  even  to  those  newly  born."* 

The  authority  of  Origen  brings  us  fifty  years  nearer  to  the  age 
of  the  apostles.  He  was  born  a.  d.  185,  within  one  hundred  years 
of  the  apostolic  age.  His  father  was  a  martyr  to  the  Christian 
faith ;  his  grandfather  was  a  Christian ;  and  his  great-grandfather, 
also  a  believer  in  Christ,  must  have  been  contemporary  with  some 
of  the  apostles  themselves.  Could  this  Christian  family  have  been 
ignorant  of  the  teachings  of  the  apostles  and  the  usage  of  the 
apostolic  churches  ?  Could  they  have  failed  to  transmit  from  father 
to  son,  for  only  three  generations,  the  traditions  of  the  apostles  ? 
Now,  Origen's  words  are  these :  "  The  church  received  from  the 
apostles  injunction  or  tradition^  Tta^aooOiv,  to  give  baptism  even 
to  infants,  according  to  that  saying  of  our  Lord,  Thou  wast  an 


*  Quantum  vero  ad  causam  infantium  pertinet,  quos  dixisti  intra  secundum 
vel  tertium  diem,  quo  nati  sint,  constitutes  baptizari  non  oportere  et  conside- 
randam  esse  legem  circumcisionis  antiquse,  ut  intra  octavum  diem  eum,  qui 
natus  est,  baptizandura  et  sanctificandum  non  putares ;  longe  aliud  in  concilio 
nostro  omnibus  visum  est.  Universi  judicavimus,  nulli  homini  nato  misericor- 
diam  Dei  et  gratiam  denegandam.  Nam  cum  Dominus  in  evangelio  suo  dicat : 
filius  homiiiis  non  venit  animas  hominum  perdere,  sed  salvare,  quantum  in  nobis 
est,  si  fieri  potest,  nulla  anima  perdenda  est.  Nam  Deus  ut  personam  non  accipit, 
sic  nee  atatem,  cum  se  omnibus  ad  coelestis  gratice  consecutionem  jequalitate 
librata  prsebeat  patrem.  Nam  et  quod  vestigium  infantis  in  prima  partus  sui 
diebus  constituti,  mundum  non  esse  dixisti,  quod  unusquisque  nostrum  adhuc 
horreat  exosculari,  nee  hoc  putamus  ad  ccelestem  gratiam  dandam  impedimento 
esse  oportere.  Scriptum  est  enira :  omnia  munda  sunt  mundis.  Nee  aliquis 
nostrum  id  debet  horrere,  quod  Deus  dignatus  est  facere.  Nam  etsi  adbuc  infans 
a  partu  novus  est,  non  ita  est  tamen,  ut  quisquam  ilium  in  gratia  danda  atque  in 
pace  facienda  liorrere  debeat  osculari ;  quando  in  osculo  infantis  unusquisque 
nostrum  pro  sua  religione  ipsas  adhuc  recentes  Dei  manus  debeat  cogitare,  quas 
in  homine  modo  formato  et  recens  nato  quodammodo  exosculamur,  quando  id, 
quod  Deus  fecit,  amplectimur.  Ceterum  si  liomines  impedire  aliquid  ad  consecu- 
tionem gratia?  posset,  magis  adultos  et  provectos,  et  majores  natu  possent  impe- 
dire peccata  graviora.  Porro  autem  si  etiam  gravissimis  delictoribus  et  in  Deum 
multum  ante  peccantibus,  cum  postea  crediderint,  remissa  peccatorum  datur,  et  a 
bhptismo  atque  a  gratia  nemo  prohibetur,  quanto  magis  prohiberi  non  debet  infans, 
qui  recens  natus  nihil  peccavit,  nisi  quod  secundum  Adam  carnaliter  natus  con- 
tagium  mortis  autiq^se  prima  nativitate  contraxit,  quia  ad  remissam  peccatorum 
accipiendam  hoc  ipso  facilus  accedit,  quodilli  remittuntur,  non  propria,  sed  aliena 
peccata. — Cypeian.  59,  Ep.  ad  Fidum.  ■ 


SEC.  VI.]  INFANT   BAPTISM.  379 


infant  when  thou  was  baptized — their  angels  do  always  behold  the 
face  of  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven." 

Whatever  may  be  said  of  Origen's  reasoning  on  the  subject,  he 
must  be  allowed  to  be  a  credible  witness  as  to  the  facts  respecting 
the  practice  of  the  churches  and  their  authority  for  it. 

Other  passages  to  the  same  effect  from  Origen  are  given  by 
Wall  :— 

"  According  to  the  usage  of  the  church,  baptism  is  given  even  to 
infants ;  when  if  there  were  nothing  in  infants  which  needed  for- 
giveness and  mercy,  the  grace  of  baptism  would  seem  to  be  super- 
fluous. This  testimony  needs  no  comment  in  regard  to  the  fact 
that  infants  were  baptized."^ 

"  Infants  are  baptized  for  the  forgiveness  of  sins.  Of  what  sins  ? 
Or  when  have  they  sinned  ?  Or  can  there  be  any  reason  for  the 
laver  in  their  case,  unless  it  be  according  to  the  sense  we  have  men- 
tioned above,  viz.  no  one  is  free  from  pollution,  though  he  has 
lived  but  one  day  upon  earth.  And  because,  by  baptism  native 
pollution  is  taken  away,  and  therefore  infants  ara  baptized."^ 

" '  For  this  cause  it  was  that  the  church  received  an  order  from 
the  apostles  to  give  baptism  even  to  infants.'  These  testimonies 
not  only  imply  that  infant  baptism  was  generally  known  and  prac- 
tised, but  also  mention  it  as  an  order  received  from  the  apostles. 
And  although  some  may  doubt  the  correctness  of  Origen's  reason- 
ing as  to  the  ground  of  the  practice,  no  one  can  doubt  that  he  is  a 
competent  witness  of  the  fact  that  such  was  the  practice,  and  that 
it  was  understood  to  be  derived  from  the  apostles."^ 

These  translations  from  Origen  were  made  within  near  a  hundred 
years  after  his  age  by  several  men  of  different  parties.  They  so 
frequently  speak  of  infant  baptism  as  to  forbid  the  supposition  that 
they  may  have  been  interpolations  or  forgeries.  They  must  be 
received  as  reliable  authorities  from  Origen  himself.  As  such,  they 
are  of  great  importance  in  the  argument.  Origen  was  the  lineal 
descendant,  of  the  third  generation,  from  Christian  ancestors,  who 
were  contemporary  with  the  apostles  themselves.  Allow  for  his 
father,  who  suffered  martyrdom,  twenty-five  years,  for  his  grand- 
father and  great-grandfather  forty  each,  and  we  are  brought 
to  the  year  80,  only  twelve  years  after  the  death  of  Mark  the 
Evangelist,  at  Alexandria,  where  the  family  of  Origen  resided. 
John  survived  Mark  twenty-one  years.  Timothy  and  Titus  must  have 
been  living  with  the  Origen  family  for  many  years,  and  possibly 
other  of  the  original  twelve  besides  John.     The  "  faithful  men"  to 


380  BAPTISM.  [chap.  XIX. 


whom  they  committed  the  ordinances  of  religion,  that  they  might 
be  able  to  teach  others,  must  have  been  contemporary  with  this 
family  for  near  a  hundred  years.  Now,  consider  the  insatiable 
curiosity  of  Origen  to  acquire  knowledge,  and  his  facilities,  and  is 
it  credible,  is  it  possible,  that  he  should  have  been  ignorant  of  the 
custom,  the  teaching,  and  the  tradition  of  the  apostles  respecting 
the  subjects  of  baptism  ?  This  was  a  rite  of  almost  daily  occur- 
rence, common  to  the  church  in  every  place.  Origen  travelled  ex- 
tensively to  obtain  information ;  he  visited  the  apostolic  churches, 
and  resided  among  the  chief  of  them.  Could  then  a  rite,  totally 
new,  unfounded,  and  contrary  to  apostolic  injunction  and  example, 
have  been  so  established,  and  so  long  prevail  as  to  be  received  as 
an  ordinance  of  the  apostles  ?  Where  was  John  the  Apostle,  and 
Timothy,  and  Titus,  and  the  "  faithful  men,  able  to  teach  others 
also  ?"  Where  were  Polycarp  and  Irenseus,  to  say  nothing  of 
Barnabas  and  Hermas,  that  they  did  not  rebuke  and  expose  the 
delusion  of  those  who  would  thus  forsake  the  commandment  of  the 
apostles  for  the  ordinances  of  man  ? 

We  come  next  to  Tertullian.  He  objects  strongly  to  the  hasty 
administration  of  baptism  to  children,  and  inveighs  against  the 
superstition  of  the  age  in  this  respect,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  show, 
beyond  dispute,  the  prevalence  of  the  custom  in  his  days.  "  Ac- 
cording to  the  condition,  disposition,  and  age  of  each,  the  delay  of 
baptism  is  peculiarly  advantageous,  especially  in  the  case  of  little 
children,  parvulos.  ^Miy  should  the  godfathers  [of  these  baptized 
children]  be  brought  into  danger  ?  For  they  may  fail  by  death  to 
fulfil  their  promises,  or  through  the  perverseness  of  the  child.  Our 
Lord,  indeed,  says,  '  Forbid  them  not  to  come  unto  me.'  Let  them 
come,  then,  when  of  adult  age.  Let  them  come  when  they  can  learn  ; 
when  they  are  taught  why  they  come.  Let  them  become  Chris- 
tians when  they  shall  have  learned  Christ.  Why  hasten  that  inno- 
cent age  to  the  forgiveness  of  sins  [by  baptism  ?]  In  worldly 
things  men  observe  greater  caution,  so  that  he  is  intrusted  with 
divine  things,  to  whom  those  of  earth  are  not  confided."* 

"  The  argument  of  Tertullian  is  plainly  this :  '  The  baptism,  espe- 
cially of  infant  children,  parvidos,  ought  to  be  delayed  until  they 

*  Pro  cujusque  personse  conditione  ac  dispositione,  etiam  astate,  cunctatio 
Ipaptismi  utilior  est ;  prtecipue  tamen  circa  parvulos.  Quid  enim  necesse  est, 
Bponsorcs  etiam  periculo  ingeri?  Quia  ct  ipsi,  per  mortalitatem  destituere  pro- 
missiones  suas  possunt,  et  proventu  maloe  indolis,  falli.  Ait  quidem  Doniinus, 
"Nolite  illos  proliibere  ad  me  venire."    Veniant  ergo,  dum  adolescunt.    Yeuiant. 


SEC.  VI.]  IXFANT    BAPTISM.  381 


have  attained  to  some  degree  of  intelligence.'  Why?  because  a 
bad  disposition  may  spring  up,  and  the  sponsors  (those  Avho  offered 
them  up  in  baptism,  and  became  responsible  for  their  religious  edu- 
cation and  their  good  behaviour)  be  thus  disappointed  and  fail  of 
performing  their  engagements.  The  whole  argument  clearly  shows, 
from  its  very  natm^e,  that  infants  must  be  intended,  parvulos.  If 
not,  why  did  they  need  sponsors  ?  They  could  engage  for  them- 
selves. Moreover,  if  adults  were  intended,  then  their  disposition 
would  have  already  sprung  up,  and  developed  itself;  and  what 
danger  would  there  have  been  of  the  disappointment  which  Tertul- 
lian  fears  ? 

''The  whole  passage,  by  the  most  certain  implication,  shows  that 
the  'little  ones'  (jmrvulos)  were  such  as  had  not  developed  their 
disposition,  and  such  as  did  not  and  could  not  stand  sponsors  for 
themselves.  Now  Tertullian  cautioned  the  sponsors  not  to  take 
such  engagements  upon  themselves,  as  all  their  efforts  to  fulfil  them 
might  be  frustrated. 

*'  This  passage  clearly  shows  that  Infant  Baptism  was  commonly 
practised  at  the  time  when  Tertullian  lived,  that  is,  a  hundred  years 
after  the  apostles. 

"This  appears  from  the  reasoning.  He  notices  a  text  which  was 
doubtless  appealed  to  by  those  who  were  accustomed  to  baptize 
their  children.  Our  Lord  says,  indeed,  forbid  them  (parvulos)  not 
to  come  unto  me.  The  force  of  this  he  feels  it  necessary  to  parry : 
'  Let  them  come,  then,'  he  says,  '  when  they  are  grown  up :  let 
them  come  when  they  learn  :  [let  them  come]  when  they  are  taught 
whither  they  are  coming.'  All  this  shows  beyond  any  reasonable 
doubt,  that  Tertullian  was  attacking  the  custom  of  bringing  chil- 
dren to  be  baptized  before  they  were  grown  up,  or  had  been  taught 
whether  they  were  to  come  in  baptism  ;  that  is,  that  he  was  attack- 
ing the  custom  of  having  them  baptized  in  an  infantile  state.  This 
must  be  admitted,  or  there  is  no  sense  in  the  passage.  And  what 
follows  makes  it,  if  possible,  still  more  clear  that  he  was  opposing 
such  a  custom. 

"'Let  them  become  Christians,'  he  says,  'when  they  are  able  to 
know  Christ.'  Their  being  devoted  to  Christ  in  baptism  he  repre- 
sents as  their  becoming  Christians  ;  and  he  objects  to  their  becom- 

dum  discunt;  dum,  quo  veniant,  docentur.  Fiant  Christiani  quum  Christum 
nosse  potuerint.  Quid  festinat  innocens  aetas  ad  remissionem  peccatorum  * 
Cautius  agitur  in  secularibus ;  ut  cui  substantia  terrena  non  creditur,  divina 
credatur. — De  Baptismo,  c.  xviii.     Comp.  Works  of  L.  Woods,  D.D.,  lee.  116. 


382  BAPTISM.  [chap.  XIX. 

ing  Christians  at  any  age,  when  they  were  incapahle  of  knowing 
Christ.  Again  he  says,  '  Why  should  those  who  are  of  an  age 
that  is  innocent  be  eager  for  remission  of  sins  ?'  That  is,  Why 
should  those  who  are  so  young  as  to  be  incapable  of  sinning,  be 
eager  to  obtain  forgiveness  ? — as  he  thought  was  done  by  baptism. 
He  goes  on  with  his  objection  against  the  practice  of  infant  bap- 
tism. 'Men  act  with  more  caution,'  he  says,  'in  temporal  mat- 
ters. Worldly  substance  is  not  committed  to  those  to  whom  divine 
things  are  intrusted.'  That  is,  little  children,  as  all  agree,  are 
not  to  be  intrusted  with  worldly  substance ;  and  yet  you  intrust 
them  with  divine  things,  which  are  so  much  more  important. 

"  Still,  not  content  with  all  this,  he  repeats  an  idea  which  he  had 
before  suggested.  '  Let  them  know  how  to  seek  for  salvation,  that 
you  may  appear  to  give  to  them  who  ask.'  That  is,  you  have  been 
accustomed  to  give  baptism  to  those  who  could  not  ask  for  it.  Dis- 
continue this  practice,  and  give  baptism  to  those  only  who  are 
capable  of  requesting  it  for  themselves. 

"He  finally  urges  delay  in  administering  baptism  to  unmarried 
persons,  on  account  of  their  being  peculiarly  exposed  to  tempta- 
tion. He  does  not  forbid  baptism  in  their  case,  but  urges  the  post- 
ponement of  it  until  they  are  either  married  or  established  in  habits 
of  continence.  He  says,  '  If  any  understand  the  weight  of  bap- 
tismal obligations,  they  will  be  more  fearful  about  taking  them 
than  about  putting  them  off.' 

"From  this  famous,  singular,  and  controverted  passage  in  Tertul- 
lian,  it  is  then  perfectly  clear,  that  there  was  in  his  day  a  practice 
of  baptizing  infants,  those  who  had  and  could  have  no  knowledge 
of  Christ ;  that  he  was  himself  strongly  opposed  to  the  practice ; 
and  that  he  was  opposed  because  he  thought  that  while  baptism 
secured  the  forgiveness  of  all  the  sins  previously  committed,  the 
sins  committed  after  baptism  exposed  the  soul  to  the  utmost  peril. 
It  was  on  this  account  that  he  would  have  baptism  delayed  in  re- 
spect to  all  those  who  would  be  particularly  liable  to  temptation 
and  to  sin,  which  he  considered  to  be  the  case  with  those  who  were 
unmarried,  and  those  who  were  in  infancy.  This  was  at  the  bot- 
tom of  his  zeal  for  delaying  baptism  in  regard  to  infants  and  others. 
And  it  all  implies  that  the  practice  against  which  he  argued  was 
common.     Otherwise,  why  did  he  so  earnestly  oppose  it?" 

But  why  did  not  Tertullian,  in  his  zeal  against  infant  baptism, 
employ  another  and  most  conclusive  argument  ?  Why  not  say  this 
practice  is  a  dangerous  innovation,  a  fiction  of  the  day  ?     It  was 


SEC.  VI.]  INFANT   BAPTISM.  883 

unknown  fifty  years  ago ;  unknown  to  the  apostolic  churches,  un- 
known to  the  apostles  themselves.  From  the  beginning  it  was  not 
so.  Ye  know  the  teaching  of  the  apostles.  Ye  know  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  churches  ;  ye  know  it  was  not  so.  Such  an  argument 
against  the  object  of  his  aversion  would  have  been  conclusive,  and 
must  have  suggested  itself  to  this  adroit  tactician.  Why  did  he 
not  use  it  ?  Plainly,  because  he  could  not.  He  could  only  reason 
from  his  own  principles,  and  pass  in  silence  the  mightier  argument 
of  the  authority  and  usage  of  the  apostolic  churches,  because  this 
was  directly  opposed  to  him. 

"  His  condemning  the  practice,  not  only  proves  its  previous 
existence  ;  it  proves  more.  It  proves  that  this  was  no  innovation. 
When  a  man  condemns  a  practice,  he  is  naturally  desirous  to  sup- 
port his  peculiar  views  by  the  strongest  arguments.  Could  Tertul- 
lian,  therefore,  have  shown  that  the  practice  was  of  recent  origin, 
that  it  had  been  introduced  in  his  own  day,  or  even  at  any  time 
subsequent  to  the  lives  of  the  apostles,  we  have  every  reason  to 
believe  that  he  would  have  availed  himself  of  a  ground  so  obvious, 
so  conclusive.  It  proves  still  further,  that  the  baptism  of  infants 
was  the  general  practice  of  the  church  in  Tertullian's  time.  His 
opinion  is  his  own.  It  is  that  of  a  dissentient  from  the  universal 
body  of  professing  Christians.  He  never  pretends  to  say  that  any 
part  of  the  church  held  or  acted  upon  it." 

Origen  and  Tertullian  belonged  to  the  African  churches,  though 
the  former  really  represents  the  Eastern  church ;  and  the  latter, 
the  Western.  We  have  also  the  authority  of  another,  a  native  of 
the  East,  but  a  minister  of  one  of  the  Western  churches — Irenaeus, 
a  disciple  of  Polycarp  of  Asia  Minor,  and  the  disciple  of  John.  At 
an  advanced  age,  he  says  of  Polycarp,  "  I  remember  his  discourse 
to  the  people  concerning  the  conversations  he  had  with  John  the 
Apostle,  and  others  who  had  seen  our  Lord ;  how  he  rehearsed 
their  discourses,  and  what  he  heard  them  who  were  eye-witnesses 
of  the  Word  of  Life  say  of  our  Lord,  and  of  his  miracles  and  doc- 
trine." This  proves  that  Polycarp  had  diligently  inquired  from 
those  who  could  tell  him,  concerning  our  Lord  and  his  doctrine. 
He  had  made  himself  master  of  whatever  was  to  be  known.  It 
proves  also  that  such  traditions  were  rejyeated  hy  liim  in  Ids  public 
discourses  to  the  people  ;  the  best  of  all  possible  modes  of  instruc- 
tion. Moreover,  these  discourses  made  the  deepest  impression  on 
the  memory  of  Irenajus,  who  expressly  mentions  "reborn  infants." 

Irenaeus  was  still  living  in  the  childhood  of  Origen  and  Tertul- 


)84  BAPTISM.  [chap.  XIX. 


lian,  and  able  to  testify  of  the  traditions  of  the  apostles  and  the 
uses  of  the  churches.  This  testimony  he  has  given  obscurely  in 
one  vexed  passage,  which  has  been  a  thousand  times  claimed  and 
rejected  by  men  of  equal  learning  and  research.  It  runs  as  fol- 
lows : — He  represents  Christ  as  sanctifying  every  several  age  by 
the  likeness  it  has  to  himself,  for  he  came  to  save  all ;  "  all  who 
by  him  are  reborn  of  God,  infants  and  little  ones,  and  children  and 
youths,  and  persons  of  mature  age ;  therefore  he  passed  through 
these  several  ages.  For  infants  he  was  made  an  infant,  sanctify- 
ing infants ;  for  little  ones,  he  became  a  little  one,  sanctifying 
thereby  those  of  that  age,  and  also  being  to  them  an  example  of 
goodness,  holiness,  and  dutifulness."  Observe  the  variation  in  his 
language.  He  does  not  say  that  Jesus  was  an  example  to  infants, 
they  being  incapable  of  being  benefited  by  example,  which  clearly 
indicates  that  they  were  truly  infants,  and  not  men  just  converted. 

The  relevancy  of  this  passage  turns  wholly  on  the  meaning,  as 
understood  by  Irenoeus,  of  the  phrase  regenerated  to  Grod.  If  in 
this  expression  the  author  has  reference  to  baptism,  he  intends  to 
say,  that  Christ  came  to  save  all  who  through  him  should  be  re- 
generated to  God  hy  baptism  ;  then  plainly  infant  children  are  the 
subjects  of  baptism,  and  are  in  this  way,  and  by  means  of  this  ordi- 
nance, recovered  and  saved  by  Christ.  But  it  has  been  shown  by 
WTiters  on  this  subject,  that  this  form  of  expression,  renascuntur  in 
Deum,  regenerated  unto  God,  was  familiar  to  Iren^eus,  and  to  the 
fathers  generally,  as  denoting  baptistn.  Irenseus  himself,  in  refer- 
ring to  our  Lord's  commission  to  his  disciples,  says,  "  When  he 
gave  his  disciples  this  commission  of  regenerating  unto  God,  he 
said  unto  them,  '  Go  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the 
]iame  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,' "  lib. 
iii.  c.  xix.  Here  the  commission  of  regenerating  unto  God  is  sup- 
posed to  relate  to  the  act  of  baptizing.  Baptism,  according  to  the 
usus  loqueridi  of  the  age,  was  regeneration.  This,  Neander  him- 
self admits,  in  commenting  on  the  above  passage  from  Irenaeus, 
which  he  receives  as  valid  and  incontrovertible  proof  of  the  practice 
of  infant  baptism  at  this  early  age.  How  else  can  an  unconscious 
infant  be  regenerated,  save  by  baptism,  according  to  the  views  then 
prevalent  respecting  this  ordinance  ? 

The  authority  of  Justin  Martyr  is  relied  on  by  many.  In  his 
second  apology,  written  about  A.  D.  IGO,  he  says,  "  There  are  many 
persons  of  both  sexes,  some  sixty,  some  seventy,  and  some  eighty 
years  old,  who  were  made  disciples  to  Christ  in  their  childhood, 


SEC.  VI.]  INFANT   BAPTISM.  385 

at  EX  TtaihidV  ifia^rttev^YiGav  to  Xptcrroj.^  Some,  or  all  of 
these,  were  baptized  in  the  age  of  the  apostles,  and  several  con- 
siderations are  urged  from  this  author  himself,  to  show  that  the 
phrase  ix  TtaiSav  relates  strictly  to  children  in  their  infancy.  It 
would,  indeed,  be  the  appropriate  and  natural  expression,  if  such 
were  his  meaning;  but  it  is  also  applicable  to  children  and  youth 
of  a  greater  age. 

In  his  dialogue  with  Tryphon  the  Jew,  Justin  contrasts  and  com- 
pares baptism  with  circumcision.  We  draw  near  to  God  by  him, 
for  we  have  not  received  circumcision  by  the  flesh,  but  that  which 
is  spiritual,  as  Enoch  and  others  observed.  This  we,  though  sin- 
ners, receive  through  the  compassion  of  God  by  baptism,  which  all 
are  permitted  to  receive.  Other  authorities  are  sometimes  drawn 
from  the  Shepherd  of  Hermas'  and  Clemens  Romanus  f  but  these 
are  too  equivocal  to  be  relied  on  in  an  argument  of  this  kind. 
Tenehris  nigreseunt  omnia  cireum. 

The  foregoing  are  the  most  important  historical  authorities  in 
favour  of  infant  baptism  as  an  usage  of  the  primitive  church.  They 
have  long  been  before  the  public.  They  have  been  a  thousand 
times  summoned  and  marshalled  for  the  onset,  and  a  thousand 
times  contested,  and  still  the  conflict  continues  as  undecided  as 
ever.  There  they  are,  however,  on  the  records  of  history,  unchal- 
lenged, unimpeached,  and  there  they  will  be  for  ever — the  unhappy 
subject  of  controversy  and  division  to  kindred  in  Christ  who,  else, 
had  been  one  in  sentiment  and  in  name,  as  they  still  are  in  all 
other  essential  points  of  faith  and  practice. 

The  authorities  which  have  been  cited  carry  back  the  ordinance 
of  infant  baptism  to  a  period  of  less  than  one  hundred  years  from 
the  age  of  the  apostles.  When  was  it  introduced,  if  not  by  the 
apostles  ?  And  by  whose  authority,  if  not  by  theirs  f  To  these 
important  inquiries  all  history  is  silent,  assigning  no  time  for  its 
first  introduction,  nor  revealing  the  least  excitement,  controversy, 
or  opposition  to  an  innovation  so  remarkable  as  this  must  have  been 
if  it  was  obtruded  upon  the  churches  without  the  authority  of  the 
apostles.  How,  especially,  could  this  have  been  effected  in  that  age 
which  adhered  so  strictly,  even  in  the  smallest  things,  to  ancient 
usage  and  authority,  and  which  was  so  near  to  the  apostles  that 
their  usages  and  instructions  must  have  been  distinctly  known  by 
tradition  ?  Or  how  could  the  change  have  been  eff"ected  in  so  short 
a  space  of  time  ?  Hath  a  nation  changed  their  gods  in  a  day  ? 
Have  they  in  a  day  changed  any  cherished  institution  ?     Far  from 

25 


386  BAPTISM.  [chap.  XIX. 


it.  Their  traditionary  usages  are  a  fair  record  of  their  former  in- 
stitutions. We  have  received  by  tradition  and  usage,  aside  from 
all  historical  records,  the  sentiments  and  practice  of  our  pilgrim 
forefathers  in  relation  to  baptism  ;  while  the  dissent  of  Roger  Wil- 
liams is  recorded  in  the  institutions  of  another  church,  in  linea- 
ments more  lasting  than  the  perishable  records  of  the  historian ; 
and  yet  Tertullian,  Origen,  and  Iren^us  were  removed  from  the 
apostolic  age  but  about  half  the  distance  at  which  we  stand  from 
that  of  our  forefathers. 

There  is  yet  one  argument  that  is  strictly  historical,  and  may, 
with  propriety,  be  mentioned  in  this  place.  It  is  drawn  from  the 
practice  of  household  baptism,  as  related  in  the  Scriptures.  This 
argument  rests  not  merely  upon  the  inquiry  whether,  in  the  in- 
stances recorded  in  the  New  Testament,  there  were  children  be- 
longing to  those  particular  households ;  but  upon  these  examples, 
Avhich  evidently  authorize  the  administration  of  the  ordinance  to 
families  collectively.  The  repeated  and  familiar  mention  of  house- 
hold baptism,  implies  that  it  was  a  common  usage  to  administer  the 
ordinance  to  whole  families  or  households  collectively.  Now  if  this 
is  an  usage  authorized  by  the  example  of  the  apostles,  it  is  a  valid 
argument  for  infant  baptism.  Children  usually  constitute  a  part 
of  a  household;  and  baptism  hy  households,  of  necessity,  implies 
infant  baptism. 

Of  these  household  baptisms  we  have  several  instances  in  the 
New  Testament.  Lydia,  a  native  of  Thyatira,  was  settled  at  Phi- 
lippi,  as  appears  from  her  having  a  house  at  which  she  entertained 
Paul  and  his  party,  Silas,  Luke,  &c.  Her  heart  was  opened  that  she 
attended  to  the  things  spoken  by  Paul,  no  intimation  being  given 
of  the  faith  or  conversion  of  any  other  member  of  her  family  until 
her  baptism.  She  was  baptized,  and  her  household,  i.  e.  her  family. 
Acts  xvi.  15.  The  jailer  was  also  baptized,  he  and  all  his,  straight- 
way. Acts  xvi.  33.  Thus  the  church  at  Philippi,  just  organized 
by  the  apostles,  and  consisting  apparently  of  few  members,  oflfers 
two  instances  of  household  baptism,  or  baptism  by  families.  To 
these  may  be  added  the  family  of  Cornelius.  Acts  x.  48. 

At  Corinth,  also,  tivo  families  were  baptized,  that  of  Crispus  and 
that  of  Stephanas.  The  latter  was  "the  first  fruits  of  Achaia," 
Acts  xviii.  8 ;  1  Cor.  i.  14-16.  By  a  comparison  of  these  passages 
it  appears,  as  Taylor  has  remarked,  this  Cripsus,  the  head  of  his 
family,  was  baptized  by  Paul,  separately  from  his  family,  which 
was  not  baptized  by  Paul ;  and  that  the  family  of  Stephanas  was 


SEC.  VI.]  INFANT   BAPTISM.  387 


haptized  by  Paul,  separately  from  its  head  or  father,  wlio  himself 
was  not  baptized  by  Paul,  directly  contrary  to  what  we  have  re- 
marked of  Crispus." 

"  But  if  we  admit  that  the  family  of  Crispus  was  haptized,  because 
we  find  it  registered  as  believing,  then  we  must  admit  the  same 
of  all  other  families  which  we  find  marked  as  Christians,  though 
they  be  not  expressly  described  as  baptized.  That  of  Onesiphorus, 
1  Tim.  i.  16,  18,  and  iv.  19 ;  which  the  apostle  distinguishes  by 
most  hearty  good-will /or  their  father' s  sake,  not  for  their  own,  and 
to  which  he  sends  a  particular  salutation.  Also  that  of  Aristobulus, 
and  that  of  Narcissus,  Rom.  xvi.  10,  11 ;  which  are  described  as 
being  'in  Christ.'  We  have  this  evidence  on  this  subject:  four 
Christian  families  recorded  as  baptized — that  of  Cornelius,  of  Lydia, 
of  the  jailer,  and  of  Stephanas.  Two  Christian  families  not  noticed 
as  baptized — that  of  Crispus,  and  of  Onesiphorus.  Ttvo  Christian 
families  mentioned  neither  as  families  nor  baptized — that  of  Aristo- 
bulus, and  of  Narcissus.  Eight  Christian  families,  and  therefore 
b*dptized :  although  as  there  was  no  such  thing  previously  as  a 
Christian  family,  there  could  be  no  children  of  converts  to  receive 
the  ordinance. 

"Have  we  eight  instances  of  the  administration  of  the  Lord's 
supper  ?  Not  half  the  number.  Have  we  eight  cases  of  the  change 
of  the  Christian  Sabbath  from  the  Jewish  ?  Not,  perhaps,  one-fourth 
of  the  number.  Yet  those  services  are  vindicated  by  the  practice 
of  the  apostles  as  recorded  in  the  New  Testament.  How  then  can 
we  deny  their  practice  on  the  subject  of  infant  baptism,  when  it  is 
established  by  a  series  of  more  numerous  instances  than  can  possi- 
bly be  found  in  support  of  any  doctrine,  principle,  or  practice  de- 
rived from  the  practice  of  the  apostles  ?  Is  there  any  other  case, 
besides  that  of  baptism,  in  which  we  would  take  families  at  hazard, 
and  deny  the  existence  of  young  children  in  them  ?  Take  eight 
families  at  a  venture  in  the  street,  or  eight  pews  containing  fami- 
lies in  a  place  of  worship :  they  will  afford  more  than  one  young 
child."' 


§  7.    LIMITATIONS    AND    EXCEPTIONS. 

1.  It  was  enacted  that  none  but  the  living  should  be  baptized — a 
law  which  intimates  that  this  ordinance  was  sometimes  administered 
to  the  dead.  Such,  indeed,  was  the  custom  of  the  church  in  Africa 
in  the  fourth  century,  as  appears  from  the  decrees  of  their  councils 


388  BAPTISM.  [chap.  XIX. 

in  which  it  is  forbidden.^    It  appears  also  to  have  been  the  practice 
of  some  of  the  Cataphrygians  or  Montanists.^ 

2.  The  vicarious  baptism  of  the  living  for  the  dead  may  also  be 
mentioned  in  this  place.  Several  religious  sects,  particularly  the 
Marcionites,  practised  this  rite,  alleging  for  their  authority  a  mis- 
construction of  the  apostle's  language  in  1  Cor.  xv.  29.  But  the 
custom  is  severely  censured  by  Tertullian,^  and  by  Chrysostom,* 
who  describes  the  ceremony  as  a  ridiculous  theatrical  farce.  Epipha- 
nius,^  Theodoret,  and  others  understand  the  passage  in  question 
from  1  Cor.  xv.  29,  to  relate  to  the  practice  of  baptizing  catechu- 
mens who  might  be  near  to  death  before  the  completion  of  their 
term  of  probation  and  preparation. 

3.  The  offspring  of  untimely  and  monstrous  births  appear  not  to 
have  been  the  subjects  of  baptism  in  the  ancient  church.  Such 
baptisms  began  in  the  thirteenth  century  to  be  the  subject  of  dis- 
cussion in  ecclesiastical  councils.'' 

4.  It  was  a  disputed  point  in  the  ancient  church,  whether  or  not 
demoniacs  and  maniacs  were  proper  subjects  of  baptism.  The  rule 
in  these  cases  seems  to  have  been  that  such  persons  should  not  re- 
ceive baptism  until  they  were  healed  of  their  malady,  although  they 
were  permitted,  in  the  mean  time,  to  attend  at  the  preaching  of  the 
word,  and  at  public  prayers,  under  the  superintendence  of  the  exor- 
cists ;  and  were  ranked  in  the  first  class  of  catechumens.  Cyprian 
supposed  that  evil  spirits  were  expelled  by  baptism  ;^  but  he  ap- 
pears not  to  have  authorized  the  administration  of  the  ordinance  to 
such,  except  in  case  of  sickness,  or  of  great  bodily  weakness.  These 
energumens  were,  however,  in  some  instances  permitted  to  partake 
of  the  Lord's  supper.  And  this  circumstance  affords  the  strongest 
proof  that  they  were  sometimes  baptized.*  Persons  in  the  near 
approach  of  death  were,  in  almost  all  cases,  permitted  to  receive 
this  ordinance.^ 

5.  Baptism  administered  in  cases  of  extreme  sickness,  without  the 
consent  or  consciousness  of  the  patient,  was  considered  valid ;  and 
yet  such  persons,  as  a  rebuke  to  them  for  delaying  their  duty  in  this 
respect,  if  they  recovered,  were  not  usually  eligible  to  the  highest 
offices  of  the  church.^" 

6.  The  deaf  and  dumb  were  received  to  this  ordinance,  provided 
they  gave  credible  evidence  of  their  faith. ^' 

7.  In  the  sixth  and  seventh  centuries  it  became  customary  to 
compel  many  Jews  and  pagans  to  receive  baptism ;  and  some  in- 
stances occur  of  compulsory  baptism  of  a  date  still  earlier ;  but 


SEC.  VII.]  LIMITATIONS   AND    EXCEPTIONS.  389 


such  instances  of  violence  were  not  authorized  by  the  church.'^  In 
general,  the  free  will  and  consent  of  the  individual  was  required  as 
a  condition  of  his  baptism.  In  the  case  of  infants,  the  request  of 
their  parents  was  regarded  as  their  own  until  they  arrived  at  years 
of  discretion,  Avhen  they  were  expected  to  acknowledge  their  own 
baptism  by  confirmation. 

8.  Baptism  was  administered  whenever  a  reasonable  doubt  existed 
as  to  its  having  been  administered.^^ 

9.  Children  of  unbelieving  parents,  when  by  any  means  submit- 
ted to  the  supervision  or  guardianship  of  professed  Christians,  Avere 
baptized. .  This  was  esteemed  a  great  favour  to  such  children,  and 
was  especially  bestowed  upon  the  offspring  of  the  Jews. 

10.  Not  only  were  the  openly  immoral  excluded  from  baptism, 
but  generally  all  who  were  engaged  in  any  immoral  and  unlawful 
pursuits,  such  as  those  who  ministered  to  idolatry  by  manufacturing 
images  or  other  articles  for  purposes  of  superstition,"  stage-players,''' 
gladiators,  wrestlers,  and  all  who  were  addicted  to  theatrical  exhibi- 
tions ;  ^®  astrologers,  diviners,  conjurers,  fortune-tellers,  dancing- 
masters,  strolling  minstrels,  etc.^'^ 

The  reason  for  all  these  prohibitions  lay  in  the  immoral  and 
idolatrous  tendency  of  the  practices  to  which  these  persons  were 
addicted.  Many  of  these  practices  were  immoral  and  scandalous 
even  among  the  heathen.  Tertullian  observes  "that  they  who 
professed  these  arts  were  noted  with  infamy,  degraded,  and  denied 
many  privileges,  driven  from  court,  from  pleading,  from  the  senate, 
from  the  order  of  knighthood,  and  all  other  honours  in  the  Roman 
city  and  commonwealth.'^  Which  is  also  confirmed  by  St.  Austin, 
who  says  that  no  actor  was  ever  allowed  to  enjoy  the  freedom  or 
any  other  honourable  privilege  of  a  citizen  of  Rome.'^  Therefore, 
since  this  was  so  infamous  and  scandalous  a  trade  even  among  the 
heathen,  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  church  would  admit  none  of  this 
calling  to  baptism,  without  obliging  them  first  to  bid  adieu  to  so  ig- 
nominious a  profession.  To  have  done  otherwise,  would  have  been 
to  expose  herself  to  reproach.  It  would  have  given  occasion  to  the 
adversary  to  blaspheme,  if  men  of  such  lewd  and  profligate  practices 
had  been  admitted  to  the  privileges  of  the  church,  who  were  ex- 
cluded from  the  liberties  of  the  city  and  the  honors  of  the  common- 
wealth. The  learned  Hieronymus  Mercurialis^*'  observes  that  'the 
several  sorts  of  heathen  games  and  plays  were  instituted  upon  a 
religious  account,  in  honour  of  the  gods ;  and  men  thought  they 


390  BAPTISM.  [chap.  XIX. 

were  doing  a  grateful  thing  to  them  while  they  were  engaged  in 
such  exercises.' " 

"With  good  reason,  therefore,  the  church  refused  to  admit  any  of 
this  calling  to  baptism,  unless  they  first  abandoned  their  ignomini- 
ous pursuits.  The  ancient  fathers  were  particularly  severe  in  their 
invectives  against  theatrical  exhibitions.  They  declared  it  incom- 
patible with  the  piety  and  the  purity  of  Christian  life,  either  to 
engage  in  them  as  an  actor  or  to  attend  them  as  a  spectator.  Ter- 
tullian,  in  speaking  of  a  Christian  woman  who  returned  from  the 
theatre  possessed  with  a  devil,  makes  the  unclean  spirit,  on  being 
asked  how  he  dared  presume  to  make  such  an  attempt  upon  a  be- 
liever, reply  "that  he  had  a  good  right  to  her,  because  he  found 
her  upon  his  own  ground."  ^^ 

The  profane  custom  of  baptizing  bells,  etc.,  is  a  superstition  that 
was  unknown  to  the  primitive  church.  It  is  first  mentioned  with 
censure  in  the  Capitulars  of  Charlemagne  in  the  eighth  century,  and 
became  prevalent  in  the  later  centuries. 

§  8.    OF    MINISTERS    OF    BAPTISM. 

Great  importance  has  ever  been  attached  to  this  ordinance  as 
the  initiatory  rite  of  admission  to  the  church.  But  the  duty  of  ad- 
ministering the  ordinance  does  not  appear  to  have  been  restricted 
to  any  ofl&cer  of  the  church.  John  the  Baptist  himself  baptized 
them  that  came  to  him.  But  our  Lord  baptized  not,  but  his  disci- 
ples. John  iv.  2.  There  is,  indeed,  a  tradition  that  our  Saviour 
baptized  St.  Peter  ;  that  Peter  baptized  Andrew,  James,  and  John ; 
and  that  these  disciples  administered  the  rite  to  others.*  To  this 
tradition  Roman  Catholic  writers  attach  much  importance ;  but  it 
rests  on  no  good  foundation. 

In  some  instances  recorded  in  the  New  Testament,  baptism  was 
administered  under  the  sanction  and  by  the  immediate  order  of 
the  apostles.  But  it  is  remarkable  that  the  apostles  themselves  are 
seldom  related  to  have  administered  baptism.  No  intimation  is 
given  that  Peter  assisted  in  baptizing  the  three  thousand,  nor  is  it 
probable  that  the  ordinance  could  have  been  administered  to  them 
by  himself  alone.  Acts  ii.  41.  He  only  commanded  Cornelius  and 
his  family  to  be  baptized.  Acts  x.  48.  Paul,  in  1  Cor.  i.  12-17, 
and  Peter,  in  Acts  x.  36-48,  evidently  describes  the  administration 
of  baptism  as  a  subordinate  office,  compared  with  that  of  preaching 
peace  by  Jesus  Christ. 


SEC.  VIII.]  MINISTERS    OF    BAPTISM.  391 


On  the  "whole,  we  learn  from  the  New  Testament  the  following 
particulars : — 1.  Our  Lord  himself  did  not  baptize,  but  he  intrusted 
his  apostles  and  disciples  with  the  administration  of  this  rite.  2.  The 
apostles,  though  they  sometimes  administered  baptism  themselves, 
usually  committed  this  office  to  others.  3.  It  cannot  be  determined 
whether  other  persons,  either  ministers  or  laymen,  were  allowed  to 
baptize  without  a  special  commission.  4.  Philip,  the  deacon,  bap- 
tized in  Samaria  men  and  women,  Simon  Magus,  and  the  Ethiopian 
eunuch,  although  no  mention  is  made  of  any  peculiar  commission 
for  this  pm-pose.  This  he  appears  to  have  received  at  his  conse- 
cration to  his  office,  as  related  Acts  vi.  3-7. 

Justin  Martyr,  in  his  description  of  this  ordinance,  says  nothing 
of  the  person  by  whom  it  was  administered.  But  in  speaking  of 
the  Lord's  supper  in  the  same  connection,  he  ascribes  both  the  ad- 
ministration of  that  ordinance  and  the  exposition  of  the  Scriptures 
to  the  president  of  the  brethren;  from  which  the  supposition  would 
seem  not  altogether  improbable  that  baptism  was  not  administered 
by  the  presiding  officer  of  the  church. 

We  have,  however,  good  evidence  that  after  the  second  century 
the  bishop  was  regarded  as  the  regular  minister  of  baptism.  Ter- 
tullian  says  expressly  that  "  the  bishop  has  the  power  of  adminis- 
tering baptism ;  and  next  in  order  the  presbyters  and  deacons, 
though  not  without  the  sanction  of  the  bishop,  that  thus  the  order 
and  peace  of  the  church  may  be  preserved."*  He  adds,  that  under 
other  circumstances  the  laity  may  exercise  this  right ;  but  advises 
that  it  should  be  done  with  reverence  and  modesty,  and  only  in 
cases  of  necessity.  Women  are  utterly  forbidden  by  him  to  exer- 
cise this  right.  The  Apostolical  Constitutions  accord  this  right  to 
bishops  and  presbyters,  the  deacons  assisting  them ;  but  denies  the 
right  to  readers  and  singers,  and  other  inferior  officers  of  the 
church.^  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  here  bishops  and  presbyters 
are  placed  on  an  equality,  while  deacons  are  made  subordinate. 

The  sentiments  of  the  Eastern  church  were  coincident  with  those 
of  the  Western  in  relation  to  the  ministers  of  baptism. 

The  officiating  minister,  as  well  as  the  candidate,  was  expected 
to  prepare  himself  for  performing  this  service  by  fasting,  prayer, 
and,  sometimes,  washing  of  the  hands  f  and  to  be  clothed  in  white.'* 


'■''  Baptismum  dandi  habet  jus  summus  sacerdos,  qui  est  episcopus  ;  dehinc 
presbyteri  et  diaconi ;  non  tameu  sine  episcopi  auctoi'itate  propter  ecclesiae  bono- 
rem  ;  quo  salvo,  salva  pax  est. — De  Bap.  c.  xvii. 


392  *  BAPTISM.  [chap.  XIX. 


Lay  baptism,  of  whicli  frequent  mention  is  made  in  the  early 
history  of  the  church,  was  undoubtedly  treated  as  valid  by  the  laws 
and  usages  of  the  ancient  church.  It  is  equally  certain,  however, 
that  it  was  not  authorized  as  a  general  rule,  but  only  admitted  as 
an  exception  in  cases  of  emergency. 

§  9.    OF    THE    TIMES    OF    BAPTISM. 

The  time  of  administering  the  rite  was  subject  to  various  changes 
from  age  to  age,  of  which  the  most  important  are  given  below  in 
their  chronological  order : 

1.  In  the  apostolic  age  the  administration  of  this  ordinance  was 
subject  to  no  limitations  either  of  time  or  place.  Acts  ii.  4 ;  viii. 
38 ;  ix.  18  ;  x.  47  ;  xvi.  33, 

2.  The  account  of  Justin  Martyr  gives  no  definite  information 
on  this  point ;  but  it  would  seem  from  this  author  that  baptism  was 
regarded  as  a  public  and  solemn  act,  suitable  to  be  performed  in 
any  assembly  convened  for  religious  worship.  Tertullian,  however, 
speaks  of  Easter  and  Whitsuntide,  corresponding  to  the  Passover 
and  Pentecost  of  the  Jews,  as  the  most  appropriate  seasons  for  ad- 
ministering this  rite,  and  appeals,  not  to  tradition,  but  to  argu- 
ments of  his  own,  in  confirmation  of  his  opinion.^  Other  writers 
refer  to  apostolical  tradition  and  an  ancient  rule  of  the  church.- 

3.  In  the  sixth  century,  the  whole  period  between  the  Passover 
and  Pentecost,  and  Easter  and  Whitsuntide  above  mentioned,  were 
established  by  several  councils  as  the  regular  times  for  baptism, 
cases  of  necessity  only  being  excepted.*  The  ordinance,  however, 
was  usually  administered  by  common  consent,  not  by  any  authority 
of  the  church,  during  the  night  preceding  these  great  festivals. 
Easter-eve,  or  the  night  preceding  the  great  Sabbath,  was  con- 
sidered the  most  sacred  of  all  seasons.  And  this  period,  while  our 
Lord  lay  entombed  in  his  grave,  and  just  before  his  resurrection, 
was  regarded  as  most  appropriate  for  this  solemn  ordinance,  which 
was  supposed  to  be  deliverance  from  the  power  of  sin  and  consecra- 
tion to  newness  of  life,^     Comp.  Rom.  vi.  3. 

The  illuminations  on  this  night,  which  are  mentioned  by  several 
writers,  had  special  reference  to  the  spiritual  illumination  supposed 
to  be  imparted  by  this  ordinance,  which  was  denominated  ^oyTiGiia, 
(poTiO^oi;,  ^oTfCTriptor,  illuminatioyi,  as  has  been  alread}^  men- 
tioned in  §  1.  For  similar  reasons,  baptism,  which  was  considered 
peculiarly  the  sacrament  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  was  regarded  as  ap- 


SEC.  X.]  PLACE   OF   BAPTISM.  393 

propriate  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  Whitsuntide,  commemorative  of 
the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

4.  To  the  festivals  above  mentioned,  that  of  Epiphany  was  early 
added  as  a  third  baptismal  season ;  the  day  on  which  our  Lord 
received  baptism  being  regarded  as  peculiarly  suited  to  the  cele- 
bration of  this  ordinance.  It  appears  probable,  however,  from  a 
sermon  of  Chrysostom  on  this  festival,^  that  this  was  not  observed 
as  a  baptismal  season  by  the  churches  of  Antioch  and  Constanti- 
nople. Gregory  Nazianzen,  on  the  other  hand,  appears  to  have 
been  acquainted  with  the  custom  of  baptizing  on  this  day.  It  was 
also  observed  in  the  churches  of  Jerusalem  and  of  Africa.  In  Italy 
and  France  it  was  discountenanced. 

The  churches  of  France  and  Spain  were  accustomed  to  baptize 
at  Christmas  and  on  the  festivals  of  the  apostles  and  martyrs. 

The  observance  of  these  days  was  not  considered  by  the  churches 
as  essential  to  the  validity  of  baptism,  or  as  an  institution  of  Christ 
or  his  apostles,  but  as  a  becoming  and  useful  regulation.  "  Every 
day  is  the  Lord's,"  says  Tertullian,  "every  hour,  every  season  is 
proper  for  baptism."^ 

From  the  tenth  century  the  observance  of  stated  seasons  for 
baptism  fell  into  disuse,  though  a  preference  still  remained  for  the 
ancient  seasons.  Children  were  required  to  be  baptized  within  a 
month  from  their  birth,  at  eight  days  of  age,  or  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible. 

The  church  at  different  times  manifested  a  superstitious  regard 
for  different  hours  of  the  day,  choosing  sometimes  the  hours  of  our 
Saviour's  agony  on  the  cross ;  at  another,  the  hours  from  six  to 
twelve ;  and  at  another,  from  three  until  six  in  the  afternoon. 
These  in  times  fell  into  disuse.  In  Protestant  churches,  no  par- 
ticular hour  or  day  is  observed  for  the  celebration  of  baptism.  It 
is,  for  the  most  part,  administered  on  the  Sabbath,  during  divine 
worship,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  congregation.  If  upon  another 
day  of  the  week,  it  is  to  be  attended  with  appropriate  religious 
solemnities. 

§  10.    OF    THE    PLACE    OF    BAPTISM. 

All  the  requisite  information  in  regard  to  the  appropriate  place 
for  administering  this  ordinance,  may  be  arranged  under  three  dis- 
tinct periods  of  history: — 1.  The  first  ages  of  Christianity.  2.  The 
space  of  time  during  which  baptisteries  detached  from  the  churches 


394  BAPTISM.  [chap.  XIX. 


were  provided  for  this  purpose.  3.  The  period  after  the  disuse  of 
baptisteries,  and  of  stated  seasons  for  baptism. 

First  Period. — No  intimation  is  given  in  the  New  Testament  that 
anj  place  was  set  apart  for  the  administration  of  baptism.  John 
and  the  disciples  of  Jesus  baptized  in  Jordan.  John  iii.  22.  Bap- 
tism was  also  administered  in  other  streams  of  water,  Acts  vii.  36, 
37  ;  xvi.  1-16,  and  in  private  houses.  Acts  ix.  18  ;  x.  47,  48 ;  xvi. 
30-34.  Where  the  three  thousand  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  were 
baptized  is  uncertain. 

The  same  freedom  of  choice  was  also  allowed  in  the  age  immedi- 
ately succeeding  that  of  the  apostles.  Justin  Martyr  says  that  the 
candidates  were  led  out  to  some  place  where  there  was  water,^  and 
Clement  of  Rome  speaks  of  a  river,  a  fountain,  or  the  sea,  as  a 
suitable  place,  according  to  circumstances,  for  the  performance  of 
this  rite.^  Tertullian  says  that  "  it  was  immaterial  where  a  person 
was  baptized,  whether  in  the  sea,  or  in  standing  or  running  water, 
in  fountain,  lake,  or  river.  "^ 

Second  Period. — The  first  baptistery,  or  place  appropriated  for 
baptism,  of  which  any  mention  is  made,  occurs  in  a  biography  of 
the  fourth  century,  and  this  was  prepared  in  a  private  house. ^ 
Eusebius  probably  speaks  of  similar  baptisteries,  though  under  an- 
other narae.^  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  speaks  of  the  baptisteries  in  his 
day  as  divided  into  two  parts,  outer  and  inner.^  In  the  former 
part,  preparation  was  made  for  baptism ;  in  the  latter,  it  was  ad- 
ministered. Ambrose  speaks  of  a  similar  division  ;^  and  Augustin 
of  a  part  appropriated  to  women. ^  These  baptisteries  became  gene- 
ral in  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries.  They  were  sometimes  so  spa- 
cious that  ecclesiastical  councils  were  held  in  them.  Some  idea  of 
their  size  may  be  formed,  when  we  recollect  that  in  some  places,  as 
Antioch,  no  less  than  three  thousand  persons  of  both  sexes  received 
baptism  in  a  single  night.  The  laws  both  of  church  and  state  re- 
quired that  baptism  should  be  administered  only  in  these  places. 

The  common  name  of  these  edifices  was  l^aTltLGtr^pLOV.  It  is 
also  called  (pcitiGrr.piov,  aula  bajMsiJiatis,  xoT^v^l^r^^a,  ov  piscina, 
the  font,  etc. 

Each  diocese  had,  usually,  but  one  baptistery.  The  number, 
however,  was  sometimes  increased.  But  a  preference  was  uni- 
formly given  to  the  cathedral  baptistery.  This  was  styled  the 
another  church,  inasmuch  as  the  children  were  there  born  by  bap- 
tism.^ 

Third  Period. — In  process   of  time  these  baptisteries  became 


SEC.  XII.]  MODE    AND    FOKM    OF    BAPTISM.  395 


greatly  multiplied,  and  were  united  to  parish  churches,  or  rather, 
were  themselves  constituted  such.  The  precise  period  of  time  when 
this  change  took  place  cannot  be  determined.  In  general,  it  was 
after  the  prevalence  of  Christianity  and  of  infant  baptism,  when 
stated  seasons  of  baptism  were  discontinued,  and  the  right  of  ad- 
ministering the  ordinance  was  conceded  to  the  clergy  indiscrimi- 
nately. 

§  11.    OF    THE    ELEMENT    FOR    BAPTISM. 

The  church  with  great  uniformity  has  maintained  that  water  is 
the  only  appropriate  element  for  baptism.  But  several  of  the 
fathers  very  early  advanced  notions  respecting  the  actual  presence 
of  the  Spirit  in  the  water,  strikingly  analogous  to  the  modern  doc- 
trine of  transubstantiation,  and  sought  out  many  fanciful  reasons 
why  water  should  be  used  as  the  emblem  of  the  Spirit.  This  water 
acquired  in  their  opinion,  as  it  would  seem,  a  spiritual  virtue,  de- 
rived from  the  real  presence  of  the  Spirit  residing  in  the  water,^  or 
the  mysterious  blending  of  the  blood  of  Christ.  Similar  sentiments 
were  entertained  by  Luther,  and  no  doubt  are  the  foundation  of  the 
doctrine  of  baptismal  regeneration  wherever  that  is  taught.  In 
case  of  necessity,  baptism  with  wine  was  allowed,  but  not  in  the 
earliest  ages  of  the  church.  The  schoolmen  wearied  themselves 
with  vain  discussions  respecting  the  validity  of  baptism  with  wine, 
and  milk,  and  brandy,  and  almost  every  conceivable  element. 
These  puerilities,  however,  relate  to  an  age  subsequent  to  that  of 
the  primitive  church,  when  all  spirituality  was  wellnigh  lost  in  the 
observance  of  idle  forms. 

The  baptismal  water  was  exorcised,  and  consecrated  by  religious 
rites,  and  by  prayer,  before  it  was  used  in  baptism.^ 

§  12.    OF    THE    mode    and  FORM    OF    BAPTISM.^ 

To  this  head  belono;,  1.  The  manner  in  which  the  candidate  for 
baptism  received  the  appointed  element,  water.  2.  The  ceremonies 
observed  by  the  officiating  persons  in  administering  the  ordinance. 
In  regard  to  both  of  these  points,  considerable  difference  of  opinion 
and  usage  prevailed  in  the  ancient  church,  from  a  very  early  period ; 
nor  are  the  Eastern  and  Western  churches  to  this  day  agreed  in 
this  matter.  This  difference,  however,  has  uniformly  been  treated 
as  of  less  importance  by  tlie  latter  than  by  the  former  church. 

1.  Immersion  or  Dipping. — In  the  primitive  church,  immediately 


396  BAPTISM.  [chap.  XIX. 

subsequent  to  the  age  of  the  apostles,  this  was  undeniably  the  com- 
mon mode  of  baptism.  The  utmost  that  can  be  said  of  sprinkling 
in  that  early  period  is,  that  it  was,  in  case  of  necessity,  permitted 
as  an  exception  to  a  general  rule.  This  fact  is  so  well  established 
that  it  were  needless  to  adduce  authorities  in  proof  of  it.  The 
reader  will  be  directed  to  them  by  reference  to  the  index  of  authori- 
ties ;  ^  but  there  are  some  points  in  connection  with  this  rite  which 
require  particular  attention. 

It  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  baptism  by  immersion  was 
discontinued  when  infant  baptism  became  generally  prevalent :  the 
practice  of  immersion  continued  even  until  the  thirteenth  or  four- 
teenth century.  Indeed,  it  has  never  been  formally  abandoned ; 
but  is  still  the  mode  of  administering  infant  baptism  in  the  Greek 
church  and  in  several  of  the  Eastern  churches. 

Trine  immersion  was  early  practised  in  the  church.  The  sacra- 
mentary  of  Gregory  the  Great  directs  that  the  person  to  be  baptized 
should  be  immersed  at  the  mention  of  each  of  the  persons  of  the 
Trinity,  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost.^  Tertullian 
says,  "We  receive  the  water  of  baptism  not  merely  once,  but  three 
times,  at  the  mention  of  each  of  the  persons  of  the  Holy  Trinity;"^ 
and  again,  "We  are  plunged  thrice  in  the  water  of  baptism."  Basil 
the  Great, ^  Jerome,^  and  Ambrose,^  believed  this  custom  to  have  been 
introduced  by  the  apostles,  though  no  authority  for  this  supposition 
is  found  in  the  New  Testament.  Other  of  the  fathers  supposed  the 
practice  of  trine  immersion  to  refer  not  to  the  three  persons  in  the 
Godhead,  but  to  the  three  great  events  which  completed  the  work 
of  our  redemption — the  death,  resurrection,  and  ascension  of 
Christ.^ 

Single  immersion  was  at  times  considered  valid.  This  decision 
was  given  by  Gregory  the  Great,  in  a  controversy  with  the  Arians 
in  Spain,  who  maintained  that  trine  immersion  denoted  three  grada- 
tions in  the  Godhead.  Gregory,  on  the  contrary,  declared  baptism 
by  single  immersion  to  be  valid,  and  aptly  significant  of  the  unity 
of  the  Deity.^  This  decision  was  afterward  confirmed  by  the  Coun- 
cil of  Toledo,^''  A.  D.  633. 

In  the  early  centuries,  all  persons  who  received  baptism  were 
completely  undressed,  without  distinction  of  age  or  sex ;  '^  this  cir- 
cumstance was  thought  to  be  emblematical  of  the  putting  off  the  old 
man,  and  the  putting  on  of  the  new, — the  putting  away  of  the  de- 
filements of  the  flesh,  etc.  Great  care  was  taken  to  guard  this  ex- 
traordinary custom  from  wanton  abuse  and  perversion ;  but  with  all 


SEC.  XII.]  MODE   AND    FORM    OF    BAPTISM.  397 


due  precaution,  it  was  frequently  the  occasion  of  improprieties.  A 
sense  of  decency  at  length  prevailed  against  this  unaccountable 
superstition,  and  it  was  by  degrees  discontinued. 

2.  Agpersioyi  or  Sprinkling. — After  the  lapse  of  several  centuries 
this  form  of  baptism  gradually  took  the  place  of  immersion,  without 
any  established  rule  of  the  church  or  formal  renunciation  of  the 
rite  of  immersion.  The  form  was  not  esteemed  essential  to  the  va- 
lidity of  the  ordinance. 

The  Eastern  church,  however,  in  direct  opposition  to  these  views, 
has  uniformly  retained  the  form  of  immersion  as  indispensable  to 
the  validity  of  the  ordinance,  and  repeated  the  rite  whenever  they 
have  received  to  their  communion  persons  who  had  been  previously 
baptized  in  another  manner,^^  The  Greek  and  Armenian  churches, 
both  of  which  are  strict  predobaptists,  uniformly  baptize  either  by 
immersion,  or  by  affusion,  pouring. 

In  defence  of  the  usage  of  the  Western  church,  the  following 
considerations  are  oflfered  : — 

1.  The  primary  signification  of  the  word  cannot  be  of  great  im- 
portance, inasmuch  as  the  rite  itself  is  typical,  and  therefore  derives 
its  importance,  not  from  the  literal  import  of  the  phrase,  but  from 
the  significancy  and  design  of  the  ordinance. 

2.  Though  no  instance  of  baptism  by  sprinkling  is  mentioned  in 
the  New  Testament,  yet  there  are  several  cases  in  which  it  is  hardly 
possible  that  it  could  have  been  administered  by  immersion.  Acts 
X.  47,  48;  xvi.  32,  33;  ii.  41. 

3.  In  cases  of  emergency,  baptism  by  aspersion  was  allowed  at  a 
period  of  high  antiquity.  Cyprian  especially  says  that  this  was 
legitimate  baptism  when  thus  administered  to  the  sick.  When  per- 
formed in  faith  on  the  part  of  the  minister  and  the  subject,  he  main- 
tains that  the  whole  is  done  with  due  fidelity,  and  agreeably  to  the 
majesty  of  the  divine  character.* 

This  form  was  also  admitted  when  the  baptismal  font  was  too 
small  for  the  administration  of  the  rite  by  immersion ;  ^^  and  gene- 
rally, considerations  of  convenience  and  of  health  and  climate  are 
mentioned  as  having  influence  in  regard  to  the  form  of  administer- 
ing the  ordinance. t 

*  Unde  apparet  adspersionem  quoque  aquae  instar  salutaris  lavacri  obtinere,  et 
quando  hrec  in  ecclesia  fiunt  ubi  sit  et  accipientis  et  dantis  fides  integra,  stare 
omnia,  et  consummari  ac  perfici  posse  majeistate  Domini  et  fidei  veritate. — 
Epist.  76. 

•j-  Notandum  non  solum,  mergendo  verum  etiam  desuper  fundendo,  multos  bap 


398  BAPTISM.  [chap.  XIX. 


Aspersion  did  not  become  general  in  the  West  until  the  thirteenth 
century,  though  it  appears  to  have  been  introduced  some  time  be- 
fore that  period.  Thomas  Aquinas  says  it  is  safer  to  baptize  by 
immersion,  because  this  is  the  general  practice.  Tutius  est  bapti- 
zare  per  modum  immersionis,  quia  hoc  habet  communis  usus.^* 

Form  of  Words  used  at  Baptism. 

Fkom  the  time  of  Justin  Martyr  and  the  Apostolical  Constitu- 
tions the  liturgical  books  of  all  religious  denominations  have  re- 
tained one  and  the  same  form  of  words :  though  they  may  have 
disagreed  in  their  explanation  of  the  form,  they  have  still  retained 
it  unaltered.  Even  those  who  deny  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity, 
retain  the  same  form ;  so  that  Augustin  says  it  were  easier  to 
find  heretics  who  do  not  baptize  at  all,  than  any  who  do  not  use 
this  form  of  words  in  their  baptism  ;^^  namely,  "I  baptize  thee  in 
the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost." 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  earliest  fathers,  with  respect  to  this 
baptismal  formulary,  do  not  appeal  to  tradition  as  in  many  other 
things  relating  to  baptism ;  but  to  the  words  prescribed  by  Christ 
himself.  To  them  Justin  Martyr  evidently  refers,  though  he  does 
not  mention  them  as  a  prescribed  form.^''  Tertullian  represents  it 
as  a  definite  and  prescribed  formulary :  Lex  tingendi  imposita  et 
forma  pri^escripta  ;^'^  so  also  Cyprian. ^^  The  Apostolical  Constitu- 
tions and  canons  require  the  use  of  this  form,  under  severe  penal- 
ties.^ 

Instead  of  slg  ro  bvotia,  into  the  name,  the  phrase  in  Acts  ii. 
38,  is  em  ro  ovoua  ;  and  in  Acts  x.  48,  iv  ro  bvoiia,  in  the  name. 
The  same  phraseology  is  familiar  with  the  earliest  of  the  fathers, 
as  Tertullian,  and  Ambrose,  and  Cyprian.^''  It  is  also  the  render- 
ing of  the  Vulgate ;  but  it  is  uncertain  whether  the  original  gave 
occasion  for  this  latter  usage,  or  whether  it  was  designed  to  be  an 
interpretation  of  the  original  elc,  To  ovofia. 

It  was  an  ancient  practice  to  omit  the  word  ovofza ;  but  the 

tizatos  fuisse,  et  adliuc  posse  ita  baptizari  si  necessitas  sit;  sicut  in  passione  S. 
Laurentii  quendam,  urceo  allato,  legimus  baptizatum.  Hoc  etiam  solet  venire 
quum  prorectiorum  granditas  corporum  in  minoribus  vasis  hominem  tingi  non 
patitur. — Quare  cum  in  ecclesia,  pi'iBsertim  locis  septentrionalibus  proptera  aeris 
frigiditatem  teneris  infantibus  aqua  lotis  facile  nocituram,  adspersio,  vel  potius 
adfusio  aquie  usitata  sit ;  ideo  hnec  baptismi  forma  retinenda  nee  propter  vitium 
adiaphorum  lites  cum  ecclesiaj  scandalo  movendaa. — Walaf.  Strabo,  De  Rcb.  Eccl. 
c.  xxvi.  Jo.  Gerhard,  Loc.  Theol.  t.  ix.  146. 


SEC.  Xiri.]  RITES   CONNECTED    WITH    BAPTISM.  399 


omission  was  not  supposed  to  vary  the  significancy  of  the  formulary, 
both  being  used  indiscriminately  by  Jerome  and  Tertullian. 

Baptism  in  the  name  of  Christ  alone  was  regarded  as  valid,  but 
was  discountenanced  as  an  irregularity.^^ 

In  the  Greek  church,  baptism  is  administered  in  the  third  per- 
son instead  of  the  first,  that  is  to  say,  the  officiating  minister,  in- 
stead of  saying  "  I  baptize  thee,"  uses  the  form,  "  This  person  is 
baptized,"  etc. 

§  13.    OF    THE    RITES    CONNECTED    WITH    BAPTISM. 

(a)  Ceremonies  before  Baptism. 

1.  Catechetical  instruction. — A  solemn  preparation  was  required 
before  the  baptism  of  adults  in  the  ancient  church.  This  prepara- 
tion consisted,  in  part,  in  a  course  of  instruction  in  the  leading 
doctrines  and  mysterious  rites  of  their  religion ;  and  partly  in 
certain  prescribed  exercises  immediately  preceding  the  administra- 
tion of  the  sacred  rite.  The  religious  instructions  were  the  same 
that  have  been  already  detailed  in  treating  of  catechumens,  and 
need  not  be  repeated  in  this  place.  They  are  given  at  length  in 
the  Apostolical  Constitutions,  the  Catechism  of  Cyril  of  Jerusalem, 
the  Ecclesiastical  Hierarchy  of  the  Pseudo-Dionysius,  and  the  works 
of  Chrysostom,  Ambrose,  and  Augustin.^ 

2.  Exorcism."^ — The  historical  facts  in  relation  to  baptismal  ex- 
orcisms appear  to  be  as  follows : — 1.  In  the  first  century  there 
appears  no  trace  of  any  renunciation  of  the  devil  in  baptism.  2.  In 
the  second  and  third  centuries,  this  was  in  use,  as  appears  from 
the  testimony  of  Tertullian  and  Cyprian;  but  it  is  observed  that 
they  expressly  appeal,  not  to  the  Scriptures,  but  to  tradition,  for 
their  authority  on  this  subject.  3.  In  the  fourth  century  the  fath- 
ers speak  of  exorcism,  not  as  being  absolutely  necessary,  nor  as 
being  enjoined  in  the  Scriptures,  but  highly  beneficial,  inasmuch  as, 
without  it,  children  born  of  Christian  parents  would  not  be  free 
from  the  influence  of  evil  spirits.^ 

Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  of  the  fourth  century,  is  the  first  writer  who 
makes  mention  of  the  form  of  exorcism.  By  him  it  is  detailed  some- 
what at  length.  It  had  now  become  a  part  of  the  formalism  which 
already  encumbered  the  entire  ritual  of  the  church  instead  of  the 
simple  rites  of  the  primitive  church.  The  ceremonies  connected 
with  it  were,  with  the  exception  of  circumstantial  variations,  the 
followin"; : — 


400  BAPTISM.  [chap.  XIX. 


(a)  Preliminary  fasting,  prayers,  and  genuflexions.  These,  how- 
ever, may  be  regarded  as  general  preliminaries  to  baptism. 

(b)  Imposition  of  hands  upon  the  head  of  the  candidate,  who 
stood  with  his  head  bowed  down  in  a  submissive  posture.* 

(e)  Putting  off  the  shoes  and  clothing,  with  the  exception  of  an 
under  garment.'^ 

[d)  Facing  the  candidate  to  the  west,  which  was  the  symbol  of 
darkness,  as  the  east  was  of  light.''  In  the  Eastern  church  he  was 
required  to  thrust  out  his  hand  toward  the  west,  as  if  in  the  act  of 
pushing  away  an  object  in  that  direction.  This  was  a  token  of  his 
abhorrence  of  Satan  and  his  works,  and  his  determination  to  resist 
a,nd  repel  them. 

(e)  A  renunciation  of  Satan  and  his  works,  thus,  "I  renounce 
Satan  and  his  works,  and  his  pomps  and  his  services,  and  all  things 
that  are  his."'^     This,  or  a  similar  form,  was  thrice  repeated. 

(/)  The  exorcist  then  breathed  upon  the  candidate  either  once 
or  three  times,  and  adjured  the  unclean  spirit,  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  to  come  out  of  him.^ 

This  form  of  adjuration  seems  not  to  have  been  in  use  until  the 
fourth  century ;  and  these  several  formalities  were  apparently  in- 
troduced gradually  and  at  different  times.  The  whole  ceremony 
was  at  first  confined  to  the  renunciation  of  "  the  devil  and  his 
works"  on  the  pai't  of  the  person  about  to  be  baptized. 

3.  A  confession  of  faith. — This,  from  the  beginning,  was  a  re- 
quisite preliminary  of  baptism.  The  Ethiopian  eunuch  was  bap- 
tized on  his  confession  of  faith  in  Christ  as  the  Son  of  God.  Acts 
viii.  37.  Jewish  converts,  under  the  apostles,  confessed  their  belief 
in  Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  and  the  Gentiles,  in  addition  to  this,  ex- 
pressed their  belief  in  God.  Neander  and  Guericke  find  indica- 
tions of  such  a  confession  in  1  Tim.  vi.  12 ;  iii.  16,  and  especially 
in  Matt,  xxviii.  19.  But  these  confessions  were  subsequently  drawn 
out  more  fully  in  opposition  to  prevailing  errors  of  Jews,  pagans, 
and  heretics.  The  confessions  were  first  transmitted  by  tradi- 
tion,^ and  then  committed  to  writing  at  an  early  period,  and  dili- 
gently taught  to  the  candidates  for  baptism.  These  topics  have 
been  duly  considered  under  the  head  of  Catechumens  and  Creeds. 
From  the  latter  part  of  the  second  century  the  confession  was  ad- 
ministered to  the  professing  candidate  by  distinct  questions  and 
answers,"-  to  which  confession  they  were  also  required  in  the  fourth 
century  to  set  their  hand  and  seal  by  their  own  signature,  or  by 
that  of  a  representative,  if  the  candidate  was  unskilled  in  writing. 


SEC.  XIII.]  RITES    CONNECTED   WITH   BAPTISM.  401 

This  covenant,  as  a  condition  of  admission  to  the  church,  is  a  cir- 
cumstance of  great  interest,  and  should  be  held  in  distinct  remem- 
brance as  an  uniform  requisition  of  the  church.  It  appears  from 
Pliny's  letter  to  Trajan,  "to  have  been  a  mutual  covenant  between 
professing  Christians,  and  the  ground  of  their  mutual  fellowship 
and  discipline.""  The  solemnity  with  which  they  assumed  their 
covenant  vows,  and  subscribed  them  with  their  own  hand,  indicates 
the  importance  which  these  primitive  saints  attached  to  their  sacred 
relations  as  members  of  the  church  of  Christ.  The  subject  may 
come  into  notice  again  in  another  chapter.  We  dismiss  it  for  the 
present  with  the  following  citation  from  Neander  : — 

"  With  the  oral  confession  of  faith  was  also  connected  the  avowal 
of  a  moral,  engagement.  The  transaction  was  looked  upon  in  the 
following  light :  the  candidate  for  baptism  separated  himself  from 
the  kingdom  of  sin,  of  darkness,  of  Satan,  which,  as  a  heathen  de- 
voted to  his  lusts,  he  had  hitherto  served,  and  came  over  to  the 
kingdom  of  God  and  of  Christ.  He  was  now,  therefore,  solemnly 
to  renounce  all  fellowship  with  that  kingdom  of  which  he  had  before 
been  a  subject.  Giving  his  hand  to  the  bishop,  he  solemnly  de- 
clared that  he  renounced  the  devil  and  all  his  pomps — meaning 
particularly  by  these  the  pagan  shows,  and  things  of  a  like  nature — 
and  his  angels — an  expression  probably  based  on  the  notion  that 
the  heathen  gods  were  evil  spirits,  who  had  seduced  mankind.  This 
form  of  renunciation,  which  we  meet  with  in  the  second  century, 
should  be  distinguished  from  the  exorcism,  which  could  not  have 
sprung  so  early  out  of  the  prevailing  mode  of  thinking  in  Christian 
antiquity.  This,  like  the  confession  of  faith,  had  reference  to  what 
the  candidate  was  bound  on  his  part  to  do,  in  order  to  enjoy  the 
benefit  of  baptism.  As  in  Christianity  faith  and  hope  are  closely 
conjoined,  so  the  renunciation  accompanied  the  confession.  Hence 
we  find  in  the  second  century  no  trace  as  yet  of  any  such  form  of 
exorcism  against  the  evil  spirit.  But  the  tendency  to  confound  the 
inward  with  the  outward,  the  inclination  to  the  magical,  the  fond- 
ness for  pomp  and  display,  caused  that  those  forms  of  exorcism 
which  had  been  employed  in  the  case  of  the  energumens  or  demo- 
niacally possessed,  should  be  introduced  in  the  baptism  of  all 
heathens."  ^^ 

4.  Covenant,  or  vow. — A  subscription  to  the  creed  was  required 
at  baptism,  accompanied  with  a  seal.  The  whole  transaction  was 
regarded  as  a  most  solemn  covenant  on  the  part  of  the  person  bap- 
tized, by  which  he  publicly,  and  with  many  impressive  formalities, 

26 


402  BAPTISM.  [chap.  XIX. 

renounced  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil,  and  gave  himself  up 
to  Christ,  to  be  his  for  ever,  covenanting  henceforth  to  live  in  con- 
formity with  these  obligations.  To  this  covenant  they  thus  set 
their  hand  and  seal.  By  the  Greeks  this  was  styled  G^payig,  and 
the  like ;  by  the  Latins,  fcedus,  pactum,  votum,  etc.,  a  seal,  a  pro- 
mise, a  covenant,  a  vow.  St.  Ambrose  calls  it  a  promise,  a  caution, 
an  handwriting,  or  bond,  given  to  God,  and  registered  in  the  court 
of  heaven,  because  it  is  made  before  his  ministers,  and  the  angels, 
who  are  witnesses  to  it.  Many  others  speak  of  it  in  terms  of 
similar  import. 

5.  Signing  with  the  sign  of  the  e7'oss. — To  this  Christians  now 
attached  great  importance,  and  ascribed  to  it  a  wonderful  efficacy. 
It  was,  moreover,  the  sign  and  seal  of  faith,  the  surrendry  of  the 
candidate  up  to  Christ,  and  the  solemn  indication  that  he  had 
passed  from  a  state  of  sin  to  a  state  of  grace.  It  was  given  after 
the  ceremony  of  exorcism,  and  immediately  before  baptism,  the 
officiating  person  saying,  "  Receive  thou  the  sign  of  the  cross  upon 
thy  forehead  and  on  thy  heart."  ^^ 

6.  Unction,  or  anointing  tvith  oil. — There  were  two  anointings, 
one  before  and  one  after  baptism.  The  latter  was  called,  by  way 
of  distinction,  chrism.  The  former  immediately  followed  the  sign- 
ing of  the  cross.  This  is  first  mentioned  by  Tertullian.  Nothing 
was  known  of  the  latter  ceremony  until  the  third  or  fourth  century ; 
neither  are  writers  agreed  respecting  the  significancy  of  the  rite. 
Cyril  of  Jerusalem  says,  "  Men  were  anointed  from  head  to  foot 
with  this  consecrated  oil,  and  this  made  them  partakers  of  the  true 
olive-tree — Jesus  Christ."  Others  refer  it  to  the  ancient  custom 
of  anointing  wrestlers  for  the  combat.  Others  suppose  that  it  as- 
similated to  Christ,  the  anointed  of  the  Lord ;  others  again,  that  it 
symbolized  the  anointing  of  the  Spirit." 

7.  Use  of  salt,  and  milh,  and  honey. — These  were  generally 
administered  to  the  candidate  as  emblems,  as  it  would  seem,  of 
spiritual  things,  with  reference  to  the  frequent  mention  of  these 
things  in  the  Scriptures.  The  milk  and  honey  were  emblems  of 
the  Christian  as  a  child  of  God ;  such  a  mixture  being  the  common 
food  for  children.  This  emblem  was  used  as  early  as  the  fourth 
century — that  of  salt  was  introduced  at  a  later  period. 

To  all  these  ceremonies  the  Romish  church  added  that  of  apply- 
ing spittle  to  the  eyes  and  ears,  in  imitation  of  the  example  of 
Christ.  Mark  vii.  33,  34 :  John  ix.  6. 


SEC.  XIV.]  SPONSORS.  403 


(b)  Ceremonies  after  Baptism. 

1.  The  hiss  of  peace. — This  is  mentioned  as  being  usual  on  this 
occasion  as  late  as  the  fifth  century.^^  But  there  is  no  evidence  of 
the  custom  at  a  later  period.  It  was  given  both  to  infants  and 
adults.  It  appears  to  have  been  superseded  by  the  simple  salu- 
tation, Pax  tecum  !  Peace  be  with  you !  but  at  what  time  is  un- 
known. 

2.  Chrism. — This  anointing  is  still  in  use  in  the  East.  In  the 
Western  church  it  has  been  transferred  to  the  rites  of  confirmation 
at  a  later  period  after  baptism. ^^ 

3.  Clothing  in  white  apparel. — These  garments  were  worn  as 
emblems  of  purity,  the  putting  away  of  former  defilements,  etc. 
Thus  the  young  disciple  was  arrayed  in  the  white  robes,  in  which 
saints  and  angels  appear  in  heaven.  This  practice  Avas  in  common 
use  in  the  fourth  century.  The  dress  was  worn  by  the  newly  bap- 
tized from  Easter-eve  until  the  Sunday  after,  Avhich  was  from  this 
circumstance  called  Dominica  in  albis  —  the  Sunday  in  white. 
These  garments  were  made  usually  of  white  linen,  but  sometimes 
of  more  costly  materials,  and  were  worn  by  the  person  who  bap- 
tized as  well  as  by  the  subjects  of  baptism. ^^ 

4.  The  burning  of  lighted  tapers. — These  were  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  baptized,  if  adults  ;  if  they  were  infants,  in  the  hands 
of  the  sponsors.  These  tapers  were  emblematical  of  the  illuminat- 
ing power  of  this  ordinance. ^^ 

5.  The  washing  of  the  feet. — This  was  at  times  a  favourite  cere- 
mony in  the  churches  of  Africa  and  France,  and  is  still  retained  in 
the  Greek  church. 

6.  The  giving  of  presents,  the  ivearing  of  garlands  and  ivreaths 
of  floivers,  public  thaiihsgivings,  singing  of  hymns,  and  baptismal 
festivals,  are  all  mentioned  as  festivities  and  rites  connected  with 
this  ordinance. 

§  14.    OF    SPONSORS WITNESSES    AND    SURETIES. 

Certain  persons  were  required  to  be  present  at  the  baptism  both 
of  children  and  adults,  as  witnesses  to  the  transaction,  and  as  sure- 
ties for  the  fulfilment  of  the  promises  and  engagements  then  made 
by  those  who  received  baptism.  These  appear,  as  early  as  the  lat- 
ter part  of  the  second  century,  to  have  assumed  the  religious  guar- 


404  BAPTISM.  [chap.  XIX. 

dianship  of  children  in  infant  baptism,  and  from  this  ordinance  the 
office  was  probably  derived. 

1.  Their  names  or  appellations. — These  persons  "were  first  known 
by  the  name  of  sponsors.  Tertullian  uses  this  term ;  but  he  uses 
it  only  with  reference  to  infant  baptism,  and  supposes  it  to  refer 
both  to  the  reply,  responsum,  which  they  gave  in  behalf  of  the 
subject  who  was  unable  to  speak  for  himself;  and  to  a  promise  and 
obligation,  on  their  part,  which  they  assuined  in  behalf  of  the  bap- 
tized for  his  fulfilment  of  the  duties  implied  in  this  ordinance.^ 
Augustin  seems  to  limit  the  duty  of  sponsors  to  the  response  or 
answer."  They  were  called  Jidejusso7-es,  jidedictores,  sureties ; 
names  found  in  Augustin  and  borrowed  from  Roman  law.^  \vd- 
oo^oi,  corresponding  to  the  Latin  offerentes  and  susceptores,  so 
called  with  reference  to  the  assistance  rendered  to  the  candidates 
at  their  baptism.  This  service  is  described  by  Dionysius  the  Areo- 
pagite.^  Chrysostom  uses  the  word  in  the  sense  of  sureties,^  which 
is  authorized  by  classical  authority.®  The  appellation  (idpTVpeg, 
testes,  witnesses,  was  unknown  to  the  ancients,  but  familiar  in  later 
times.  The  more  modern  terms  are,  Ttatepsg,  ii'/jrepsg,  or  natepeg, 
[zyjTepEg  erci  tov  ayiov  ^urvi(3^Lai:og,  compatres,  commatres,  pro- 
patres,  promatres,  patrini,  matrini,  godfathers  and  godmothers ; 
patres  spirituales,  or  lustrici,  spii'itual  fathers,  etc. 

2.  Origin  of  tlds  office. — It  has  no  foundation  either  in  example 
or  precept  drawn  from  the  Scriptures.  No  mention  is  made  of  the 
presence  of  any  as  ivitnesses  in  performing  the  rite  of  circumcision, 
nor  in  administering  household  baptism.  Neither  do  the  sacred 
writers  ever  draw  a  parallel  between  circumcision  and  baptism. 

Some  have  derived  the  office  from  the  customs  of  Roman  law. 
Baptism  was  regarded  as  a  stipulation,  contract,  or  coA^enant,  which, 
according  to  Roman  law,  was  witnessed  and  ratified  with  great  care. 
Many  of  the'early  Christians  previous  to  their  conversion  had  been 
conversant  with  Roman  jurisprudence  ;  and  it  may,  very  naturally, 
be  supposed  that  in  ratifying  the  solemn  covenant  of  baptism,  they 
would  require  witnesses ;  and  adopt,  as  far  as  practicable,  the 
same  formalities  with  which  they  had  been  conversant  in  civil 
transactions. 

The  common  tradition  is  that  sponsors  were  first  appointed  by 
Hyginus,  or  Iginus,  a  Roman  bishop,  about  the  year  154.  The  office 
was  in  full  operation  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries.  A  time  of 
oppression  and  persecution  is  likely  to  have  given  rise  to  an  institu- 
tion the  design  of  which  was  to  give  additional  security  and  attesta- 


SEC.  XIV.]  SPONSORS.  405 


tion  to  the  profession  of  the  Christian  religion.  Men  who  made 
their  baptismal  vows  in  the  presence  of  witnesses  would  not  be  so 
likely  to  deny  their  relations  to  the  church  as  they  would  if  no 
proof  of  their  profession  could  be  adduced.  On  the  other  hand, 
such  sponsors  might  be  equally  useful  in  preventing  the  introduc- 
tion of  unworthy  members  into  the  church,  when  the  profession 
of  religion  began  to  be  desired  as  the  means  of  preferment  and 
emolument. 

But  the  more  probable  supposition  is,  that  the  office  in  question 
took  its  rise  from  the  necessity  of  having  some  one  to  respond  in 
the  behalf  of  infants,  the  sick,  the  deaf,  and  all  who  were  incapa- 
ble of  replying  to  the  interrogatories  which  were  made  at  baptism. 
Slaves  were  not  received  to  baptism  without  the  consent  of  their 
masters,  who  in  such  cases  became  the  sponsors  or  godfathers. 

Two  or  three  of  these  witnesses  were  probably  required,  and  their 
names,  as  we  learn  from  Dionysius,  were  entered  in  the  baptismal 
register  with  that  of  the  baptized  person.^ 

3.  Duties  of  the  sjjotisors. — Their  duties  were,  to  serve  as  wit- 
nesses of  the  transaction,  and  to  act  as  sureties  for  the  baptized 
persons  by  exercising  a  religious  supervision  over  them.  The  pre- 
cise nature  and  extent  of  this  supervision-  is  involved  in  much  un- 
certainty, and  appears  to  have  varied  at  different  times.  Augus- 
tin  requires  the  godfathers  and  godmothers  to  hold  in  remembrance 
their  spiritual  children,  and  affectionately  to  watch  over  them ;  to 
preserve  their  morals  uncorrupted  ;  to  guard  them  from  licentious- 
ness ;  to  restrain  them  from  profane  and  wanton  speech,  from  pride, 
envy,  and  hatred,  and  from  indulging  in  any  magical  arts ;  to  pre- 
serve them  from  adopting  heretical  opinions ;  to  secure  their 
habitual  attendance  upon  religious  worship,  and  a  profitable  hear- 
ing of  the  word ;  to  accustom  them  to  acts  of  hospitality,  to  live 
peaceably  with  all  men,  and  to  render  due  honour  to  their  parents, 
and  to  the  priesthood.* 

The  sponsors  did  not  become  chargeable  with  the  maintenance 
and  education  of  such  persons  by  assuming  this  guardianship  of 
their  Christian  character. 

4.  Persons  who  are  alloioecl  to  act  as  sponsors. — On  this  head  a 
diversity  of  opinion  prevails ;  but  it  will  be  sufficient  for  the  present 
purpose  to  mention  the  principal  rules  and  customs  which  prevailed 
in  the  church  in  relation  to  this  subject. 

1.  The  sponsor  must  himself  be  a  baptized  person  in  regular 
communion  with  the  church.     2.  lie  must  be  of  adult  age,  and  of 


406  BAPTISM.  [chap.  XIX. 

sound  mind.  3.  He  must  be  acquainted  ■with  the  fundamental 
truths  of  Christianity.  He  must  know  the  creed,  the  ten  com- 
mandments, the  Lord's  prayer,  and  the  leading  doctrines  of  faith 
and  practice,  and  must  duly  qualify  himself  for  his  duties. 
4,  Monks  and  nuns  were,  in  the  early  periods  of  the  church, 
thought  to  he  pecuharly  qualified,  by  their  sanctity  of  character, 
for  this  ofiice ;  but  they  were  excluded  from  it  in  the  sixth  cen- 
tury. 5.  Parents  were  disqualified  for  the  ofiice  of  sponsor  to  their 
own  children  in  the  ninth  century ;  but  this  order  has  never  been 
generally  enforced. 

The  number  of  sponsors  was  at  first  one.  This  number  was 
afterward  increased  to  two,  three,  and  four ;  and  then  again,  dimi- 
nished to  one,  or  two  at  the  most.  They  were  usually  required  to 
be  of  the  same  sex  as  those  whose  guardianship  they  assumed.  If 
there  were  three  sponsors,  two  were  of  the  same  sex  as  their  spiri- 
tual ward,  and  one  of  the  other.  And  this  is  the  prevailing  custom 
at  the  present  day. 

§  15.    OF   NAMES    GIVEN   AT   BAPTISM.^ 

The  naming  of  a  child  has  been  esteemed  a  transaction  of  pecu- 
liar interest  by  all  people,  and  under  every  form  of  religion.  The 
onomatology  of  difi'erent  nations  opens  an  important  field  of  investi- 
gation to  the  philologist,  the  historian,  and  the  theological  inquirer, 
for  the  illustration  of  national  peculiarities.  Jews,  Mohammedans, 
and  Christians,  all  indicate  the  common  origin  of  their  religion  by 
the  similarity  of  their  names,  drawn  from  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old 
Testament,  such  as  Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  Joseph,  Moses,  Joshua, 
Samuel,  Daniel,  Job,  Tobias,  Sarah,  Miriam,  Rebecca,  Hannah, 
Susanna,  etc. 

The  Jews  derive  many  names  from  those  who  have  been  distin- 
guished among  the  Levites  and  Pharisees,  as  Levi,  Aaron,  Phineas, 
Ezra,  Nehemiah,  etc. 

Christian  nations,  on  the  contrary,  derive  their  names  from  the 
Christian  virtues,  Grace,  Faith,  Temperance,  etc.;  also  from  the 
martyrs  and  apostles — Stephen,  Peter,  Paul,  Polycarp,  Matthew, 
Ursula,  Clara,  etc.  Again,  they  compound  names  expressive  of 
reverence  and  afiection  for  God  and  for  Christ,  as  Gottlieb,  Gottlob, 
Theophilus,  Christlieb,  etc.,  Beloved  of  Crod,  Crod-loving,  etc. 

The  modern  practice  of  giving  the  names  at  baptism  probably 
originated  with  infant  baptism.     It  may  have  been  derived  from 


SEC.  XV.]  NAMES   GIVEN   AT    BAPTISM.  407 


the  rites  of  circumcision.  No  mention,  however,  is  made  of  this 
practice  either  in  the  New  Testament  or  in  the  early  ecclesiastical 
writers.  Justin  Martyr,  Tertullian,  Origen,  Cyprian,  Constantino, 
Ambrose,  Augustin,  Gregory,  etc.  retained  the  same  names  after 
baptism  which  they  had  previously  borne.  But  there  are  not  want- 
ing instances  of  a  change  of  name  at  baptism,  about  the  same 
period  of  time.  Stephanus  the  bishop  in  baptizing  two  young 
people,  Adria  and  Paulina,  changed  their  names,  giving  the  former 
the  name  of  Neo,  and  the  latter  that  of  Maria. ^  Nemesius,  after 
baptism  by  the  same  person,  retained  his  original  name,  while  his 
daughter  was  called  by  a  new  name,  Lucilla.  Eudokia,  wife  of 
Theodosius  the  emperor,  received  that  name  at  her  baptism.^  Bal- 
samus,  on  being  asked  his  name,  said,  "3i^  surname  is  Balsamus, 
hut  7nij  spiritual  name,  which  I  received  at  baptism,  is  Peter." 

While  the  system  of  catechetical  instruction  preliminary  to  bap- 
tism continued,  the  name  seemed  to  have  been  designated  some 
time  before  the  administration  of  that  rite ;  as  appears  from  the 
custom,  often  mentioned  by  writers  of  that  period,  of  entering  the 
names  of  candidates  in  the  baptismal  register.* 

The  name  was  assumed  by  the  individual  himself,  if  of  adult  age. 
Either  the  parents  or  sponsors  conferred  the  name  upon  a  child  at 
his  baptism.  The  right  belonged,  appropriately,  to  the  parents. 
The  minister  'by  whom  the  rite  was  administered  had,  also,  the 
right  of  refusing  the  name  proposed,  if  it  appeared  to  him  to  be 
objectionable. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

OF  CONFIRMATION. 
§  1.    ORIGIN    OF   THE   RITE. 

No  authentic  reference  to  confirmation  is  recorded  either  in  the 
Scriptures  or  in  the  earliest  ecclesiastical  writers.  It  was  not  an 
ordinance  either  of  the  churches  planted  by  the  apostles  or  of  the 
primitive  churches  of  the  first  two  centuries  of  the  Christian  era. 
The  imposition  of  hands  was,  indeed,  a  familiar  rite,  which  the 
Christian  church  had  received  from  the  Jewish.  It  was  an  induc- 
tion into  ofiice,  as  in  ordination,  or  for  a  specific  mission.  Acts  xiii. 
4.  It  was  a  significant  rite  in  a  benediction  or  prayer.  Jacob  laid 
his  hands  upon  the  sons  of  Joseph  as  he  blessed  them.  Our  Saviour 
laid  his  hands  on  young  children  and  blessed  them.  Mark  x.  76 ; 
Matt.  xix.  15.  By  this  act  the  apostles  also  imparted  the  miracu- 
lous gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Acts  viii.  17  et  seq. ;  xix.  6.  Such 
was  the  use  of  this  rite  in  A^arious  ofiices  of  benediction,  as  well  as 
of  ordination,  in  the  age  of  the  apostles.  But  history  records  no 
instance  of  the  imposition  of  hands  in  any  ofiice  of  initiation  or 
benediction  for  some  time  subsequent  to  the  age  of  the  apostles. 
Justin  Martyr,  a.  d.  150,  gives  a  detailed  account  of  the  ordinance 
of  baptism,  and  alleges  that  he  enters  into  these  details  that  he  may 
not  seem  to  omit  any  particular  from  sinister  motives,*  but  makes 
no  mention  of  the  imposition  of  hands.  Tertullian,  fifty  years 
later,  is  the  first  to  mention  this  rite,  not,  however,  as  a  distinct 
act  or  ordinance,  but  simply  as  the  concluding  ceremony  in  bap- 
tism, in  connection  with  prayer  for  the  blessing  of  the  Holy  Spirit.f 
Mistaken  views,  however,  had  become  widely  prevalent  respecting 

*  'Ortcoj  jujj  'iovtOTio.pa.T.  irtovtii  Solu/itv  rCovepivetv  ti  cv  ttj  s|jjy»jff£i. 

f  Ipsius  baptism!  carnalis  actus  quod  in  aqua  mergimur;  spiritalis  effectus  quod 
delictis  liberamur.     Dehinc  manus  imponitur  per  benedictionem  advocans  et  invitans 
Spiritum  Sanctum. — De  Baptism,  c.  vii.  8. 
408 


SEC.  I.]  ORIGIN   OF   THE   RITE.  409 

the  efficacy  of  outward  ordinances.  Baptism  was  supposed  to  have 
a  sin-remitting  power.  Mysterious  grace  was  sought  in  the  cele- 
bration of  the  sacrament,  and  generally  the  outward  form  in  re- 
ligion had  begun  to  be  superstitiously  substituted  for  the  inward 
spirit. 

Cyprian,  fully  possessed  with  these  mistaken  views  of  the  Chris- 
tian spirit,  sees  in  the  ministry  a  mediating  priesthood  commis- 
sioned of  heaven  for  the  celebration  of  these  awful  mysteries  as  the 
means  of  imparting  grace  to.  man,  and  perpetuated  in  the  church 
through  the  apostolical  succession.  Baptism  is  with  him  regenera- 
tion, or  rather  the  putting  away  of  sin,  the  washing  of  regeneration. 
This  is  negative  in  its  effect,  rather  than  positive.  To  comjalete 
the  renewal  of  the  person  regenerated  thus,  the  effective,  reviving, 
sanctifying  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  must  be  superadded. 
These  are  to  be  imparted  by  a  new  and  distinct  rite — the  imposi- 
tion of  hands,  or  confirmation.  By  this  the  active  influences  of  the 
Spirit  are  communicated,  to  quicken  into  spiritual  life,  to  sanctify, 
to  confirm  and  seal  unto  eternal  life  the  soul  that  has  been  regene- 
rated by  baptism.  Thus  we  have  two  distinct  rites,  each  fulfilling 
a  separate  office  in  the  work  of  converting  a  soul  to  God.  These, 
under  Cyprian,  become  two  distinct  sacraments,  neither  of  which 
is  sufficiently  efficacious  of  itself.*  Such,  with  this  venerable  father, 
is  the  modus  operandi  of  regeneration.  And  this  soon  became  the 
universal  sentiment  of  the  church.  The  sovereign  offices  of  that 
mysterious.  Divine  Agent,  who  moves  unperceived,  as  the  wind 
bloweth  where  it  listeth,  and  works  unseen  his  miracles  of  grace  in 
regeneration,  are  here  degraded  and  debased  to  a  mere  mechanical 
operation,  directed  by  a  sinful  being,  who  assumes  in  these  awful 
rites  to  act  as  the  vicegerent  of  God  in  dispensing  grace  to  man. 
In  this  he  is  vainly  deceiving  himself  with  an  outward  symbol,  grasp- 

*  Eo  quod  parum  sit  eis  manum  imponere  ad  accipiendum  Spiritual  Sanctum  nisi 
accipiant  et  ecclesise  baptismum.  Turn  enim  demum  plene  sanctificari,  et  esse 
filii  Dei  possunt,  si  sacramento  utroque  nascantur  quia  scriptum  sit.  Nisi  renatus 
fuerit  ex  aqua  et  Spiritu  non  potest  introire  regnum  Dei. — Epitst.  72.  Quod  si 
hseretico  nee  baptisma  publicse  confessionis  et  sanguinis,  proficere  ad  salutem 
potest,  quia  salus  extra  ecclesiam  non  est ;  quanto  magis  ei  nihil  proderit  si  in 
latebra  et  in  latronum  spelunca  adulterte  contagione  tinctus,  non  tantum  peccata 
antiqua  non  exposuerit,  sed  adliuc  potius  nova  et  majora  cumulaverit  ? — Ideo 
baptizari  eos  oportet  qui  de  hserisi  ad  ecclesiam  veniunt;  ut  qui  legitimo  et  vero 
atque  unico  sanctte  ecclesifo  baptisrao  ad  regnum  Dei  regeneratione  divina  prapa- 
rantur,  sacramento  utroque  nascantur  quia  scriptum :  Nisi  quis  renatus  fuerit  ex 
aqua  et  Spiritu  non  potest  intrare  in  regnum  Dei. — Epist.  73.  Comp.  Epist.  72,  75 ; 
De  Baptismate  in  0pp.  Cyp. 


410  CONFIRMATION.  [CHAP.  XX. 

ing  at  a  shadow,  and  groping  "  at  noonday  as  the  blind  gropeth 
in  darkness." 

Such  was  the  origin  of  the  ordinance  of  confirmation  which  the 
Lutheran  and  the  church  of  England  have  retained  since  the  Re- 
formation, from  "the  corrupt  following"  of  the  ancient  and  of  the 
Romish  church,  and  to  which  more  or  less  of  the  mysterious  efficacy 
which  was  ascribed  to  this  rite  is  still  attached  by  different  mem- 
bers of  these  communions. 


§  2.    MINISTERS    OF    CONFIRMATION    AND    ATTENDING    RITES. 

The  bishop,  by  right  of  his  apostolic  succession,  is  the  reputed 
minister  of  confirmation,  but  presbyters  were  in  some  instances  al- 
lowed to  administer  it.  Even  deacons  occasionally  exercised  the 
same  functions  until  peremptorily  forbidden  by  the  Council  of 
Toledo,  A.  D.  398,  c.  20.  Brenner,  a  Roman  Catholic  writer,  has 
written  an  extended  history  of  confirmation,  in  which  he  has  con- 
clusively vindicated  to  presbyters  the  right  of  confirming,  according 
to  the  usage  of  the  ancient  church.^  Even  the  Council  of  Trent 
only  decreed  that  the  bishop  is  the  ordinary  minister  of  confirma- 
tion, which  implies  an  exception  in  favour  of  the  presbyter. 

In  the  Latin  church,  after  the  separation  of  baptism  from  con- 
firmation, a  series  of  preliminary  religious  exercises  was  requisite 
for  this  rite,  similar  to  those  which  had  been  previously  required 
for  baptism. 

Names  given  in  baptism  were  sometimes  changed  at  confirma- 
tion. This,  however,  was  merely  an  occasional  practice  of  the 
later  centuries. 

Sponsors,  or  godfathers,  or  godmothers,  were  also  required  as  in 
baptism  formerly.  These  might  be  the  same  as  the  baptismal 
sponsors,  or  others  might  be  substituted  in  their  place. 

A  separate. edifice  for  solemnizing  this  rite  was  in  some  instances 
provided,  called  consignatorium  albatorum,  and  chrismarium.  After 
the  disuse  of  baptisteries,  both  baptism  and  confirmation  were  ad- 
ministered in  the  church,  and  usually  at  the  altar. 

§  3.    ADMINISTRATION    OF    THE    RITE    OF    CONFIRMATION. 

Four  principal  ceremonies  were  employed  in  the  rites  of  con- 
firmation, namely,  imposition  of  hands,  unction  with  the  chrism, 
sign  of  the  cross,  and  prayer. 


SEC.  III.]  ADMINISTRATION   OF   THE    RITE.  411 

1.  Imposition  of  hands,  whicli  has  been  already  mentioned.  For 
an  account  of  the  different  opinions  -which  were  entertained  respect- 
ing this  rite,  and  of  the  mode  of  administering  it,  see  references  in 
the  index.^ 

2.  Unction. — This,  as  has  been  already  remai'ked,  was  denomi- 
nated chrism,  in  distinction  from  the  unction  which  was  adminis- 
tered before  baptism.  In  the  Apostolical  Constitutions  it  is  styled 
the  confirmation  of  our  confession,  and  the  seal  of  the  covenants. 
A  prayer  is  also  given,  which  was  ofiFered  on  the  occasion.^  Cyril 
of  Jerusalem,  f  386,  gives  full  instructions  respecting  the  ad- 
ministration of  chrism.^  From  his  time  it  came  into  general  use  in 
the  church. 

The  material  used  for  this  chrism  was  usually  olive-oil.  Some- 
times perfumed  ointment,  compounded  of  various  ingredients,  was 
used.  The  chrism  was  consecrated  by  prayer,  exorcism,  and  insuf- 
flation. It  was  applied,  in  the  Eastern  church,  to  various  parts  of 
the  body,  to  the  forehead,  ears,  nose,  eyes,  breast,  etc.  In  the 
Western  church  it  appears  to  have  been  applied  only  to  the  fore- 
head. 

3.  Sign  of  the  cross. — This  was  affixed  by  applying  the  chrism 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  represent  a  cross.  This  was  thought  to  be 
a  very  important  and  expressive  emblem,  the  sealing  rite,  which 
gave  to  confirmation  the  name  of  Cc^pa^^g,  a  seal.* 

4.  Prater  and  mode  of  confirmation. — In  the  Greek  church,  one 
uniform  mode  of  confirmation  has  been  observed  from  the  be- 
ginning, as  follows :  "  The  seal  of  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Amen."  Besides  this  implied  prayer,  one  more  at  length  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  offered.  In  the  Latin  church,  the  form  has 
varied  at  different  times.  The  most  ancient  form  ran  thus  :  "  The 
seal  of  Christ  to  eternal  life."  The  modern  form,  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  church,  is  as  follows :  "  Signo  te  signo  crucis,  et  confirmo 
te  chrismate  salutis  in  nomitie  Paftris  et  Fiflii,  et  Spiritus^ 
Sancti.     Amen." 

Other  formalities  were,  the  salutation,  "Peace  be  with  you;"  a 
slight  blow  upon  the  cheek,  to  admonish  the  candidate  of  the  duty 
of  patience  under  injuries ;  unbinding  of  the  band  upon  the  fore- 
head ;  prayer  and  singing ;  the  benediction  of  the  bishop,  together 
with  a  short  exhortation  from  him. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

OF  THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 
§  1.  OF  THE  NAMES  OR  APPELLATIONS  OF  THIS  SACRAMENT. 

Men  of  all  religious  denominations  have  generally  concurred  in 
regarding  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper  as  the  most  solemn 
rite  of  Christian  worship,  the  grand  characteristic  of  the  religion  of 
Christ.  For  a  full  understanding  of  the  doctrines  and  usages  con- 
nected with  this  institution,  a  knowledge  of  the  various  names  by 
which  it  has  been  distinguished  is  indispensable.  A  full  knowledge 
of  these,  with  all  their  relations  to  the  times  and  places  in  which 
they  were  used,  would  almost  furnish  a  history  of  the  sacrament 
itself.  These  names  are  exceedingly  numerous  ;  and,  although  re- 
taining a  general  similarity  of  meaning,  yet  each  has  been  chosen 
out  of  regard  to  some  peculiar  views  relating  to  the  doctrine  of  the 
sacrament,  or  from  a  preference  for  some  peculiar  mode  of  adminis- 
tration. Very  few  of  these  appellations  were  known  to  the  apos- 
tolical and  primitive  church.  They  belong  to  the  liturgical  service 
of  the  hierarchy,  which  in  the  third  century  began  to  incumber  the 
simple  and  impressive  ordinance  of  the  Lord's  supper  with  new 
and  unauthorized  rites,  and  to  ascribe  to  it  mysterious  powers,  for 
which  neither  the  Scriptures  nor  the  earliest  usage  of  the  Christian 
church  gives  the  least  authority.  The  following  nomenclature, 
therefore,  is  to  be  regarded  merely  as  belonging  to  the  perversions 
of  the  hierarchy  which  began  so  early  to  corrupt  the  ordinances 
and  worship  of  the  Christian  church. 

1.  The  term,  the  Lord's  supper,  hdnvov  xvpiaxov,  sacra  cocna, 
coena  Domini,  has  an  historical  reference  to  the  institution  of  the 
rite  by  our  Lord,  on  the  night  in  which  he  was  betrayed.  Matt, 
xxvi.  20,  31 ;  1  Cor.  xi.  23.  Some  have  erroneously  maintained 
that  the  passage  in  1  Cor.  xi.  23,  relates,  not  strictly  to  the  partici- 
pation of  the  sacramental  elements,  but  to  the  feast  which  accompa- 
nied the  distribution  of  these  elements.  But  it  has  been  abun- 
412 


SEC.  I.]  NAMES    OF   THE    SACRAMENT.  413 

dantly  shown  that  the  early  Christian  writers  understood  and  used 
the  term  according  to  the  explanation  given  above. ^ 

2.  The  table  of  the  Lord,  rpcXTtF^a  xv^iov,  ynensa  Dei,  denotes 
much  the  same  as  the  Lord's  supper,  a  festival  instituted  by  the 
Lord.  Tertullian  styles  it  convivium  Dominicum}  The  context 
of  1  Cor.  X.  21,  forbids  the  supposition  that  a  common  table  Avas 
used  for  this  purpose.  The  apostle  uses  the  term  TpOLTtE^a  xvpi'ov 
as  synonymous  with  ^vcnaGrr.piOV,  an  altar.  We  are  constrained, 
therefore,  to  believe  that  a  table  was  set  apart  for  this  sacred 
purpose,  like  that  of  the  show-bread,  a  mensa  mystica,  a  table 
sacred  to  the  purpose  of  celebrating  the  Lord's  supper. 

3.  The  following  scriptural  expressions  are  also  employed  in  a 
sense  partly  literal  and  partly  figurative,  to  denote  the  sacrament : 
bread — the  breahing  of  bread,  Acts  ii.  42 ;  xx.  7  comp.  xxvii.  35 ; 
Luke  xxiv.  25 — the  eating  of  bread,  John  vi.  23 — the  Lord's  body  ; 
or  his  flesh,  John  vi.  53 ;  the  cup  of  the  Lord,  1  Cor.  x.  21 ;  the 
cup  of  the  New  Testament,  Luke  xxii.  20 ;  1  Cor.  x.  21 ;  blood. 
The  custom  of  breaking  the  bread,  and  of  administering  but  one 
element,  has  been  derived  from  the  foregoing  passages. 

4.  The  New  Testament  in  my  blood.  Luke  xxii.  20  ;  1  Cor.  xi. 
25.  It  has,  however,  been  disputed  whether  this  phrase  can,  with 
propriety,  be  applied  to  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper.^ 

5.  Communion,  xoivavia,  communio.  This  is  by  far  the  most 
common  appellation  of  the  solemnity  in  question.  It  has  been  cur- 
rent in  all  ages  and  among  all  parties.  It  has  been  used,  both  in 
a  doctrinal  and  mystical  sense ;  and  in  an  historical  and  ecclesiasti- 
cal signification. 

In  a  doctrinal  sense,  it  has  been  supposed  to  represent  our  recon- 
ciliation to  God,  and  our  union  with  him.  Others  have  supposed 
it  to  represent  our  union  and  fellowship  with  Christ.  This  partici- 
pation with  him,  according  to  some,  is  through  his  presence  in  the 
elements.  Others  understand  by  it  the  union  of  believers  in  spirit, 
with  their  spiritual  head ;  and  others,  again,  the  union  of  believers 
among  themselves  in  the  bonds  of  Christian  love. 

In  an  historical  and  ecclesiastical  sense,  communion  denotes  a 
participation  in  all  the  mysteries  of  the  Christian  religion,  and,  of 
course,  church-fellowship,  with  all  its  rites  and  privileges.  Hence 
the  term  excommunication. 

In  a  liturgical  sense  it  denotes,  sometimes  the  partaking  of  the 
sacrament,  and  sometimes  the  administration  of  it. 

6.  Agapse,  aydnai,  or  aydnyi,  lovefeast,  feast  of  heaimi.     The 


414  THE    lord's    supper.  [chap.  XXI. 

expression  in  Jude  xii.,  2  Pet.  ii.  13,  may  refer  either  to  tlie  Lord's 
supper  or  to  the  festival  accompanying  it. 

7.  Eucharist,  evj^apLGria,  a  very  ancient  and  general  appella- 
tion, founded  on  the  scriptural  expression  8V^api(7ry{Gag.  Matt, 
xxvi.  27  ;  Mark  xiv.  23  ;  Luke  xxii.  19  ;  1  Cor.  xi.  24.  The  name 
eucharist,  thanksgiving,  was  applied  to  this  ordinance,  because 
gratitude  for  the  divine  mercy  and  grace  is  the  chief  requisite  in 
those  who  partake  of  it.* 

8.  ErXo^f'a,  celehratio  laudis,  henedietio,  thanksgiving,  synony- 
mous with  the  preceding.  Matt.  xxvi.  26  ;  Mark  xiv.  22  ;  1  Cor.  x. 
16.  After  the  fifth  century  this  became  the  name  for  the  conse- 
crated bread  which  was  set  apart  for  the  poor,  and  for  the  ministers 
of  the  church. 

9.  UpoG^opd,  ohlatio,  oblation.  The  literal  signification  of  this 
word  is  a  sacrificial  ofiering,  corresponding  to  the  Hebrew  111130  , 
and  the  Syriac  corhan.     It  finally  became  synonymous  with  ilD?'.  ? 

'^vaia,  a  sacrifice.  It  is  applied  to  the  elements  used  in  celebrat- 
ing the  Lord's  supper.  The  later  Greek  writers  used  the  word 
aiu^opd,  in  a  moral  rather  than  a  literal  sense,  in  allusion  to  the 
customary  exhortation,  Sursum  corda !  "  Lift  up  your  hearts." 
The  leading  idea  of  the  Latin,  offertorium,  is  a  voluntary  ofiering; 
but  it  appears  to  have  been  applied  especially  to  the  consecrated 
bread.^ 

10.  QvGia,  sacrifice.  This  term  is,  with  great  propriety,  used  by 
early  Christian  writers  to  denote  the  sacrifice  of  the  body  and  blood 
of  Christ,  once  offered  for  the  sins  of  the  world. ^  Other  epithets 
of  a  similar  import  are  sacrificium  spirituale,  sanctum,  mi/sticum, 
rationale,  etc.,  but  more  frequently,  '^vaia  dvaifiaxtog,  the  blood- 
less sacrifice.  After  the  seventh  century,  it  began  to  be  used  to 
designate  the  mass,  which  was  off"ered  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
church  for  the  dead,  and  accordingly  fell  into  disuse  with  the  evan- 
gelical church. 

11.  Mvarr.pLOV,  mysterium,  mystery.  This,  coupled  with  the 
adjectives,  ^pixrdv,  ^pixoi^sg,  ^pixaSeGtarov,  etc.,  awful,  tre- 
mendous, is  familiar  phraseology  with  Chrysostom  and  Gregory 
Nazianzen ;  but  they  seem  to  use  it  with  reference  to  the  ritual, 
rather  than  to  any  implied  doctrine.  The  Lord's  supper,  as  the  last 
and  most  solemn  rite  of  the  secret  discipline,  Avas  styled  by  Pseudo- 
Dionysius,  teTierr.v  're?.87'0)V,''  perfection  of  perfections.  The  name 
^vGrr,piov,  which  this  ordinance  received  from  its  connection  with 
the  secret  discipline,  became  the  favom'ite  phrase  for  setting  forth 


SEC.  I.]  NAMES   OF   THE    SACRAMENT.  415 

the  wonderful  presence  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  which 
finally  ended  in  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation.^ 

12.  ^Ivarayayia,  used  by  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  and  Theodoret, 
with  special  reference  to  the  secret  discipline.  After  the  termina- 
tion of  that  system,  it  appears  not  to  have  been  used  by  evangeli- 
cal writers. 

13.  ^in'a^ig,  i.  e.  (yvvaycdyn,  congregatio,  coetus,  conventus  sacer, 
a  solemn  assembly.  This  phrase  is  of  similar  import  with  that  of 
communion,  with  the  additional  idea  of  a  solemn  and  public  trans- 
action. It  indicates  that  this,  in  the  primitive  church,  was  the 
most  important  and  solemn  act  of  public  worship. 

14.  ''le^ovoyia,  operatio  sacra,  sacred  ministration.  Supposed 
to  have  been  derived  from  the  expression,  ministering  the  gospel 
of  God,  Rom.  XV.  16 ;  and  used  in  the  same  general  and  figurative 
sense. 

15.  AeiTov^yia,  public  service,  liturgy.  This,  and  its  kindred 
terms,  as  used  in  the  New  Testament,  relates  to  the  service  of  the 
priesthood ;  and  was,  probably,  used  in  the  same  sense  by  Chry- 
sostom  and  Theodoret,  etc.  It  became,  however,  the  practice,  both 
in  the  Eastern  and  Western  churches,  to  apply  this  epithet  to  the 
sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper.  But  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
church,  it  finally  gave  place  to  the  name  ynass. 

16.  Mass.  This  word  has  undergone  a  change  from  its  simple 
origin  and  meaning,  to  another,  more  entirely  different  in  use  and 
signification  than  any  other.  Passing  by  various  theories  respect- 
ing  the  orijrin  of  this  word  which  have  been  advanced  and  refuted, 
it  will  be  suflicient  briefly  to  set  forth  its  true  etymology. 

The  word  is  undoubtedly  derived  from  the  Latin  missa,  which 
stands  for  missio,  or  dimissio  jyopuli,  with  direct  reference  to  the 
ancient  mode  of  dismissing  the  people  at  the  close  of  religious  wor- 
ship. From  being  a  participle,  it  has  become  a  noun  substantive, 
for  missio,  like  remissa,  ee,  for  remissio,  or  offensa,  se,  for  offensio. 

By  the  secret  discipline  of  the  ancient  church,  none  but  believers 
were  permitted  to  be  present  at  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  sup- 
per. But  during  a  certain  portion  of  religious  worship  all  were 
allowed,  indiscriminately,  to  attend.  At  the  close  of  this  part  of 
the  service,  the  catechumens  and  unbelievers  of  every  description, 
were  dismissed  by  the  deacon  who  said,  Ite  !  missa  est  sc.  ecclesia. 
Depart !  the  assembly  is  dismissed.  From  this  custom  the  reli- 
gious service,  which  had  just  been  concluded,  was  called  missa 
catechumenorum,  the  service  of  the  catechumens.     Then  followed 


416  THE    lord's    supper.  [chap.  XXI. 

the  missa  fidelium,  the  service  of  the  faithful,  or  of  believers. 
Hence  the  change  from  missa  to  mass,  the  latter  being  only  a 
slight  modification  of  the  former  word. 

Protestants  have  uniformly  rejected  this  term  with  abhorrence, 
because  of  the  abuses  which,  under  this  name,  have  been  connected 
with  the  sacrament,  both  in  ancient  and  modern  times,  while  they 
have  protested  against  the  charge  of  a  want  of  regard  for  the  real 
missa  or  mass  of  the  primitive  church. 

On  the  subject  of  the  mass,  the  reader  is  referred  to  various  au- 
thorities in  the  index.^ 

17.  Sacramentum  altaris,  sacrament  of  the  altar.  This  phrase 
is  used  in  common  by  the  Greek,  Roman,  and  Lutheran  churches. 
But  the  reformed  churches  reject  the  phrase,  because  of  their  aver- 
sion to  the  word  altar. 

But,  without  the  addition  of  the  word  altar,  that  of  sacrament 
alone  has,  very  generally,  been  used  to  denote  the  ordinance  in 
question,  this  being  the  principal  rite  of  religious  worship ;  and, 
by  way  of  emphasis,  denominated  the  sacrament. 

18.  Besides  the  foregoing  appellations  in  common  use,  and  hav- 
ing a  peculiar  signification,  there  are  many  others  of  less  frequent 
occurrence,  and  more  general  character,  the  knowledge  of  which 
may  be  of  importance  as  conveying  ideas  respecting  the  nature, 
significancy,  dignity,  and  efiicacy  of  the  ordinance  which  they 
describe. 

The  most  of  these  are  derived  from  relations  of  the  bread  and 
the  wine,  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ.  In  this  point  of  view  the 
holy  sacrament  is  represented  as  spiritual  nourishment,  the  life  and 
strength  of  the  soul,  etc.  The  terms  body  and  hlood,  food  and  drinh, 
bread  and  wine,  were  at  fii*st  used  in  the  same  sense.  Afterward, 
in  consequence  of  the  prevailing  custom  of  administering  only  one 
element,  these  terms  were  separated,  and  the  ordinance  was  de- 
noted by  the  appellations  of  body,  food,  and  bread,  alone ;  the 
terms  blood,  drink,  ivine,  etc.  being  rarely  added.  The  following 
are  some  of  the  expressions  in  question  : — 

1.  Corpus  Christi,  the  body  of  Christ. 

2.  Cibus  Dei,  s.  Domini,  the  food  of  God,  or  of  the  Lord. 

3.  Cibus  coelestis,  heavenly  food. 

4.  Cibus  angelorum,  angels'  food. 

5.  Cibus  viatorum,  mortalium,  segrotorum,  food  of  travellers, 
mortals,  the  sick,  etc. 

6.  Manna  coelestis,  heavenly  manna. 


SEC.  I.]  NAMES   OF   THE   SACRAMENT.  417 

7.  Panis  supersubstantialts,  equivalent  to  living  bread,  or  bread 
indeed.  The  expression  "our  daily  bread,"  in  our  Lord's  prayer, 
was  applied  to  the  consecrated  bread. 

8.  Panis  Dei,  s.  Domini,  bread  of  God. 

9.  Panis  vitse,  bread  of  life. 

10.  Panis  coelestis,  heavenly  bread. 

11.  ^(pohiov,  viaticum,  provisions  for  a  journey.  It  was  an 
ancient  custom  to  administer  the  sacrament  to  the  sick  in  the  last 
stages  of  life,  and  also  to  put  the  sacred  elements  in  the  coffin  of 
the  deceased.  Hence  the  appellation  above.  Death  was,  to  the 
ancient  Christian,  a  journey  from  this  to  the  eternal  world,  and 
the  sacrament  furnished  the  needful  provisions  for  that  journey. 
But  this  custom  of  administering  the  sacrament  to  the  dying  and 
the  dead  was  finally  abandoned. 

12.  MeTd/l>7'v]/fg,  participation,  communion,  i.  e.  with  saints  or 
with  Christ,  etc. 

13.  'Appal3ov,  dppal3(dv  trig  ^E/^/iovGyjg  ^arig,  pledge,  pledge 
of  eternal  life.  2  Cor.  i.  22  ;  v.  6  ;  and  Eph.  i.  14. 

14.  ^apfiaxov  d^avaaiag,  dvriSorog  rov  firi  dno^avEtv,  me- 
dicamentum,  medicina  corporis  et  mentis,  purgatorium,  amuletum, 
and  other  phrases,  expressive  of  medicinal  properties  for  the  soul. 

15.  Sacramenium  pads,  the  reconciling  ordinance,  a  favourite 
expression  of  Chrysostom. 

16.  The  terms  applied  to  baptism  were  often  transferred  to  the 
Lord's  supper,  such  as  hpovpyia,  fwarnpiov,  already  mentioned ; 
to  ^ag,  n  ^6)71,  Yi  Garyjpia,  ri  8/\.7iig,  6  oca^apLCfxog,  yi  vrto^eoig 
trig  TtappyiGiag,  light,  life,  salvation,  liope,  purification,  access  to 
the  Pather  by  Christ,  with  assurance  of  adoption.* 

*  The  following  sentence  in  Costeri  Institut.  Chr.  lib.  i.  c.  yI.,  consists  of  extracts 
from  various  writers,  chiefly  from  Bernhard  of  Clairvaux: — Eucharistia  est  medi- 
cina aegrotis,  perigrinantibus  via  ;  debiles  confortat,  valentes  delectat,  languorem 
sanat,  sanitatem  servat ;  fit  homo  mansuetior  ad  correctionem,  potentior  ad  labo- 
rem,  ardentior  ad  amorem,  sagacior  ad  cautelam,  ad  obedientiara  promptlor,  ad 
gratiarum  cautiones  devotior ;  hie  dimittuntur  peccata  quotidiana,  expelluntur 
potestates  Satanse,  dantur  vires  ad  ipsum  etiam  martyrium  subeundum  ;  minuitur 
in  minimis  peccatis  sensus,  in  gravioribus  tollitur  omnino  consensus,  denique  af- 
feruntur  omnia  bona  ;  quia  homo  communicans  in  id  transit,  quod  sumit. — The 
following  expressions  are  from  the  language  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  {Cone.  Tri- 
dent, sess.  xiii.  p.  77-86,  ed.  Lugd.  1677-8) : — Eucharistia  est  symbolum  unitatis 
et  caritatis,  qua  Christus  omnes  Christianos  inter  se  conjunctos  et  copulatoa 
esse  voluit. — Symbolum  rei  sacrae,  et  invisibilis  gratiae  forma  visibilis. — Spiritu- 
alis  animarum  cibus. — Panis  angelorum. — Animse  vita,  perpetua  sanitas  mentis. -- 
Antidotum  liberans  a  culpis  et  peccatis. — Pignus  futurse  gloriae. 

27 


418  THE   lord's    supper.  [chap.  XXI. 


The  holy  sacrament,  from  the  eleventh  century,  became  the 
ordeal  for  proving  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  persons  suspected  or 
accused  of  crimes ;  and,  throughout  the  nations  of  Europe,  was 
also  employed  as  the  means  of  ratifying  an  oath,  asseveration,  or 
execration.  The  names  of  the  holy  sacrament  are  familiar  in  the 
dialect  of  the  profane  in  every  language.  Even  a  celebrated  Chris- 
tian queen,  in  her  paroxysms  of  rage,  was  accustomed  to  swear  by 
the  blood  of  God  ! 

§  2.    OF    THE    SCRIPTURAL   ACCOUNT    OF    THE    LORD'S    SUPPER.^ 

The  evangelists  who  record  the  institution  of  the  Lord's  supper 
give  it  no  peculiar  name  or  title.  St.  Paul,  in  his  first  epistle  to 
the  Corinthians,  styles  it  the  Lords  supper,  the  table  of  the  Lord, 
and  the  communion,  xi.  20 ;  x.  21 ;  x.  16.  No  other  distinctive 
appellation  appears  to  have  been  given  to  it  in  the  Scriptures. 

Our  Saviour  instituted  this  ordinance  in  connection  with  the 
passover,  and  authorized  his  disciples  to  celebrate  it  in  this  con- 
nection. But  it  was  evidently  observed  as  a  separate  and  inde- 
pendent ordinance  in  the  times  of  the  apostles  and  with  their 
sanction.  The  apostle  Paul,  in  1  Cor.  xi.,  makes  no  mention  of 
the  Passover,  but  speaks  of  the  communion  as  a  customary  rite : 
'■'■As  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread  and  drink  this  cup  ye  do  show  the 
Lord's  death  until  he  come." 

This  sacrament,  however,  was  probably  celebrated  annually  in 
connection  with  the  passover  by  the  converts  from  the  Jews,  who, 
as  appears  from  Epiphanius,^  continued  for  many  years  to  obsei've 
this  Jewish  festival ;  and,  even  in  the  Christian  church  generally, 
it  was  celebrated  with  peculiar  solemnity  at  the  festival  of  Easter, 
which  corresponded  to  this  passover. 

From  the  circumstance  that  it  was  instituted  as  a  separate  and 
distinct  ordinance,  though  in  connection  with  the  passover,  appears 
to  have  been  derived  the  custom  of  celebrating  it,  not  as  a  separate 
and  independent  religious  ordinance,  but  as  one  of  the  common 
rites  of  public  worship,  and  as  the  conclusion  of  the  service. 

It  may  appear,  at  first  thought,  singular  that  John,  the  beloved 
disciple,  the  bosom  friend  of  our  Lord,  who  with  Peter  made  ready 
the  passover,  entirely  omits  to  mention  the  Lord's  supper.  It 
should,  however,  be  recollected  that  John's  gospel  was  evidently 
intended  to  be  supplementary  to  the  others,  and  that  his  own  nar- 
rative clearly  shows  that  it  was  intentionally  omitted,  because  al- 


SEC.  II.]         SCRIPTURAL  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  LORD'S  SUPPER.  419 


ready  sufficiently  explained.  "Is  it  possible  to  pass  over  such  an 
affecting  and  important  event  with  more  evident  appearance  of 
design  ?  Could  he  more  distinctly  signify  that  he  regarded  it  as 
already  sufficiently  reported,  and  left  on  imperishable  record?"^ 

The  account  given  by  St.  Paul  is  of  special  importance  to  us  ; 
for  it  not  only  harmonizes  with  the  narrations  of  the  apostles  and 
confirms  them,  but  it  shows  that  the  Lord's  supper  is  an  established 
ordinance  in  the  church,  and  designed  for  perpetual  observance.  He 
severely  rebukes  the  disorders  and  abuses  which  the  Corinthians 
had  introduced,  relates  the  original  institution  in  conformity  with 
the  narrative  given  by  Luke,  and  assures  them  that  he  shall  set  the 
whole  in  order  when  he  comes. 

The  question  has  been  raised  whether  Christ  himself  partook  of 
the  sacrament  ?  To  this  the  narrative  offers  no  satisfactory  reply. 
The  opinions  of  the  church  have  been  greatly  divided  on  this  point. 
Chrysostqp*  and  Augustin^  maintain  the  affirmative.  This  opinion 
is  rendered  highly  probable  from  the  circumstance  that  he  carefully 
observed  all  the  Mosaic  ordinances,  and  received  baptism  at  the 
hands  of  John,  because  thus  it  became  him  to  fulfil  all  righteousness. 
In  conformity  with  the  same  spirit,  it  is  hardly  credible  that  he 
would  have  omitted  a  rite  so  significant  as  the  one  under  considera- 
tion. The  advocates  of  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  strenu- 
ously maintain  the  contrary  opinion. 

Another  inquiry,  which  has  divided  the  opinions  of  ecclesiastical 
writers,  has  been  raised  respecting  the  presence  of  Judas  the  trai- 
tor. Did  he  partake  of  the  sacrament  ?  The  Apostolical  Consti- 
tutions affirm  that  he  was  not  present  at  the  celebration  of  the 
Lord's  supper.  The  advocates  of  this  opinion  rely  chiefly  on  John 
xiii.  30 :  "  He  then,  having  received  the  sop,  went  immediately  out." 
They  of  the  contrary  opinion  appeal  to  Luke  xxii.  14-21 :  "And 
when  the  hour  was  come,  he  sat  down,  and  the  twelve  apostles  with 
him."  In  delivering  the  cup,  our  Lord  said  also,  "Drink  ye  all  of 
it."  The  prevailing  sentiment  in  the  church  has  been  that  the  traitor 
did  partake  of  the  sacred  elements  in  company  with  the  other 
disciples.^ 

The  bread  used  on  this  occasion  was  doubtless  the  unleavened 
bread  Avhich  was  provided  for  the  passover.  No  stress,  however,  is 
laid  on  the  nature  or  kind  of  bread ;  but  on  the  hi^eaking  of  the 
bread,  in  token  of  the  body  of  Christ  broken  for  us. 

The  wine  was,  with  equal  probability,  the  common  wine  of  the 
country,  of  a  dark  red  colour,  and  was  received  without  mixture  with 


420  THE    lord's    supper.  [chap.  XXI, 

water.  The  significancy  of  the  distribution  of  the  cup,  however, 
consisted  not  in  the  quality  or  colour  of  the  wine,  but  in  its  being 
poured  out  in  token  of  the  hlood  of  Christ  shed  for  the  remission  of 
sins. 

The  eucharist  appears  to  have  been  celebrated  at  first  in  the 
evening,  with  reference,  no  doubt,  to  the  time  of  its  original  institu- 
tion. But  no  directions  are  given  on  this  head.  See  1  Cor.  x.  23 ; 
Acts  XX.  vii. 

§  3.    OF   THE   TESTIMONY   OF   PAGAN   WRITERS. 

Notwithstanding  all  the  care  of  the  primitive  Christians  to  con  • 
ceal  this  sacred  ordinance  from  their  enemies,  it  was  known,  and 
the  celebration  of  it  was  prohibited^  by  Roman  magistrates,  as  ap- 
pears from  Pliny's  letter.  Lucian  of  Samosata  speaks  of  our  Lord 
as  the  great  magician  who  instituted  neiv  mysteries.  Celsus,  with 
reference  to  this  sacred  festival,  as  appears  from  Origen,  also 
severely  censures  the  Christians  against  whom  he  wrote,^  for  hold- 
ing certain  secret  assemblies  and  celebrating  unauthorized  rites. 
The  frequent  charges  alleged  against  them  of  sensuality  and  in- 
cest, of  offering  human  sacrifices  and  of  celebrating  horrible  orgies 
in  secret,  e\adently  relate  to  the  same  ordinance.  See  references^ 
for  a  fuller  view  of  this  subject. 

§  4.    OF   THE   TESTIMONY   OF   THE   APOSTOLICAL    FATHERS. 

Neither  Barnabas,  nor  Polycarp,  nor  Clement  of  Rome,  make 
any  mention  of  the  Lord's  supper.  This  omission  is  the  more  re- 
markable in  the  latter,  inasmuch  as  he  wrote  a  long  epistle  to  the 
Corinthians,  whom  the  apostle  so  severely  censures  for  their  abuse 
of  this  ordinance.  Ignatius,  whose  authority  is  of  no  value,  is 
the  only  one  of  the  apostolical  fathers  whose  writings  have  any 
reference  to  the  subject  before  us ;  but  these  passages  from  his 
epistles,  even  if  their  genuineness  be  admitted,  are  of  little  import- 
ance. In  his  epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  c.  iv.,  he  speaks  of  the  break- 
ing of  one  bread,  the  medicine  of  immortality.  In  his  epistle  to 
the  Philadelphians,  c.  v.,  with  evident  allusion  to  Eph.  iv.  2-7,  he 
speaks  of  one  faith,  one  preaching,  one  eucharist — one  loaf  or 
bread,  broken  for  all.  There  is  another  passage,  in  his  epistle  to 
the  Smyrneans,  c.  viii.,  which  is  of  a  more  doubtful  authority  than 
either  of  the  foregoing,  and  which  is  evidently  an  interpolation 
from  the  Apostolical  Constitutions,  lib.  ii.  c.  20,  27. 


SEC.  IV.]        TESTIMONY   OF   THE   APOSTOLICAL   FATHERS.  421 

It  is  even  more  remarkable  that  most  of  the  early  apologists  for 
Christianity,  such  as  Minucius  Felix,  Athenagoras,  Tatian,  Theo- 
philus  of  Antioch,  and  Arnobius,  do  not  make  any  mention  of  the 
sacrament,  the  most  sacred  ordinance  of  the  Christian  religion. 
Justin  Martyr,  happily  for  us,  has  given  two  descriptions  of  this 
ordinance,  in  nearly  the  same  words,  Apol.  i.  c.  61-67,  the  one 
probably  relating  to  the  celebration  immediately  after  baptism — 
the  other,  to  the  ordinary  administration  of  the  sacrament,  on  the 
Lord's  day,  in  connection  with  the  agapas.  "  On  Sunday  we  all 
assemble  in  one  place,"  he  says  again,  "  both  those  who  live  in  the 
city  and  they  who  dwell  in  the  country,  and  the  writings  of  apostles 
and  prophets  are  read  so  long  as  the  time  permits.  After  the  read- 
ing, the  president  of  the  assembly  makes  an  address,  in  which  he  re- 
capitulates the  glorious  things  that  have  been  read,  and  exhorts  the 
people  to  follow  them.  Then  we  all  stand  up  together  and  pray. 
After  prayer,  bread,  wine,  and  water  are  brought  in.  The  president 
of  the  meeting  again  prays  according  to  his  ability,  and  gives  thanks, 
to  which  the  people  respond.  Amen.  After  this,  the  bread,  wine, 
and  water  are  distributed  to  those  present,  and  the  deacons  carry 
portions  to  such  as  are  necessarily  detained  from  the  meeting.  Those 
who  are  able  and  willing  contribute  what  they  please  in  money, 
which  is  given  to  the  president  of  the  meeting,  and  is  appropriated 
to  the  support  of  widows  and  orphans,  the  sick,  the  poor,  and  whom- 
soever is  necessitous."  In  the  other  account,  the  bread  is  brought  to 
the  president  of  the  brethren,  and  a  cup  of  water  and  a  mixtui-e,  i.  e. 
of  wine  mingled  with  water,  which  he  takes  and  gives  thanks  at  length 
that  we  are  permitted  to  partake  of  these  things.  To  which  all  at 
the  conclusion  respond.  Amen.  The  bread,  wine,  and  water,  are 
then  distributed  as  before. 

It  appears  from  an  examination  of  both  passages,  that  the  con- 
secration of  the  elements  was  made  in  the  name  of  the  three  per- 
sons of  the  Godhead.  He  speaks  of  a  "  thanksgiving  to  the 
Father  of  the  universe,  through  or  in  the  name  of  his  Son,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost." 

The  dialogue  with  Trypho  the  Jew,  usually  ascribed  to  Justin, 
speaks  of  the  "  offering  of  the  bread  of  thanksgiving,  and  of  the 
cup  of  thanksgiving ;"  and  of  the  "  eucharistic  meal  of  bread  and 
wine;"  of  the  "dry  and  liquid  food  with  which  Christians  com- 
memorate the  sufferings  once  endured  by  the  Son  of  God;"  but 
gives  no  additional  information  respecting  the  celebration  of  the 
ordinance. 


422  THE   lord's   supper.  [chap.  XXI. 


Irenseus,  in  his  controversial  writings,  brought  into  use  the  words 
TtpoG^opd,  and  ^vGia,  which  Justin  Martyr  had  introduced ;  his 
writings,  however,  are  chiefly  of  a  controversial  character,  and  ac- 
cordingly have  little  reference  to  the  ritual  of  the  church :  he  con- 
tends that  the  eucharist  should  be  regarded  as  a  sacrifice,  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  Gnostics,  who  contended  that  all  sacrifices  had  ceased. 
Iren£eus,  however,  distinguished  this  from  the  Jewish  sacrifices,  as 
of  a  higher  and  nobler  character ;  ^  he  appears  to  have  some  idea 
of  the  symbolical  presence  in  the  elements  ;  the  bread  is  exchanged 
into  bread  of  a  higher  order,  the  earthly  into  the  heavenly,  but  is 
still  bread.^ 

Clement  of  Alexandria  and  Origen  offer  much  important  mat- 
ter in  regard  to  the  doctrine  of  the  eucharist,  but  very  little  relating 
to  the  rites  of  its  celebration.  The  former  speaks  of  the  twofold 
nature  of  the  blood  of  Christ,  corporeal  and  spiritual,  as  typified  in 
the  mixing  of  the  wine  with  water.^  The  latter  is  the  first  to  commend 
the  reverential  custom  of  the  church,  which  is  still  superstitiously 
observed  by  the  Roman  Catholics,  in  guarding  every  particle  of  the 
consecrated  bread  from  falling  to  the  ground.  "  You  who  frequent 
our  sacred  mysteries  know  that  when  you  receive  the  body  of  the 
Lord,  you  take  care  with  all  due  caution  and  veneration  that  not 
even  the  smallest  particle  of  the  consecrated  gift  should  fall  to  the 
ground  and  be  wasted.  If,  through  inattention,  any  part  thus  fall, 
you  justly  account  yourselves  guilty.  If  then,  with  good  reason,  you 
use  so  much  caution  in  preserving  his  body,  how  can  you  esteem  it 
a  lighter  sin  to  slight  the  word  of  God  than  to  neglect  his  body  ?"  * 

From  Tertullian  we  learn  that  this  ordinance  was  celebrated 
before  daylight  in  the  morning,  '■'■  antelucanis  eoetibus,"  and  re- 
ceived only  at  the  hands  of  the  presiding  minister,  "  7iec  de  aliorum  ^ 
manu  quam  prsesidentium  sunmnus."  He  also  intimates  that  the 
sacred  elements  were  strictly  guarded  from  waste  and  accident ; 
but  expressly  declares  that  all  these  usages  are  observed  from  tra- 
dition and  the  force  of  custom,  without  any  scriptm'al  authority 
whatever.® 

Cyprian  treats  at  length  of  the  types  of  the  Lord's  supper  in  the 
Old  Testament,  and  of  the  elements ;  and  censures  severely  the 
practice  of  administering  water  instead  of  wine.  Certain  sects  at 
that  time  maintained  that  the  use  of  wine,  even  at  the  sacrament, 
was  sinful.  It  further  appears  from  his  writings,  that  the  eucharist 
was  administered  daiJi/ — that  it  was  offered  to  children,  and,  on  one 
occasion,  was  administered  by  a  female  enthusiast — that  the  sacred 


BEC.  IV.]     TESTIMONY  OF  THE  APOSTOLICAL  CONSTITUTIONS.  423 


elements  were  sent  to  the  absent  communicants — and  that  the  con- 
secrated bread  was  carried  home  by  the  communicants  from  the 
table  of  the  Lord,  on  account  of  the  efficacy  which  was  ascribed  to 
the  consecrated  elements.  According  to  the  same  author,  they 
also  received  the  sacred  elements  in  communion  from  the  officiating 
minister  into  their  own  hands. "^ 

But  the  fullest  information  in  our  possession  respecting  the  point 
under  consideration  is  derived  from  the  Apostolical  Constitutions. 
This  forgery,  the  object  of  which  is  to  establish  the  idea  of  an  uni- 
versal catholic  church  and  a  Levitical  priesthood,  and  thus  to  exalt 
the  bishop,  represents  the  state  of  the  church  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  fourth  and  beginning  of  the  fifth  century.  The  hierarchy  was 
now  established,  and  the  superstitions  and  perversions  of  the  ancient 
ritual  were  in  current  use.  It  is  the  oldest  liturgical  document  now 
extant  in  the  church,  and  is  evidently  the  basis  of  the  formularies 
and  liturgies  both  of  the  Eastern  and  Western  churches.^  Brief 
descriptions  of  the  eucharist,  and  of  the  agapse,  are  found  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  this  work,^  and  full  descriptions  of  the  liturgies  and 
formularies  connected  with  this  service  f  from  which  the  following 
particulars  are  collected : — 

{a)  The  agapae  are  distinguished  from  the  eucharist. 

(b)  The  ordinance  was  celebrated  with  profound  secrecy  as  a 
sacred  mystery ;  catechumens,  penitents,  and  unbelievers  of  every 
description,  being  excluded  with  the  greatest  caution,  and  the  doors 
carefully  guarded. 

All  believers  in  good  and  regular  standing  were  expected  to  par- 
take of  the  elements. 

(c)  The  sexes  were  separated,  and  received  the  elements  sepa- 
rately. 

[d)  The  ordinance  appears  to  have  been  administered  at  the  usual 
time  of  public  worship,  in  the  morning,  and  in  the  ordinary  place 
of  assembly.     No  intimation  is  given  of  a  celebration  by  night. 

[e)  The  consecration  of  the  elements  was,  performed  by  the  chief 
priest,  dp^iE^evg :  this  term  is  sometimes  used  as  synonymous  with 
that  of  bishop ;  and  yet  they  who  do  not  admit  the  identity  of 
presbyters  and  bishops,  and  of  teaching  and  ruling  bishops,  must 
still  concede  that  the  presbyters  were  permitted,  at  times,  to  conse- 
crate the  elements,  especially  in  the  absence  of  the  bishop. 

(/)  The  consecrating  minister  offered  a  prayer  in  his  own  behalf, 
as  well  as  more  general  petitions ;  and  then  distributed  the  bread 
himself.     The  cup  was  distributed  by  the  deacons.     At  first  it 


424  THE   lord's   supper.  [chap.  XXI. 


•would  appear  that  both  of  the  elements  were  distributed  by  the 
deacons  ;  such  is  the  distinct  assertion  of  Justin  Martyr. 

(^)  Mention  is  made  of  a  splendid  robe  for  the  minister,  and  of 
his  making  the  sign  of  the  cross  upon  his  forehead. 

(A)  The  elements  were  presented  simply  in  these  words :  "  The 
body  of  Christ ;  the  blood  of  Christ,  the  cup  of  life ;"  to  which  the 
communicant  simply  responded,  "Amen!"  The  brevity  of  this 
form  is  strikingly  contrasted  with  the  prolonged  prayers  and  for- 
malities of  the  other  parts  of  this  service. 

{{)  During  the  service,  the  34th  Psalm  was  sung.  The  42d  and 
139th  came  into  use  at  a  later  period.  The  attention  of  the  as- 
sembly was  called  for  with  the  usual  form,  dva  tov  vovv,  s^ofjiEV 
Ttpog  tov  xi'piov — sursum  corda,  habemus  ad  Dominum. 

(k)  The  three  elements,  bread,  wine,  and  water,  are  mentioned ; 
the  two  last  being  mixed  in  the  same  vessel.  The  bread  was  broken 
for  distribution,  and  the  fragments  carefully  preserved. 

(?)  The  communicants  were  required  sometimes  to  stand  erect ; 
and  sometimes  to  kneel,  and  with  the  head  inclining  forward  to 
receive  the  blessing.  They  were  directed  to  rise  and  stand  in 
prayer  after  partaking  of  the  elements,  and  then  to  kneel  to  re- 
ceive the  benediction. 

§  5.    OF    THE    TIMES    OP    CELEBRATION. 

Under  this  head  two  points  of  inquiry  arise :  1.  At  what  hour 
or  part  of  the  day?  2.  How  often,  and  on  what  particular  occa- 
sions was  the  Lord's  supper  celebrated  ?  In  regard  to  these  par- 
ticulars, there  appears  to  have  been  no  uniformity  of  practice  or 
harmony  of  views  in  the  primitive  church.  A  brief  summary  of 
the  usages  of  the  church  at  different  times  is  however  given  below. 

1.  The  time  of  day. — This  solemnity  was  originally  instituted  in 
the  evening  or  at  night,  Matt.  xxvi.  20  ;  1  Cor.  xi.  23 ;  and  on  some 
occasions  was  celebrated  by  night  by  the  apostles ;  and  probably  at 
other  times  of  the  day  also.  Acts  ii.  46 ;  xx.  7 ;  1  Cor.  xvi.  2. 

Nothing  definite  can  be  determined  from  Justin  Martyr  respect- 
ing the  time  of  day  set  apart  for  celebrating  the  sacrament. 

At  a  later  period,  mention  is  made  by  Ambrose^  and  Augustin^ 
of  the  celebration  of  it  by  night  on  certain  occasions,  and  as  an 
exception  to  the  general  rule.  It  was  afterward  administered  in 
the  morning^  even  on  the  occasions  mentioned  by  them. 

Tertullian  speaks  of  the  celebration  of  it  on  JSaster-eve.^     This, 


SEC.  v.]  TIMES    OF    CELEBRATION.  425 

in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  was  the  most  solemn  period  for 
the  celebration  both  of  baptism  and  of  the  Lord's  supper ;  and  was 
observed  as  such  even  in  the  ninth  century.*  In  the  eleventh  and 
twelfth  centuries  it  was  transferred  to  the  evening,  and  then  to  the 
afternoon  of  the  day  before  Easter,  and  afterward  to  the  morning 
of  the  same  day. 

The  celebration  on  Christmas-eve  continued  until  a  late  period. 
To  this  ancient  custom  of  celebrating  the  eucharist  by  night  is,  per- 
haps, to  be  traced  that  of  burning  lighted  tapers  on  such  occasions^ 
— at  a  later  period,  emblematical  of  spiritual  illumination  and  of 
rejoicing. 

The  Roman  laws  forbade  assemblies  by  night,  even  for  religious 
worship.  For  this  reason,  probably,  the  early  Christians  selected 
the  last  hours  of  the  night,  toward  morning,  for  holding  their  reli- 
gious meetings.  This  was  neither  a  forbidden  nor  a  suspicious 
hour,  and  yet  it  was  sufficient  to  satisfy  their  views  of  the  necessity 
of  celebrating  the  eucharist  by  night.  Other  reasons  were  after- 
ward sought  out,  drawn  from  scriptural  representations  of  Christ, 
as  the  Sun  of  righteousness,  Dayspring  from  on  high.  Light  of  the 
world,  etc.  Nine  o'clock  in  the  moi'ning  became  the  canonical 
hour  as  early  as  the  fifth  century.  And  it  was  settled  that  the 
sacrament  should  be  celebrated  on  Sundays  and  high  festivals  at 
this  hour,  and  at  twelve  o'clock  on  other  occasions. 

2.  Times  and  Seasons. — The  Lord's  supper  was  originally  cele- 
brated daily  in  connection  with  a  common  meal  by  the  disciples. 
Acts  ii.  42,  46 ;  1  Cor.  x.  11.  In  the  beginning  of  the  second 
century,  as  we  learn  from  Pliny's  letter,  the  weekly  celebration  of 
this  ordinance  on  a  "stated  day"  was  customary.  This  day  is  be- 
lieved to  have  been  the  Christian  sabbath,  the  Lord's  day.  The 
same  was  the  custom  fifty  years  later,  as  we  are  distinctly  informed 
by  Justin  Martyr.  The  observance  of  the  day  may  be  clearly 
shown  from  Tertullian.^  Justin  Martyr  says,  "  We  all  meet  to- 
gether on  Sunday;"  and  the  reason  assigned  is,  that  this  is  the 
first  day  of  the  week,  when  in  the  beginning  light  was  created,  and 
when  also  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  arose  from  the  dead.''  It  was 
called  also  dies  panis — the  day  of  bread,  with  evident  allusion  to 
the  celebration  of  the  sacrament  on  that  day.  Socrates  relates^ 
that  it  was  celebrated  every  Sunday  in  almost  all  the  churches 
throughout  the  world,  except  at  Alexandria  and  at  Rome. 

There  is  also  evidence  that  the  custom  of  daily  communion  con- 
tinued to  be  more  or  less  observed  to  the  third  or  fourth  century, 


426  THE    lord's    supper.  [chap.  XXI. 


thougli  some  of  the  passages  cited  in  proof  may  relate  to  the  cus- 
tom of  private  communion,  for  which  purpose  the  consecrated  bread 
was  retained  at  home  after  the  consecration  by  the  priest  became 
an  important  rite. 

After  the  establishment  of  the  hierarchy,  this  sacrament  was 
administered  on  several  of  the  festivals  of  the  church,  and  was 
mingled  with  so  many  rites  that  its  original  significancy  and  im- 
portance was  in  a  great  measure  overlooked.  In  the  Greek  church 
especially,  it  fell  in  a  great  measure  into  neglect,  except  on  the 
great  festivals  of  the  church.  Such  was  the  complaint  of  Chrysos- 
tom  at  the  close  of  the  fourth  century.  Augustin,  his  cotemporary 
in  the  Western  church,  informs  us  that  there  was  no  uniform  usage 
in  the  celebration  of  this  sacrament.  Some  partook  of  it  daily ; 
others  on  stated  days.  Some  on  the  Lord's  day  only ;  others  on 
this  and  the  Jewish  sabbath.  He  also  advises  that  each  should  con- 
form to  the  usage  of  the  church  where  he  may  chance  to  reside.* 

The  weekly  celebration  of  the  sacrament  was  strongly  recom- 
mended at  the  Reformation,  but  the  custom  of  the  reformed  churches 
in  this  respect  is  very  various. 

§  6.    OF    THE    PLACE    OF    CELEBRATION. 

The  sacrament  was  instituted  in  a  private  house,  and  the  "  break- 
ing of  bread"  by  the  apostles.  Acts  ii.  46,  xx.  7,  8,  was  in  the  pri- 
vate houses  of  believers.  But  the  Corinthians,  it  appears,  had  a 
place  distinct  from  their  own  houses,  set  apart  for  the  celebration 
of  this  rite  and  of  public  worship.  1  Cor.  xi.  20. 

In  times  of  persecution,  the  Lord's  supper  was  administered 
wherever  it  could  be  done  with  secrecy  and  safety,  in  secret  places, 
in  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth,  in  the  wilderness  and  desert  fields, 
etc.  But  it  was  a  rule  from  the  beginning  that,  as  far  as  practi- 
cable, this  ordinance  should  be  solemnized  in  the  public  assembly, 
and  in  the  customary  place  of  public  worship.  The  consecration 
of  the  elements,  especially,  was  at  times  regarded  as  an  act  to  be 
performed  only  in  public ;  as  appears  from  the  custom  of  sending 
the  consecrated  elements  to  the  sick,  and  to  the  poor  or  infii-m  who 
might  be  absent.  The  consecration  in  private  houses  was  expressly 
forbidden  by  the  Council  of  Laodicea.^ 

*  Indifferenter  est  habendum,  et  pro  eorum,  inter  quos  -vivitur,  societate  ser- 
Tandum  est. — Epist.  adJanar.  113,  c.  ii. 


SEC.  VII.]  MINISTERS    OF   THE   LORD'S    SUPPER.  427 

The  communion  table  was  common  as  early  as  the  second  cen- 
tury. It  was  first  a  simple  table,  around  which  the  communicants 
gathered,  without  distinction  of  age  or  sex,  to  receive  the  sacred 
elements.  It  was  afterAvard  styled  an  altar,  ^vGLaorr.^LOV,  etc. 
This,  styled  ^vGiaorr^piOV,  was  at  first  made  of  wood,  hence  the 
expression  n  GGiTy;pia  rov  ^v/iov.  Altars  wrought  from  stone 
became  common  in  the  time  of  Constantine,  and  in  the  Western 
church  were  required  by  ecclesiastical  authority  in  the  beginning 
of  the  sixth  century.^ 

The  custom  of  covering  the  altar  with  white  linen  was  very 
ancient.  Optatus,  f  A.  D.  384,  is  the  first  writer  who  expressly 
mentions  this  practice.^  Allusions  are  also  made  to  it  by  several 
other  authors.* 

Under  the  ceremonials  of  liturgical  worship,  the  altar  was  en- 
closed in  the  chancel,  from  which  the  laity  were  carefully  excluded. 
Here  the  bishop  first  received  the  elements,  then  the  several  orders 
of  the  priesthood.  After  this  they  were  distributed  to  the  laity 
without.  Even  the  emperors  were  sometimes  required  to  commu- 
nicate without  the  chancel.  "  The  priests  alone,"  said  Ambrose  to 
the  Emperor  Theodosius,  "  are  permitted  to  enter  within  the  pali- 
sades of  the  altar.  All  others  must  not  approach  it.  Retire  then, 
and  remain  with  the  rest  of  the  laity.  A  purple  robe  makes  empe- 
rors, but  not  priests."^ 

§  7.    OF   THE    MINISTERS    OF   THE   LORD'S   SUPPER. 

As  in  baptism,  so  in  the  administration  of  this  ordinance,  a  de- 
viation from  the  general  rule  in  cases  of  necessity  was  authorized 
by  common  consent.  The  following  remarks  must  be  regarded  as 
exhibiting  only  the  prevailing  principles  and  usages  in  relation  to 
this  subject,  without  regard  to  the  occasional  exceptions  and  minor 
points  of  controversy. 

Nothing  is  said  in  the  New  Testament  respecting  the  person 
whose  prerogative  it  is  to  administer  this  sacrament.  Our  Lord 
himself  administered  it  at  the  time  of  its  institution ;  and  the  pro- 
bability is  that  the  apostles  afterward  performed  the  same  office, 
but  it  does  not  appear  that  this  service  was  restricted  exclusively 
to  them.  Acts  xx.  7  ;  ii.  42,  46  ;  1  Cor.  x.  14  et  seq. ;  xi.  23  et  seq. 

According  to  the  earliest  documents  of  the  second  and  third  cen- 
turies, it  was  the  appropriate  office  of  the  president  of  the  assembly 
to  administer  the  eucharist.     Justin  Martyr's  account  of  this  rite 


428  THE    lord's    supper.  [chap.  XXI. 


is,  that  the  president,  6  TtpofCTog  Tcjv  ddE2.^0)V,  pronounced  the 
form  of  prayer  and  praise  over  the  elements,  and  the  deacons  dis- 
tributed them  among  the  communicants  who  were  present,  and  con- 
veyed them  to  such  as  were  absent.^  According  to  Ignatius,  the 
ordinance  could  not  be  administered  without  the  presence  of  the 
bishop.^  In  the  Apostolical  Constitutions,  the  administration  of 
this  ordinance  is  ascribed,  at  one  time,  to  the  chief  priest,  apj;j^te- 
pEvg ;  at  another,  to  the  bishop,  inioxoTtog.^  He  is  directed  to 
stand  before  the  altar  with  the  presbyters  and  deacons,  and  to  per- 
form the  office  of  consecration.  The  same  is  required  by  Cyril  of 
Jerusalem  and  by  Dionysius.* 

It  was  a  rule,  of  long  continuance,  that  a  presbyter  should  not 
consecrate  the  elements  in  the  presence  of  the  bishop.  In  the  pre- 
sence of  several  bishops  this  service  devolved  upon  the  senior  officer, 
or  upon  some  one  specially  designated  for  this  purpose. 

This  was  also  the  duty  of  the  bishop  during  the  seventh  and 
eighth  centuries.  But  in  the  Middle  Ages  the  bishops  seldom  offi- 
ciated at  this  service.  Their  neglect  of  this  duty  is  ascribable,  per- 
haps, to  their  increasing  cares  and  duties,  and  the  extent  of  their 
dioceses ;  but  especially  to  the  pride  of  office,  which  did  not  com- 
port with  the  discharge  of  the  ordinary  duties  of  religion — an  opinion 
that  presents  a  striking  contrast  to  the  pious  zeal  of  the  bishops  of 
the  earlier  centuries,  in  presiding  and  officiating  at  the  table  of  the 
Lord.^ 

In  general  it  was  a  rule  of  the  church  that  the  bishop  consecrated 
the  elements,  assisted  sometimes  by  the  presbyter.^  Such  a  reser- 
vation in  favour  of  the  bishop  gave  importance  to  that  office,  and  a 
mysterious  efficacy  to  the  act  of  consecration,  for  which  there  is  no 
authority  either  in  the  writings  of  the  apostles  or  the  earliest  usage 
of  the  church.  By  this  act  a  mysterious  virtue  was  said  to  be  im- 
parted to  the  elements.  In  time  they  were  supposed  to  become  the 
body  and  blood  of  Christ.  To  these  views  it  is  easy  to  refer  the 
worship  of  the  host  in  the  Catholic  church. 

In  this  connection,  the  following  summary  of  the  doctrines  of  the 
church  relative  to  this  subject  may  be  of  interest : — 

"  During  the  first  six  centuries,  the  doctrine  concerning  the  ele- 
ments of  the  Lord's  supper,  or  the  relation  of  the  signs  to  the  things 
signified,  was  stated  by  ecclesiastical  writers  in  three  different 
ways : — First,  the  theological  position,  which  appears  to  have  been 
the  prevalent  ecclesiastical  notion,  represented  the  bread  and  wine 
as  being  closely  united  to  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ — and  as  it 


SEC.  VII.]  MINISTERS    OF   THE    LORD'S    SUPPER.  429 


were,  penetrated  or  saturated  with  the  sacred  substance.  This  idea 
is  found  in  the  writings  of  Ignatius,  Justin  Martyr,  Irenggus,  Hilary 
of  Poitiers,  Didymus  of  Alexandria,  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  Gregory 
of  Nyssa,  Ambrose,  Chrysostom,  Cyril  of  Alexandria,  Theodoret. 
Secondly,  some  regarded  the  bread  and  wine  as  mere  signs  or  sym- 
bols, supposing,  however,  at  the  same  time,  that  the  body  and  blood 
of  Christ  stood  in  some  sacred  and  supernatural  relation  to  them. 
The  patrons  of  this  opinion  (sometimes  with  approximation  to 
the  former)  were  Tertullian,  Cyprian,  Athanasius,  and  Augustin. 
Thirdly,  others  maintained  that  the  signs  and  things  signified  were 
entirely  distinct ;  but  they  held  that  a  supernatural  sanctifying  effi- 
cacy attended  the  whole  celebration  of  the  rite.  The  writers  who 
adopted  this  view  (sometimes  with  a  leaning  to  the  second  opinion) 
were  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Origen,  Eusebius  of  Csesarea,  and 
Gregory  Nazianzen. 

"  No  traces  of  the  later  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  are  dis- 
coverable in  any  of  these  writers,  except  perhaps  Gregory  of  Nyssa." 

"  As  early  as  the  seventh  century,  and  especially  dming  the 
eighth  and  ninth,  the  fictitious  doctrine  of  a  miraculous,  and  as  it 
were  magical,  change  of  the  elements  of  the  Lord's  supper  into  the 
body  and  blood  of  Christ,  began  to  gain  ground.  This  change,  it 
was  supposed,  was  made  secretly,  for  the  exercise  of  faith ;  and 
therefore  the  transmuted  elements  existed  under  the  appearance 
(colour,  flavour,  etc.)  of  bread  and  wine,  (sub  specie  panis  et  vini.) 
This  doctrine  was  not  established  in  the  West  without  opposition 
and  controversy ;  but  it  gained  footing  in  the  Greek  church  more 
quietly,  during  the  eighth  century.  It  was  not  distinguished  by 
its  modern  name  (transubstantiation)  before  the  twelfth  century. 

"  About  this  time  the  use  of  unleavened  bread  in  the  eucharist 
was  introduced  in  the  West."*^ 

The  presbyter  distributed  the  bread,  and  the  deacon  presented 
the  cup.^  In  the  absence  of  the  bishop,  the  service  of  the  conse- 
cration was  performed  by  the  presbyter,  and  both  elements  were 
distributed  by  the  deacons.  In  the  performance  of  this  service  the 
deacons  acted  simply  as  the  assistants  of  the  bishop  or  presbyter. 
They,  however,  not  unfrequently  assumed  the  prerogative  even  of 
consecrating  the  elements ;  but  this  practice  was  expressly  forbid- 
den by  repeated  acts  of  ecclesiastical  councils.^ 

It  early  became  a  custom,  in  the  primitive  church,  for  the  minis- 
ter to  prepare  himself  for  his  solemn  office  at  the  table  of  the  Lord 
by  appropriate  religious  duties.     Confession  and  private  prayer 


430  THE    lord's    supper.  [chap.  XXI. 


were  afterward  required.^"  Fasting  and  abstinence  from  sensual 
indulgences  were  likewise  enjoined.*  It  was  also  an  ancient  cus- 
tom for  the  clergy  to  wash  their  hands  before  administering  the 
elements. ^^ 

§  8.    OF   THE   COMMUNICANTS. 

Under  this  head  three  things  require  particular  notice :  1.  The 
persons  who  were  admitted  to  the  communion  of  the  Lord's  supper. 
2.  Their  preparation  for  this  ordinance.  3.  Their  deportment  in 
the  participation  of  it. 

1.  Persons  admitted  to  the  holy  communion. — It  appears  from 
the  Apostolical  Constitutions,^  that,  after  the  doors  had  been  care- 
fully closed  and  a  guard  set,  the  deacon  made  a  public  proclama- 
tion of  the  difierent  classes  of  persons  who  were  not  permitted  to 
be  present  on  the  occasion.  These  were  the  first  and  second  classes 
of  catechumens,  the  xaryj^ovfisvoi  and  dx^od)[.i£VOL — the  unbe- 
lievers, Jews,  and  pagans,  and  reputed  heretics  and  separatists  of 
every  description.  The  penitents  and  energumens  are  not  here 
mentioned,  but  it  appears  from  other  sources  that  they  were  not 
permitted  to  be  present  at  the  Lord's  table.  None  indeed  but  be- 
lievers in  full  communion  with  the  church  were  permitted  to  be 
present.  All  such,  originally,  partook  of  the  sacrament.  Neither 
in  the  New  Testament,  nor  by  Justin  Martyr,  Irenseus,  or  any  of 
the  earliest  Christian  writers,  is  any  intimation  given  of  a  selection 
of  communicants.  According  to  Justin,  the  sacred  elements  were 
even  sent  by  the  hands  of  the  deacons  to  absent  members  of  the 
church,  who  might  be  sick,  or  otherwise  prevented  from  coming  to 
the  table  of  the  Lord.  According  to  the  rule  of  St.  Ambrose,  omnes 
Christiani,  omni  dominica,  dehent  offerre,  "  all  Christians  ought,  on 
every  Lord's  day,  to  partake  of  the  Lord's  supper."  Such  as  came 
to  church  without  receiving  the  sacrament,  are  repeatedly  threat- 
ened with  excommunication  for  this  irregularity.^  But  such  cases 
of  absence  must  have  become  customary  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  cen- 

*  Sacerdos  Syrus  earn  noctem,  quse  liturgiam  prtecedet,  ■vigilando  in  ecclesia, 
aut  secretario  ducit  insomnem,  orationibus  et  sacraj  lectioni  vacans,  ne  per  som- 
uium  ludibrio  aliquo  contaminetur.  Si  uxorem  habet,  abstinere  ab  ilia  debet  per 
dies  aliquot ;  jejunasse  etiam  prsecedente  vespera,  et  saltern  vino  et  omni  liquore, 
quo  caput  tentari  potest,  abstinuisse.  Similem  consuetudinem  in  ecclesia  per 
'  noctandi  antequam  liturgia  celebritur  vigere  apud  Nestorianos.  Mesipotnmanos 
testati  sunt,  qui  Bagdado  saepe  hue  venerunt  sacerdotes. — Renaudot.  Lit.  Orient. 
K  p.  49. 


SEC.  VIII,]  THE    COMMUNICANTS.  431 

turies,  as  appears  from  the  severity  with  which  this  delinquency  is 
rebuked  by  Chrysostom'^  and  others. 

In  the  sixth  century,  persons  of  this  description,  who  did  not 
wish  to  receive  the  sacrament,  withdrew  before  the  solemnity  began, 
but  not  until  they  had  received  the  blessing  of  the  minister.'*  This 
was  virtually  sanctioning  the  custom  of  absenting  one's  self  from 
the  communion,  and  gave  rise  to  the  distinction  among  the  mem- 
bers of  the  church,  oi  communicants  and  non-communicants,  a  dis- 
tinction unknown  in  the  primitive  church. 

From  this  it  afterward  became  customary  for  the  presbyters  to 
keep  consecrated  bread,  called  eulogia,  to  offer  to  such  persons  as 
chose  to  partake  of  it  instead  of  uniting  in  regular  communion  with 
the  church.  To  this  substitute  for  full  communion  it  is  easy  to 
refer  the  origin  of  private  masses,  and  of  communion  in  one  kind. 
This  perversion  of  the  ordinance  became  common  in  the  thirteenth 
century.  To  the  same  origin  may,  perhaps,  be  traced  the  idea  of 
a  halfway  corenant,  which  has  at  times  prevailed  in  the  church. 
They  that  received  the  eulogia  in  the  place  of  the  sacrament  were 
called  halfway  communicants. 

But  agreeably  to  all  the  laws  and  customs  of  the  church,  baptism 
constituted  membership  with  the  church.  All  baptized  persons 
were  legitimately  numbered  among  the  communicants,  as  members 
of  the  church.  Accordingly  the  sacrament  immediately  followed 
the  ordinance  of  baptism,  that  the  members  thus  received  might 
come  at  once  into  the  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of 
Christian  fellowship.  But  in  all  these  instances  the  baptized  per- 
son is  of  necessity  supposed  to  have  been  of  adult  age,  capable  of 
exercising  faith,  according  to  the  injunction,  "  Believe  and  be  bap- 
tized." 

After  the  general  introduction  of  infant  baptism,  in  the  second 
and  third  centm*ies,  the  sacrament  continued  to  be  administered  to 
all  who  had  been  baptized,  whether  infants  or  adults.  The  reason 
assigned  by  Cyprian  and  others  for  this  practice  was  "  that  age 
was  no  impediment ;  that  the  grace  of  God,  bestowed  upon  the  sub- 
jects of  baptism,  was  given  without  measure  and  without  any 
limitation  as  to  age."^  Augustin  strongly  advocates  this  practice," 
and  for  authority  appeals  to  John  vi.  53 :  Except  ye  eat  the  flesh 
of  the  Son  of  Man  and  drink  his  blood,  you  have  no  life  in  you. 

The  custom  of  infant  communion  continued  for  several  centuries. 
It  is  mentioned  in  the  third  Council  of  Tours,  a.  d.  813,  and  even 
the  Council  of  Trent,  a.  d.  1545,  only  decreed  that  it  should  not  be 


432  THE    lord's    supper.  [chap.  XXI. 

considered  essential  to  salvation.  It  is  still  scrupulously  observed 
by  the  Greek  church.'' 

It  was  the  custom  of  the  church,  at  different  times  and  in  various 
places,  to  administer  the  sacrament  even  to  the  dead,  and  also  to 
bury  some  of  the  consecrated  elements  with  the  dead.  These  su- 
perstitions were  the  natural  result  of  the  mysterious  powers  ascribed 
to  the  consecration  of  the  elements.  But  the  latter  custom  seems 
not  to  have  prevailed  to  any  considerable  degree,  and  the  former 
was  severely  condemned.®  The  consecrated  elements  were  fre- 
quently conveyed  to  such  as  were  sick  or  in  prison ;  but  they  were 
seldom  consecrated  in  a  private  house. ^ 

2.  Preparation  of  the  Communicants. — The  several  preliminary 
rites  of  baptism  which  have  been  already  detailed  were  regarded 
as  a  due  preparation  both  for  that  ordinance,  and  for  the  sacrament 
which  immediately  followed.  But,  for  every  subsequent  return  to 
the  table  of  the  Lord,  a  special  and  solemn  preparation  was  re- 
quired of  each  communicant.  The  ordinance  was  regarded  with 
the  deepest  religious  awe,  which  none  could  duly  approach  without 
self-examination,  and  a  tender  Christian  spirit,  coupled  with  a  holy 
life. 

The  following  rites  especially,  were  observed  preparatory  to  the 
communion  of  the  Lord's  supper. 

1.  Self-examination,  and  confession  of  sin  before  Cfod,  as  taught 
in  1  Cor.  xi.  28,  together  with  many  prayers. 

2.  Absolution,  or  a  removal  of  ecclesiastical  censures  and  penal- 
ties. No  one  who  was  the  subject  of  discipline  could  come  to  the 
Lord's  supper  until  he  had  first  been  restored  to  full  and  regular 
standing  with  the  church. 

3.  Fasting,  humiliation,  and  abstinence  from  sensual  pleasures, 
in  much  the  same  manner  as  was  required  of  the  officiating  minis- 
tex}^     (See  page  430.) 

4.  The  communicants  tvore  a  peculiar  apparel  suited  to  the 
occasion.  This  was  probably  white  raiment  similar  to  that  which 
was  put  on  after  baptism,  though  no  specific  law  was  given  on  this 
subject.     The  women  wore  a  vail,  usually  white,  called  dominicale.^^ 

5.  Communicants  of  both  sexes  were  accustomed  to  wash  their 
hands,  previously  to  receiving  the  sacred  elements.  This  was  not  a 
ceremonial  purification,  but  a  rite  dictated  by  a  sense  of  propriety, 
guiddam  secundum  se  conveniens.^'" 

The  following  extracts  from  Chrysostom  are  given  to  exhibit  the 


SEC.  YIII.]  THE   COMMUNICANTS.  433 

elevated  sentiments  of  piety  which  according  to  that  venerable  father 
Bhould  pervade  our  breasts  at  the  table  of  the  Lord : — 

"When  thou  sittest  down  to  a  common  table,  remember  that 
spiritual  table,  and  call  to  mind  that  supper  of  the  Lord.  Consider 
what  words  thy  mouth  hath  spoken,  words  worthy  of  such  a  table, 
what  things  thy  mouth  hath  touched  or  tasted,  what  meat  it  has 
fed  upon.  Dost  thou  think  it  no  harm  with  that  mouth  to  speak 
evil  of  and  revile  thy-  brother  ?  How  canst  thou  call  him  brother  ? 
If  he  is  not  thy  brother,  how  couldst  thou  say  'Our  Father?' — for 
that  implies  more  persons  than  one.  Consider  with  whom  thou 
stoodest  in  the  time  of  the  holy  mysteries  ;  with  cherubim  and  sera- 
phim. But  the  cherubims  use  no  reviling.  Their  mouth  is  filled 
with  G:>.e  office,  glorifying  and  praising  God.  How  then  canst  thou 
say  with  them,  '  Holy,  Holy,  Holy,'  who  usest  thy  mouth  to  reviling? 
Tell  me,  if  there  was  a  royal  vessel,  always  filled  with  royal  dain- 
ties, and  set  apart  only  for  this  use,  and  one  of  the  servants  should 
use  it  for  mean"  purposes,  would  he  afterward  dare  to  place  it,  filled 
with  that  which  is  vile  and  refuse,  among  the  other  vessels  appointed 
for  royal  use  ?  No,  certainly.  Yet  this  is  the  very  case  of  railing 
j.nd  reviling.  You  say  at  the  holy  table,  'Our  Father,'  and  then 
immediately  add,  'which  art  in  heaven.'  This  word  raises  you  up, 
and  gives  wings  to  your  soul,  and  shoAvs  that  you  have  a  Father  in 
heaven.  Therefore  do  nothing,  speak  nothing,  of  earthly  things. 
He  hath  placed  you  in  the  order  of  spirits  above,  and  appointed 
you  a  station  in  that  choir.  Why  then  do  you  draw  yourself  down- 
ward ?  Y^ou  stand  by  the  royal  throne,  and  do  you  revile  your 
brother  ?  How  are  you  not  afraid  lest  the  King  should  take  it  as 
an  affront  offered  to  himself?  If  a  servant  beats  or  reviles  another 
in  our  presence,  who  are  but  his  fellow-servants,  though  he  does  it 
justly,  we  rebuke  him  for  it.  And  dare  you  stand  before  the  Royal 
tbrone  and  revile  your  brother  ?  See  you  not  these  holy  vessels  ? 
Are  they  not  ahvays  appropriated  to  one  peculiar  use  ?  Dares  any 
one  put  them  to  any  other  ?  But  you  are  more  holy  than  these 
vessels,  yea,  much  more  holy.  Why  then  do  you  pollute  and  de- 
file yourself?  You  stand  in  heaven,  and  do  you  still  use  railing? 
You  converse  with  angels,  and  do  you  yet  revile  ?  You  are  admit- 
ted to  the  Lord's  holy  kiss,  and  do  you  yet  revile  ?  God  hath  ho- 
noured and  adorned  your  mouth  so  many  ways,  by  angelical  hymns, 
'  y  food,  not  angelical,  but  super-angelical,  by  his  own  kisses,  and 
oy  his  own  embraces,  and  do  you  after  all  these  revile  ?  Do  not,  I 
beseech  you.     Let  that  which  is  the  cause  of  so  many  evils  be  far 

28 


434  THE   lord's   supper.  [chap.  XXI. 

from  the  soul  of  a  Christian. "^^  "Be  grateful  to  thy  Benefactor 
by  an  excellent  conversation ;  consider  the  greatness  of  the  sacri- 
fice, and  let  that  engage  thee  to  adorn  every  member  of  thy  body. 
Consider  what  thou  takest  in  thy  hand,  and  never  after  endure  to 
strike  any  man ;  do  not  disgrace  that  hand  by  the  sin  of  fighting 
and  quarrelling,  which  has  been  honoured  with  the  reception  of  so 
great  a  gift.  Consider  what  thou  takest  in  thy  hand,  and  keep  thy 
hand  free  from  all  robbery  and  injustice.  Think  again,  how  thou 
not  only  receivest  it  in  thy  hand,  but  puttest  it  to  thy  mouth ;  and 
keep  thy  tongue  pure  from  all  filthy  and  contumelious  speech,  from 
blasphemy  and  perjury,  and  all  words  of  the  like  nature.  For  it  is 
a  most  pernicious  thing  that  the  tongue,  which  ministers  in  such 
tremendous  mysteries,  and  is  dyed  with  the  purple  of  such  precious 
blood,  and  made  a  golden  sword,  should  be  put  to  the  vile  practice 
of  railing  and  reviling,  and  scurrilous  and  abusive  language.  Re- 
gard with  veneration  the  honour  wherewith  God  has  honoured  it ; 
and  do  not  debase  it  to  such  mean  offices  of  sin.  Consider  again, 
that  after  thy  hand  and  thy  tongue,  thy  heart  receives  that  tre- 
mendous mystery : — then  never  devise  any  fraud  or  deceit  against 
thy  neighbour,  but  keep  thy  mind  pure  from  all  malicious  designs. 
And  after  the  same  manner  guard  thy  eyes  and  thy  ears."" 

3.  Acts  and  deportment  of  the  communicants  at  the  Lord's  table. 

1.  They  were  required  to  bring  certain  oblations  or  presents  of 
bread  and  wine.  The  bread  was  enveloped  in  a  white  linen  cloth 
called  fano,  and  the  wine  was  contained  in  a  vessel  called  ama  or 
amula.  These  offerings  were  brought  to  the  altar  after  the  deacon 
had  said,  "  Let  us  pray,"  and  while  the  assembly  were  engaged  in 
singing  a  charity  hymn  appropriate  to  the  occasion. ^^  The  whole 
ceremony  is  minutely  related  in  the  note  below.*  The  custom  was 
abolished  in  the  twelfth  century. 

2.  The  communicants  stood  during  the  administration  of  the 
sacrament,  with  their  faces  toward  the  east.^^  "  Stantes  oramits, 
quod  est  signum  resurrectionis.      Unde  etiam  omnibus  diebus  Do- 

*  Egi-egium  sane  remotce  antiquitatis  pignus  ac  vestigium  ad  hsec  usque  tem- 
pera servatum.  Nimirum  alit  eadem  ecclesia  decern  senes  laicos,  totidemque 
anus,  quorum  munus  est,  quibusdam  solemnibus  sacris  interesse.  Honcsto  ac 
antiquo  vesiium  genere  utuntur,  et  cum  tempus  oflfertorii  poscit,  ex  lis  duo  mares 
fanonibus,  hoc  est,  mappis  candidis  involuti  accedunt  ad  gradus  preshytcrii,  et 
dextra  oblatas,  sinistra  amulas  cum  vino  tenent,  qvias  sacerdos  illuc  ab  altari  una 
cum  ministris  descendens,  et  duo  argentea  vasa  deaurata  deferens  suscipit.  Idem 
Bubinde  peragunt  et  foemina  duse  anili  astate  venerandse. — Muratorii  Antiq.  Ital. 
t.  iv. 


SEC.  IX,]  THE   ELEMENTS.  435 

minieis  id  ad  altare  observatur,  et  hallelujah  canitur,  quod  signi- 
ficat  actionem  nostram  futuram  non  esse  nisi  laudare  Deiim."" 

3.  The  clergy,  according  to  their  ranks  respectively,  first  re- 
ceived the  elements  ;  then  the  men,  and  lastly  the  women.^*  They 
advanced  to  the  table  two  by  two.  After  the  fourth  century,  none 
but  the  clergy  were  usually  permitted  to  come  within  the  railing 
and  to  approach  the  altar.''-' 

4.  The  communicants  received  the  elements  sometimes  standing, 
sometimes  kneeling,  but  never  sitting.  They  took  the  bread  and 
cup  in  their  hands,  and  repeated  after  the  minister  the  sacramental 
formulary,  concluding  with  a  loud  "Amen,"  to  signify  that  they 
believed  themselves  to  be  partakers  of  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ.-"  The  men  received  the  elements  with  uncovered  hands, 
previously  washed ;  the  women  used  a  part  of  the  dominical  as  a 
napkin  Avith  which  to  handle  them.  From  the  ninth  century,  the 
bread,  instead  of  being  delivered  into  the  hands  of  the  communi- 
cants, was  placed  in  their  mouths,  to  prevent  its  being  sacrilegi- 
ously carried  home.  This  custom  is  still  observed  in  the  Lutheran 
church.  The  scrupulous  care  used  to  prevent  the  least  morsel  from 
]?eing  wasted  has  been  already  mentioned.  It  is  worthy  of  notice, 
that  the  Nestorians  still  exercise  the  same  caution  to  prevent  the 
waste  of  .any  particle  of  the  sacred  elements. 

At  the  close  of  the  communion  the  people  all  knelt  down  and 
received  the  blessing  of  the  priest,^'  after  which  he  dismissed  them, 
saying,  "Depart  in  peace." 

The  practice  of  kneeling  during  the  consecration  and  distribution 
of  the  elements  was  introduced  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  cen- 
turies, and  became  general  at  a  period  still  later.^^ 

§  9.    OF    THE    ELEMENTS. 

(a)  Of  the  Bread. 

1.  Quality  of  the  bread. — The  question  whether  leavened  or  wn- 
leavened  bread  should  be  used  in  the  sacrament  has  been  the  sub- 
ject of  a  spirited  dispute  between  the  Greek  and  Latin  churches. 
The  former  contended  for  the  use  of  leavened ;  the  latter,  of  un- 
leavened bread.  Without  attempting  a  protracted  discussion  of 
this  question,  suffice  it  to  say,  that  no  rule  was  given  by  our  Lord 
on  this  subject.  It  is  even  uncertain  whether  he  used  the  unlea- 
vened bread  of  the  passover  or  common  bread  at  the  institution  of 
the  snpDcr. 


436  THE  lord's  supper.  [chap.  XXI. 


The  early  Christian  "writers  make  no  mention  of  the  use  of  un- 
leavened bread  in  celebrating  the  Lord's  supper.  Justin  Martyr 
calls  it  expressly  common  bread,  xoLVog  dpTog. 

The  bread  for  the  sacrament  was  supplied  from  the  oblations 
■which  the  communicants  presented  at  the  commencement  of  the 
solemnity,  and  was,  probably,  the  same  as  that  which  was  in  com- 
mon use. 

From  the  seventh  century,  the  church  at  Rome  used  unleavened 
bread ;  and  the  church  at  Constantinople  continued  the  use  of  com- 
mon fermented  bread,  but  the  controversy  between  the  two  churches 
on  the  subject  originated  with  Michael  Cerularius,  patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople, in  the  year  1053,  and  was  continued  for  some  time  with 
great  bitterness.  To  this  day  the  one  continues  the  use  of  lea- 
vened, and  the  other  of  unleavened  bread. 

Protestants  regard  the  quality  of  the  bread  as  of  no  import- 
ance. For  the  most  part  they  discontinued,  at  the  Reformation, 
the  use  of  unleavened  bread.     But  the  Lutherans  still  continue  it.* 

The  elements  continued  to  be  supplied  by  these  oblations  (volun- 
tary gifts)  until  the  twelfth  or  thirteenth  century.  Such  as  was 
not  needed  for  sacramental  uses  was  given  to  the  poor.    The  names 

*  Panis  sit  fermentatus,  an  azymus ;  vinum,  rubrum  an  album,  niliil  refert. 
Fermentatum  et  vulgarem  panem  fuisse  ante  tempus  Alexandri  Romani  Episcopi, 
narrant  bistorice :  qui  primus  azymo  pane  delectatus  est ;  qua  id  ratione,  non 
video,  nisi  ut  plebis  oculos  novo  spectaculo  in  admirationem  traheret  magis,  quam 
Tit  animos  proba  religione  institueret.  Omnes  objure,  qui  vel  levi  aliquo  pietatis 
studio  tanguntur,  annon  evidenter  perspiciant,  et  quanto  prseclarius  Dei  gloria 
hie  resplendeat,  et  quanto  afBuentior  spiritualis  consolationis  suavitas  ad  fideles 
transeat,  quam  in  istis  frigidis  et  histrionicis  nugis,  qua3  nullum  alium  usum  af- 
ferunt,  nisi  ut  stupentis  populi  sensura  fallunt. — Calvin.  Inat.  Chr.  Eel.  lib.  iv.  c. 
xvii.  §  43.  Panis  azymus  ne  sit  an  fermentatus,  non  magnopere  putamus  labo- 
randum. — Beza,  Ep.  12,  ad  Anglic.  Eccl.  Patres.  Odiosa  excitata  est  contentio 
super  materia  ccense  dominicaB,  contendentibus  his,  pane  azymo,  aliis  vero  fer- 
mentato  esse  utendum.  Atqui  apud  veteres  quondam  de  his  nullae  movebantur 
rixce.  Nam  ecclesiae  pro  libertate  sua  utebantur  utroque.  Videtur  quidem  Do- 
minus  in  prima  ilia  coena  usus  esse  pane  azymo,  in  mensa  ex  veteri  more  cele- 
brandi  Paschatis  relicto,  unde  non  paucae  ecclesias  infermentato  pane  usse  sunt, 
qua  tamen  fermentato  pane  utentes,  non  damnabant  hsereseos. — Bullinger.  ap. 
Gerhard.  Loc.  Theol.  x.  Fermentati  seque  ac  azymi  panis  in  eucharistia  liber 
usus  est,  dum  modo  ne  alteruter  ceu  necessarius  et  nullo  casu  mutabilis  prrescri- 
batur.  Uterque  analogiam  quandam  fundit :  ille  nutritionis  plenioris  ;  hie  sin- 
ceritatis  et  sanctitatis,  ad  quam  eucharistia  obligat,  majoris.  Nostrse  ecclesijB 
usum  azymi  a  Zuinglio,  externorum  ejusmodi  plane  incurioso  et  interiorum  atque 
spiritualium  tenaeissimo,  retentum,  ceu  fractioni  et  distribution!  opportuniorem, 
ut  mutarent,  hactenus  induci  non  potuerunt,  novandi  perieulum  metuentes. — 
HinUKOGER.  Corp.  Theol.  Christ.  Loc.  xxv.  §  78. 


SEC.  IX.]  THE    ELEMENTS.  437 

of  the  donors  were  publicly  rehearsed,  and  prayers  for  them  in- 
vited. These  offerings  were  in  time  perverted  to  enrich  the  clergy ; 
one  moiety  being  distributed  to  the  subordinate  orders,  and  the 
other  to  the  bishop,  who  also  had  the  disposal  of  such  as  was  given 
in  the  parish  churches.* 

2.  Form  of  the  bread. — Until  we  pass  the  period  which  appro- 
priately belongs  to  the  period  contemplated  in  this  work,  the  bread 
of  the  eucharist  was  selected  from  the  offerings  of  the  communi- 
cants, without  regard  to  any  peculiar  form.  But  Catholic  super- 
stition has  raised  many  idle  questions  respecting  the  form  and 
consistency  of  the  bread,  the  mingling  of  oil,  of  salt,  and  of  cheese, 
the  image  to  be  imprinted  upon  it,  the  inscription,  &c.,  vfhich  it  were 
foreign  to  our  purpose  to  relate. 

The  eucharistic  bread  in  the  church  of  Rome  is  styled  the  host^ 
hostia.  It  consists  of  cakes,  of  meal  and  water,  made  small,  circu- 
lar, and  thin,  like  wafers,  by  which  name  it  is  frequently  called. 
These  wafers  have  been  known  by  various  names,  as  panes  euelia- 
ristici,  saeramentales,  orhiculares,  tesselati,  reticulati,  ^;?acente  or- 
Mculares,  nebula,  and  spuma  panis,  crustula  farracea,  coronse, 
panes  numularii,  denaria  sacramentorum,  etc.  By  the  enemies 
of  religion  it  has  also  been  stigmatized  with  various  opprobrious 
epithets. 

The  host  seems  to  have  been  used  in  the  form  above  mentioned 
since  the  rise  of  the  controversy  with  the  Greek  church  in  1053. 

The  use  of  these  thin  cakes  is  discarded  by  most  of  the  Reformed 
churches,  but  retained  by  the  Lutherans. 

(b)  Of  the  Wine. 

1.  Colour  of  the  loine. — The  common  wine  of  Palestine  is  of  a 
red  or  dark  colour.  Such  was  the  wine  which  our  Saviour  used  at 
the  sacrament,  as  it  would  seem  both  from  the  nature  of  the  case 
and  from  the  declaration  tids  is  my  blood,  as  well  as  from  the  scrip- 
tural expression,  the  blood  of  the  grape,  etc.  The  colour  of  the 
wine  was  not  considered  as  essential,  but  the  red  wines  were  gene- 
rally preferred  to  the  white.^  In  the  Greek  church  and  some  Pro- 
testant churches  on  the  continent  white  wine  is  used,  but  this  is  not 
regarded  as  important. 

*  De  his  quae  in  parochianis  ecclesiis  ofFeruntur. — Cone.  Aurel.  c.  xiv. ;  De  Ob 
lationibus,  c.  xv. 


438  THE   lord's   supper.  [chap.  XXI. 


Of  the  mixture  of  wine  with  ivater. — The  ancient  churches  uni- 
versally mixed  water  "with  the  sacramental  wine.  This  mixture  was 
called  xpcLfia,  from  ocs^avvv^a,  miseeo.  By  the  Latin  authors  it 
was  styled  mixtum,  temperatum.  Some  speak  of  this  mixing  of 
wine  with  water  as  an  express  precept  of  Christ.^  Others  rely  upon 
precedent  and  early  usage  for  authority.^  But  whatever  may  have 
been  the  origin  of  this  custom,  it  was  abundantly  authorized  by  the 
canons  of  the  church/  and  early  became  an  established  usage. 

The  Armenians  used  wine  alone ;  others  used  only  water ;  but 
both  were  condemned  as  heretics. 

Protestants,  at  the  Reformation,  abandoned  this  ancient  rite  of 
the  church,  not  as  being  unlawful  or  injurious,  but  because  it  was 
maintained  by  the  Catholics  merely  on  the  ground  of  ecclesiastical 
authority. 

The  proportion  of  water  mixed  with  the  wine  varied  at  different 
times.  Sometimes  it  was  one-fourth ;  at  others,  one-third.  The 
"Western  church  mixed  cold  Avater  only.  The  Greek  church  first 
mixed  cold  water,  and  afterward  added  warm  water,  just  before  the 
distribution.  This  was  said  to  be  emblematical  at  once  of  the  fire 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  of  the  water  which  flowed  from  our  Saviour's 
side.^ 

Various  other  idle  questions  relating  to  the  sacred  elements  at 
times  agitated  the  church ;  and  various  superstitious  ceremonies 
were  observed  by  different  branches  of  the  church,  which  it  were 
superfluous  to  mention  in  detail.  With  some  it  was  a  question,  of 
what  form  and  of  what  material  the  bread  should  be  made — whether 
of  the  flour  of  wheat  or  barley,  or  of  that  of  some  other  grain. 
Others  mingled  salt  and  oil  with  the  bread.  Some  substituted 
water  for  wine.  Others  used  wine  mingled  with  water,  at  one  time 
cold,  at  another  warm,  and  again  mixed  Avith  vinegar.  Indeed,  this 
sacred  ordinance  of  the  Lord's  supper,  in  itself  so  simple  and  so  im- 
pressiA'e,  has  been  dishonoured,  at  times,  by  casuistical  discussions 
too  ridiculous  to  be  gravely  related ;  and  desecrated  by  rites  too 
horrible  to  be  mentioned. 

'.  §  10.    OP    THE    CONSECRATION    OF    THE    ELEMENTS. 

The  consecration  of  the  elements  began  at  an  early  period  to  be 
performed  with  great  formality,  and  with  a  set  form  of  Avords  and 
prayer,  Avhich  were  the  subject  of  frequent  discussion  in  different 
churches.     It  would  be  inconsistent  with  the  design  of  this  Avork  to 


SEC.  XI.]  DISTRIBUTION   OF   THE   ELEMENTS.  439 

enumerate  the  various  controversies  that  have  prevailed  on  this  sub- 
ject. In  general,  the  church  has  agreed  that  the  elements  should 
be  set  apart  to  a  sacramental  use  by  prayer.  The  words  given  in 
the  original  institution  were  uniformly  included  in  the  consecrating 
prayer.  Some  contended  that  a  personal  invocation  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  was  essential  to  a  due  consecration  of  the  elements.  But  all 
agreed  in  supplicating  the  graces  of  the  Spirit  to  sanctify  these 
gifts  to  them,  and  to  make  them  partakers  of  the  body  and  blood 
of  Christ,  i.  e.  of  the  benefits  of  his  death. 

Elevation  of  the  host. — As  early,  perhaps,  as  the  third  or  fourth 
century,  it  became  customary  in  the  Eastern  church  to  exhibit  the 
consecrated  elements  to  the  people,  to  excite  their  veneration  for 
the  sacred  mysteries  of  the  sacrament.  In  the  Middle  Ages  the 
host  became  the  subject  of  adoration,  under  the  notion  that  the  ele- 
ments, by  transubstantiation,  became  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ. 
This  theological  dogma  was  introduced  into  Gaul  in  the  twelfth 
century,  and  into  Germany  in  the  thirteenth. 

§  11.    OF    THE    DISTRIBUTION    OF    THE    ELEMENTS. 

Both  the  bread  and  the  wine  were  universally  administered  to 
the  clergy  and  laity  alike  until  about  the  twelfth  century,  when  the 
cup  began,  in  the  Western  church,  gradually  to  be  withdrawn  from 
the  laity,  on  account  of  the  disorders  to  which  the  use  of  it  had 
given  rise.*  The  Greek  retains  substantially  the  ancient  custom. 
Protestants  universally  concur  in  administering  both  elements. 

*  Certum  est,  omnes  passim  clericos  et  laicos  viros  et  mulieres,  sub  utraque 
specie  sacra  mysteria  antiquitus  sumsisse,  cum  solemni  eorum  celebrationi  ade- 
rant  et  offerebant  et  de  oblatis  participabant.  Extra  sacrificium  vero  et  extra 
ecclesiam  semper  et  ubique  communio  sub  una  specie  in  usu  fuit.  Primte  parti 
assertionis  consentiunt  omnes,  tam  catholic!  quam  sectarii ;  nee  eam  negare  po- 
test, qui  vel  levissima  rerum  ecclesiasticarum  notitia  imbutus  sit.  Semper  enim 
et  ubique  ab  ecclesiaj  primordiis  usque  ad  sisculum  xii.  sub  specie  panis  et  vini 
communicarunt  fideles ;  coepitque  paulatim  ejus  sasculi  initio  usus  calicis  obso- 
lescere,  plerisque  episcopis  eum  populo  intercidentibus  ob  periculum  irreverentiae 
et  effusionis,  quod  inevitabile  erat  aucta  fidelium  multitudine,  in  qua  deesse  non 
poterant  minus  cauti  et  attenti  et  parum  religiosi.  .  .  Paulatim  introducta  est 
communio  sub  sola  specie  panis,  posteaquam  intolerandi  abusus  religiosos  anti- 
stites  ad  abrogandum  communem  calicis  usum  induxerunt.  Moribus  enim  immu- 
tatis  leges  quoque  mutandae  sunt,  quae  aliquando  utiles  atque  optimas  fuerunt. 
Haec  autera  mutatio  facta  est  primum  a  diversis  episcopis  in  suis  ecclesiis,  deinde 
a  Synodo  Constantiensi  canonica  sanctione  pro  omnibus  stabilita. — Bona,  Eer. 
Liturg.  lib.  ii.  c.  xviii.  ^  1.  Ab  ecciesiis  exordio  ad  saeculum  usque  xii.  eucha- 
riBtiam  etiam  laicis  sub  utraque  specie  in  publico  solemnique  eucharistiae  minis- 


440  THE   lord's   supper.  [chap.  XXI. 

The  strictest  order  was  observed  under  the  hierarchy  in  dis- 
tributing the  elements  to  the  diiferent  ranks  of  people.  The  clergy 
first  received  them,  and  the  others  in  a  regular  succession.*  This 
rule  is  disregarded  by  Protestants,  with  the  exception  of  the  Eng- 
lish Episcopal  church. 

The  communicants  received  the  elements  at  the  altar.  The 
Council  of  Laodicea,^  in  the  fourth  century,  c.  19,  however,  ad- 
mitted only  the  clergy  to  the  altar.  The  laity,  and  communicants 
of  the  other  sex,  from  this  time,  usually  received  the  elements  from 
without  the  chancel. 

It  is  observable  that  the  primitive  Christians  used  no  established 
form  in  presenting  the  elements.  This  is  the  more  remarkable, 
inasmuch  as  they  were  so  careful  in  regard  to  their  baptismal 
formulary ;  and  is  to  be  accounted  for  only  from  the  fact  that  the 
form  of  the  original  institution  was  introduced  into  the  sacramental 
prayer. 

The  earliest  form  of  which  we  have  any  record  was  also  the  most 
simple  and  concise.  In  presenting  the  elements  respectively,  the 
presiding  elder  said  :  "  The  body  of  Christ ;  the  blood  of  Christ ; 
the  cup  of  life."  To  which  the  communicant  replied,  "Amen."^ 
This  response  was,  in  time,  omitted  by  the  laity,  and  only  repeated 
by  the  clergy ;  but  it  is  not  known  at  what  time  this  change  took 
place. 

Under  Gregory  the  Grreat,  and  subsequently,  the  forms  following 


terio  fuisse  ministratam,  (etsi  non  semper  et  necessario,)  nullus  est  inter  catholi- 
licos  qui  ignorat,  si  vel  levissima  rerum  ecclesiasticarum  notitia  sit  imbutus. 
Verum  crescente  indies  fidelium  numero,  cum  sanguis  non  raro  a  populo  minus 
cauto  et  parum  religioso  fuerit  effusus,  primum  introducta  fuit  consuetude,  ut 
ope  tubuli  vel  fistulte  cujusdam  sumeretur,  quae  fundo  calicis,  teste  Lindane, 
quandoque  fuit  ferruminata,  ne  ob  incultioris  populi  rusticitatem  tarn  facile  ef- 
fundi  posset.  Ast  cum  et  hsec  praxis  sua  haberet  incommoda,  coeperunt  saeer- 
dotes  populo  panem  eucharisticam  pretioso  sanguine  intinctum  distribuere :  qui 
mos  soeculo  xi.  et  xii.  multis  ecclesiis  fuit  familiaris.  Verum  cum  ilium  repro- 
barint  ecclesite  alias,  nee  inconvenientiis  satis  iretur  obviam,  calicis  usus  sskc. 
xiii.  semper  semperque  minui,  et  tandem  soec.  xiv.  fere  genei*aliter  obsolescere 
coepit,  donee  sasc.  xv.  post  exortam  Hussitarum  hseresin  calix  publico  ecclesisa 
decreto  laicis  omnibus  fuerit  sublatus. — Krazeh,  de  Lilurg.  p.  507. 

*  Ordo  communionis  hie  erat,  ut  prima  quidem  celebrans  seipsum  communi- 
caret,  deinde  episcopos,  si  qui  aderant,  vel  presbjteros  simul  cum  eo  synaxin 
agentes :  tum  diaconos,  subdiaconos  et  clericos,  monachos,  diaconissas  et  sacraa 
virgines ;  novissime  populum  adjuvantibus  presbyteris,  primum  viros,  postea 
mulieres.  Idem  in  calicis  distributione  scrvabatur,  nisi  quod  presbyteri  per  se 
ilium  sumebant,  diaconi  a  presbyteris,  roliqui  a  diaconis,  ut  ex  ordine  Romano 
et  ex  Grsecorum  Eucliologio  constat. — Bona,  Rcr.  Liturg.  lib.  ii.  c.  xvii.  p.  858. 


SEC.  XII.]  THE    ACCOMPANYING    KITES.  441 

were  in  use :  "  The  body  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  preserve  you 
unto  eternal  life."  "  The  body  and  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  of  God, 
which  is  given  to  you  for  the  remission  of  sins."  "May  the  body 
and  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  of  God  be  to  you  the  salvation  of  soul 
and  body,"  "May  the  body  and  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  of  God 
avail  you  to  the  remission  of  sins,  and  to  life  eternal."^ 

When  the  bread  was  dipped  in  the  wine,  the  form  of  distribution 
ran  thus  :  "  The  body  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  dipped  in  his  blood, 
preserve  your  soul  unto  everlasting  life."* 

The  Syriac  and  Greek  churches  had  also  each  their  own  peculiar 
forms.  But  the  Protestant  churches  have,  with  great  propriety, 
restored  the  original  and  significant  form :  "  Take,  eat :  this  is  my 
body,  which  is  broken  for  you,"  etc. 

Abuses  connected  with  the  celebration  of  this  ordinance  very 
early  crept  into  the  church.^  To  correct  these  the  bread  and  wine 
were  at  one  time  mingled  together ;  at  another,  the  wine  was  with- 
held, and  the  bread  only  administered ;  and  again  the  elements 
were  presented  to  the  lips,  instead  of  being  delivered  into  the  hands. 
The  Protestant  churches,  generally,  have  returned  to  the  ancient 
mode  of  presenting  the  bread  and  wine  singly  into  the  hands  of 
each  communicant. 

The  custom  of  the  Greek  church  was  to  receive  the  sacrament 
standing,  and  such  at  first  was  probably  the  usage  of  the  Western 
church. 

What  remained  of  the  consecrated  elements  was  sometimes  dis- 
tributed to  the  communicants  who  remained,  sometimes  given  to 
children,  at  other  times  burned,  and  again  reserved  for  private 
communion.  The  latter  appears  to  have  been  the  most  common 
usage.  After  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  became  a  dogma 
of  the  church,  the  elements  were  gathered  up  with  the  most  scrupu- 
lous care,  as  they  still  are  in  the  Catholic  chm'ch. 

§  12.    OF    THE    ACCOMPANYING    RITES. 

1.  Psalmody  in  connection  tvith  the  Sacrament. — The  Apostoli- 
cal Constitutions  prescribe  the  34th  Psalm  to  be  sung  on  this  occa- 
sion; certain  parts  being  supposed  peculiarly  appropriate.^  "  I  will 
bless  the  Lord  at  all  times."  "0  taste  and  see  that  the  Lord  is 
good."  Certain  other  psalms  were  also  in  use  in  different  churches, 
such  as  the  133d,  "Behold  how  good  and  how  pleasant  it  is  for 
brethren  to  dwell  together  in  unity,"  or  the  45th,  "My  heart  is  in- 


442  THE   lord's   supper.  [chap.  XXI. 


diting  a  good  matter,"  or  tlie  145tli,  "  I  will  extol  thee,  my  God, 
0  King."  To  these  may  be  added  the  42d,  43d,  and  139th 
Psalms.^  These  were  sung  during  the  distribution.  Besides  these, 
it  was  customary  to  begin  and  to  conclude  the  whole  ceremony  with 
some  solemn  form  of  praise  and  thanksgiving,  in  which  the  whole 
body  of  the  communicants  joined.  These  were  selected,  for  the 
most  part,  from  the  book  of  Psalms ;  but  they  varied  in  different 
times  and  places. 

2.  Of  the  kiss  of  charity.^ — This  form  of  salutation,  as  a  token  of 
Christian  affection,  appears  to  have  been  an  apostolic  custom,  Rom. 
xvi.  16 ;  1  Cor.  xvi.  20  ;  2  Cor.  xiii.  12  ;  1  Thess.  v.  26  ;  1  Pet.  v. 
14,  and  was  perpetuated  for  many  centuries.  It  was  appropriately 
one  of  the  rites  of  the  sacramental  service ;  but  was  observed  on 
common  occasions  of  public  worship.  It  was  omitted  on  Good 
Friday,  in  remembrance  of  the  traitorous  kiss  of  Judas  Iscariot. 
In  the  Eastern  church  it  preceded  the  consecration ;  in  the  Western, 
it  followed  that  rite. 

The  different  sexes,  however,  were  not  permitted  to  interchange 
this  salutation  one  with  another.  Many  other  precautions  were  also 
used  to  prevent  abuses  which  might  be  expected  to  arise  out  of  this 
practice.*  It  was  for  the  enemies  of  Christianity  the  occasion  of 
abundant  reproach ;  but  it  was  still  continued  through  the  eighth 
and  ninth  centuries,  even  to  the  thirteenth,  when  it  appears  to  have 
ceased. 

The  following  passage  from  the  nineteenth  canon  of  the  Council 
of  Laodicea  is  worthy  of  remark  on  other  accounts,  as  well  as  for 
its  prescription  concerning  this  token  of  Christian  charity  and  con- 
cord. "  After  the  bishops'  sermons,  (^ista  Tag  ofiL^iag  rcov  km- 
GxoTtCdV,)  let  a  prayer  for  the  catechumens  be  first  pronounced. 
When  the  catechumens  have  left  the  church,  let  the  prayer  for  the 
penitents  {tg}V  sv  fieravoia)  be  said.  After  these  have  received 
imposition  of  hands  {npoasT^^ovrav  V7t6  ;^ffpa)  and  have  retired, 
let  the  three  prayers  of  the  faithful  {ribv  TiiGTcjv  Tag  evx^g  Tp£i$) 
be  offered ;  the  first  in  silence,  [bta  GudTtr.g,)  but  the  second  and 
third  aloud,  {Sia  TtpoG^arr.aeGit;.)  Then  let  the  kiss  be  given,  {rr,v 
Eiprj'rj',)  i.  e.  the  kiss  of  peace.  When  the  presbyters  have  given 
this  kiss  to  the  bishop,  let  the  laity  exchange  it  among  themselves. 
Hereupon  let  the  holy  sacrifice  be  accomplished.  But  it  is  permit- 
ted to  the  clergy  {roig  lepanxoig)  alone  to  approach  the  altar 
and  communicate  there."  All  this  proceeds  upon  the  system  of 
secret  instruction. 


SEC.  XIII.]  AGAP^,  OR   FEASTS    OF   CHARITY.  443 

3.  Incense  and  the  sign  of  the  cross. — The  use  of  incense  in  con- 
nection with  the  sacrament  was  unknown  in  the  church  until  the 
time  of  Gregory  the  Great,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  sixth  century. 
After  this  period  it  became  prevalent  in  the  churches.  It  was  one 
of  a  multitude  of  perversions  which  resulted  from  the  attempt  to 
make  the  sacrificial  rites  of  the  Jewish  dispensation  a  pattern  and 
type  of  the  ordinances  of  the  Christian  church. 

The  signing  of  the  cross  has  a  higher  antiquity.  It  is  spoken  of 
by  Basil,^  Chrysostom,"  and  Augustin/  and  is  distinctly  mentioned 
in  the  Apostolical  Constitutions^  as  a  part  of  the  sacramental  ser- 
vice. This  ceremony  may  have  been  the  means  of  exciting  the  de- 
votion and  confirmi^jg  the  faith  of  the  early  Christians,  but  it  be- 
came the  occasion  of  such  superstition  that  it  is  deservedly  neglected 
in  Protestant  churches.  The  Roman  missal  directs  the  use  of  this 
sign  no  less  than  fifty-five  times. 

§  13.    OF   THE   AGAP^,   OR   FEASTS    OF   CHARITY. 

These  feasts  were  usually  celebrated  in  connection  with  the 
Lord's  supper ;  but  not  as  a  necessary  part  of  it.  From  their  con- 
nection with  this  ordinance,  the  following  account  of  them  is  in- 
serted in  this  place. 

The  history  of  the  common  meals  or  feasts  in  the  church,  called 
agapffi,  {dyOLTtaL,  more  frequently  than  in  the  singular,  v]  dyam^,) 
is  in  many  respects  obscure.  It  appears  that  they  were  not  inde- 
pendent rites,  but  always  connected  with  some  act  or  office  of  public 
•worship.  When  they  were  celebrated  in  connection  with  the  Lord's 
supper,  they  seem  to  have  taken  place  before  the  administration  of 
that  sacrament,  in  conformity  with  the  circumstances  of  the  ori- 
ginal institution,  which  took  place  "after  supper."  1  Cor.  xi.  25. 
This  arrangement  is  supposed  to  have  led  to  the  disorders  which 
St.  Paul  so  sharply  reproved  in  the  Corinthian  church ;  and  the 
inconvenience  of  it  becoming  generally  manifest,  it  was  soon  made 
the  practice  of  the  church  to  celebrate  the  Lord's  supper  first,  and 
even  to  dispense  with  attendance  at  the  feast  which  followed, 
although  all  Christians  were  required  to  contribute  provisions  for  it, 
according  to  their  ability.^ 

But,  even  under  these  altered  circumstances,  the  love-feasts  were 
frequently  attended  with  intemperance,  and  other  serious  disorders, 
which  form  subjects  of  grave  complaint  in  the  writings  of  the 
fathers.^     This  may  perhaps  be  reckoned  among  the  causes  of  the 


444  THE    lord's    supper.  [chap.  XIX. 

change  in  the  time  of  celebrating  the  Lord's  supper,  ah-eady  men- 
tioned, from  the  evening  to  the  early  part  of  the  morning.  And 
hence  it  was,  that  afterward  the  holding  of  agap^e  within  the 
churches  was  forbidden.^  And  by  this  regulation  the  agapie  be- 
came entirely  distinct  from  the  eucharist,  which  continued  to  be 
publicly  celebrated  in  the  church. 

1.  Origin  of  t]i.e  yiame  and  of  the  custom. — The  Greek  word 
agapffi,  aydit'/i,  which  signifies  love,  or  charity,  is  used  in  ecclesiasti- 
cal antiquities  to  denote  a  certain  feast,  of  which  all  members  of 
the  church,  of  whatever  rank  or  condition,  partook  together;  in- 
tended to  denote  and  cherish  those  dispositions  of  brotherly  love 
and  affection  which  the  gospel  prescribes  to  the  disciples  of  Jesus. 
In  the  New  Testament,  the  word  occurs  only  once  in  this  sense  of 
feast  of  charity,  or  love  feast,  namely  in  the  Epistle  of  St.  Jude,  verse 
12,  and  there  it  is  found  in  the  plural  number ;  but  the  observance 
itself  is  alluded  to  in  the  sacred  records,  under  other  names,  as 
meat,  tables.  Acts  ii.  46 ;  vi.  2.  The  word  was  retained  by  eccle- 
siastical writers,  but  not  to  the  exclusion  of  other  significant  ap- 
pellations;  e.  g.  Gv^Ttoata,  banquets;  xoLvac  rpdne^ai,  public 
tables;  xoival  kanaaeig,  public  feasts  ;  hnnvcL  xoivd,  public  sup- 
pers.  This  use  of  the  term  aydny]  is  not  found  in  the  writings 
of  any  profane  authors  before  the  Christian  era ;  but  it  occurs  in 
the  works  of  Plutarch  and  Celsus,  who  doubtless  borrowed  it  from 
the  Christians. 

It  is  certain  that  the  feast  of  charity  was  celebrated  in  the  earliest 
period  of  the  Christian  church.  See  Acts  ii.  46  ;  vi.  2 ;  1  Cor.  xi. 
16-34.  Some  writers  suppose  that  this  custom  had  its  remote  ori- 
gin in  the  practice  of  the  heathen ;  while  others  regard  it  as  de- 
rived from  the  Jewish  synagogue.  But  it  is  perhaps  still  more 
probable  that  it  originated  simply  in  the  circumstances  of  our 
Lord's  last  supper  with  his  disciples ;  or  that,  at  all  events,  it  is  to 
be  a.ttributcd  entirely  to  the  genius  of  a  religion  which  is  eminently 
a  bond  of  brotherly  union  and  concord  among  its  sincere  professors. 

After  the  example  of  the  Jewish  passover,  and  of  the  original 
institution,  the  Lord's  supper  was  accordingly  at  first  united  with  a 
social  meal.  Both  constituted  a  whole,  representing  a  communion 
of  the  faithful  with  their  Lord,  and  their  brotherly  communion  with 
one  another ;  both  together  Avere  called  the  supper  of  the  Lord, 
{SsLTtvov  Toi'  xvpiov,  h^LTlvov  xvpiaxov,)  the  supper  of  love, 
(aydTtyj.)  There  was  a  daily  celebration  of  this  Christian  commu- 
nion in  the  first  church  at  Jerusalem ;  the  phrase  x?mv  dpTov, 


SEC.  XIII.]  AGAP^,  OR   FEASTS   OF   CHARITY.  445 

breaking  of  bread,  in  Acts  ii.  48,  is  most  probably  to  be  understood 
of  them  both  together.  In  like  manner  we  find  them  both  united 
in  the  first  church  at  Corinth ;  and  so  it  probably  was  with  the  in- 
nocent, simple  meal  of  the  Christians  of  which  Pliny  speaks,  in  his 
report  to  the  emperor  Trajan.  On  the  contrary,  in  the  description 
given  by  Justin  Martyr,  we  find  the  celebration  of  the  supper 
entirely  separated  from  those  feasts  of  brotherly  love,  if  indeed 
they  still  continued  to  exist  in  those  churches  which  he  had  in  view. 
This  separation  was  occasioned  partly  by  irregularities  similar  to 
those  which  had  arisen  in  the  Corinthian  church,  when  the  spirit 
that  prevailed  in  these  feasts  became  unsuited  to  the  holy  rite  which 
followed,  and  partly  by  local  circumstances,  which  prevented  gene- 
rally the  institution  of  such  social  meals.  In  truth,  these  meals 
were  especially  calculated  to  excite  the  jealousy  of  the  heathen, 
and  gave  birth  to  the  strangest  and  most  malicious  reports, — a  cir- 
cumstance which  may  have  early  led  to  their  abolition  or  less  fre- 
quent observance. 

We  now  speak  first  of  these  feasts  of  brotherly  love,  as  they  were 
afterward,  when,  separated  from  the  supper  of  the  Lord,  they  went 
under  the  particular  name  of  agapje,  {dydnai.)  At  these,  all  dis- 
tinctions of  earthly  condition  and  rank  were  to  disappear  in  Christ. 
All  were  to  be  one  in  the  Lord ;  rich  and  poor,  high  and  low, 
masters  and  servants,  were  to  eat  together  at  a  common  table. 
We  have  the  description  of  such  a  feast  of  agapre  by  Tertullian.^ 
(Already  cited,  p.  274.) 

-  2.  3Iode  of  cehhration. — In  the  earliest  accounts  which  have 
come  down  to  us,  we  find  that  the  bishop  or  presbyter  presided  at 
these  feasts.^  It  does  not  appear  whether  the  food  was  dressed  in 
the  place  appointed  for  the  celebration  of  the  feast,  or  was  previously 
prepared  by  individual  members  of  the  church  at  their  own  homes ; 
but  perhaps  either  of  these  plans  was  adopted  indifferently,  accord- 
ing to  circumstances.  Before  eating,  the  guests  washed  their  hands ; 
and  a  public  prayer  was  offered  up.  A  portion  of  Scripture  was 
then  read,  and  the  president  proposed  some  questions  upon  it,  which 
were  answered  by  the  persons  present.  After  this,  any  accounts 
which  had  been  received  respecting  the  affairs  of  other  churches 
were  recited  ;  for,  at  that  time,  such  accounts  were  regularly  trans 
mitted  from  one  community  to  another,  by  means  of  which  all 
Christians  became  acquainted  with  the  history  and  condition  of  the 
whole  body,  and  were  thus  enabled  to  sympathize  v,'ith,  and  in 
many  cases  to  assist  each  other.     Letters  from  bishops  and  other 


446  THE  lord's  supper.  [chap.  xxt. 


eminent  members  of  the  church,  together  -with  the  Acts  of  the 
Martyrs,  were  also  recited  on  this  occasion ;  and  hymns  or  psalms 
"were  sung.''  At  the  close  of  the  feast,  money  was  also  collected 
for  the  benefit  of  widows  and  orphans,  the  poor,  prisoners,  and  per- 
sons who  had  suifered  shipwreck.  Before  the  meeting  broke  up, 
all  the  members  of  the  church  embraced  each  other,  in  token  of 
mutual  brotherly  love  ;  and  the  whole  ceremony  was  concluded  with 
a  philanthropic  prayer.^ 

As  the  number  of  Christians  increased,  various  deviations  from 
the  original  practice  of  celebration  occm-red,  which  called  for  the 
censure  of  the  governors  of  the  church.^  In  consequence  of  these 
irregularities,  it  was  appointed  that  the  president  should  deliver  to 
each  guest  his  portion  separately,  and  that  the  larger  portions 
should  be  distributed  among  the  presbyters,  deacons,  and  other 
officers  of  the  church. 

While  the  church  was  exposed  to  persecution,  these  feasts  were 
not  only  conducted  with  regularity  and  good  order,  but  were  made 
subservient  to  Christian  edification,  and  to  the  promotion  of  bro- 
therly love,  and  of  that  kind  of  concord  and  union  which  was  spe- 
cially demanded  by  the  circumstances  of  the  times. ^  None  but  full 
members  of  the  church  were  allowed  to  be  present ;  catechumens, 
penitents,  Jews,  and  heathens,  being  carefully  excluded.^"  A  cus- 
tom of  admitting  baptized  children,  which  was  introduced  at  an 
early  period,  was  afterAvard  abandoned  as  inconvenient." 

3.  Time  and  Place  of  Celebration. —  Time  of  day. — These  feasts, 
as  well  as  all  Christian  assemblies,  were  held,  at  first,  whenever  and 
wherever  opportunity  would  permit,  consistently  with  safety.  The 
passages  of  the  New  Testament  Avhich  refer  to  the  agapae  afford  no 
intimation  of  the  time  of  day  in  which  they  were  celebrated,  unless 
indeed  we  regard  Acts  xx.  7,  as  supplying  some  information  on  this 
point.  From  Tertullian  it  would  appear  that  they  were  held  in  the 
night ;  for  he  calls  them  coense  and  coenulse,  in  contradistinction  to 
prandia;  and  this  writer  gives  us  to  understand  that  lights  were 
required  in  the  place  in  which  the  feast  was  made.  But  it  is  pro- 
bable that  this  nocturnal  celebration  was  more  a  matter  of  neces- 
sity than  of  choice. 

According  to  the  account  of  Pliny  in  his  letter  to  Trajan,  it 
would  seem  that  in  his  time  (in  Bithynia,  at  least)  these  feasts  were 
held  in  the  daytime. ^^ 

On  the  whole,  it  may  be  concluded  that  the  nature  of  the  case 
did  not  permit  the  uniform  observance  of  any  fixed  hour  or  time  of 


SEC.  XIII.]  AGAPiE,  OR   FEASTS    OF    CnARITT.  447 


day  for  the  celebration  of  this  feast,  during  the  earliest  period  of 
the  church,  while  it  was  exposed  to  persecution. 

Day  of  the  iveek. — These  feasts  were  ordinarily  held  on  the  first 
day  of  the  week,  or  Sunday ;  but  the  celebration  does  not  appear 
to  have  been  exclusively  confined  to  that  day.^^ 

Place  of  meeting. — At  first,  the  agapse  were  celebrated  in  pri- 
vate houses,  or  in  other  retired  places,  in  which  the  Christians  met 
for  the  purpose  of  religious  worship.  After  the  erection  of  churches, 
these  feasts  were  held  within  their  walls ;  until,  abuses  having  oc- 
curred which  rendered  the  observance  inconsistent  with  the  sanctity 
of  such  places,  this  practice  was  forbidden.  In  the  middle  of  the 
fourth  century,  the  Council  of  Laodicea  enacted  "  that  agapre 
should  not  be  celebrated  in  churches;"  a  prohibition  which  was 
repeated  by  the  Council  of  Carthage,  in  the  year  391;  and  was 
afterward  strictly  enjoined  during  the  sixth  and  seventh  ccturies.^^ 
By  the  eiforts  of  Gregory  of  Neocassarea,  Chrysostom,  and  others, 
a  custom  was  generally  established  of  holding  the  agapae  only  under 
trees,  or  some  other  shelter,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  churches ; 
and  from  that  time  the  clergy  and  other  principal  members  of  the 
church  were  recommended  to  withdraw  from  them  altogether. 

In  the  early  church,  it  was  usual  to  celebrate  agapos  on  the  festi- 
vals of  martyrs,  agapm  Jiatalitiee,  at  their  tombs ;  a  practice  to 
which  reference  is  made  in  the  Epistle  of  the  Church  of  Smyrna, 
concerning  the  martyrdom  of  Polycarp.^^ 

These  feasts  were  sometimes  celebrated  on  a  smaller  scale,  at 
marriages,  agapee  conniobiales,  and  funerals,  ag apse  funer ales. 

4.  Abolition  of  the  custom. — These  agapas  lost  by  degrees  their 
true  original  significancy,  which  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  re- 
tain except  under  the  first  simple  relations  of  the  communities. 
They  became  often  a  lifeless  form,  no  longer  animated  by  the 
original  spirit  of  brotherly  love,  which  removed  all  distinctions  be- 
tween men  and  united  together  all  hearts  as  one.  Many  abuses 
crept  into  them,  which  furnished  occasion  for  the  maliciously  dis- 
posed to  present  the  whole  solemnity  in  the  most  unfavourable  light. 
As  usually  happens  in  such  cases,  some  attributed  undue  import- 
ance to  the  dead  form,  as  an  opus  operatum  ;  others  unjustly  con- 
demned the  whole  custom,  without  distinguishing  the  riglit  use  of 
it  from  its  abuse  ;  neither  party  being  any  longer  capable  of  appre- 
ciating the  simple,  childlike  spirit  in  which  this  festival  had  origi- 
nated. Wealthy  individuals  of  the  church  provided  agapse  of  this 
sort,  and  imagined  they  had  done  something  peculiarly  meritorious ; 


448  ^   THE  lord's  supper.  [chap.  XXI. 


and  liere,  wliere  all  should  be  on  a  level,  attention  began  to  be  paid 
to  distinction  of  ranks,  and  the  clergy,  who  should  have  set  an  ex- 
ample of  humility  to  all,  allowed  themselves  to  be  distinguished 
by  outward  preferences  unworthy  of  their  calling.  An  ungentle, 
morose,  ascetic  spirit  condemned  these  agapae  altogether,  and 
eagerly  caught  at  every  particular  instance  of  abuse  on  these  occa- 
sions, which  was  set  out  in  exaggerated  colours,  for  the  purpose  of 
bringing  into  discredit  the  whole  custom.  Such  was  the  course  of 
Tertullian  after  he  became  a  Montanist.  Clement  of  Alexandria 
expresses  himself  with  greater  moderation ;  although  he  declares 
his  opposition  to  those  who  imagined  they  could  purchase  with  ban- 
quets the  promises  of  God,  and  Avho  seemed  to  degrade  the  hea- 
venly name  of  love,  by  such  a  particular  appropriation  of  it  to  these 
banquets. 

The  celebration  of  the  agap?e  was  frequently  made  a  subject  of 
calumny  and  misrepresentation  by  the  enemies  of  the  Christian 
faith,  even  during  the  earliest  and  best  ages  of  the  church.  In 
reply  to  these  groundless  attacks,  the  conduct  of  the  Christians  of 
those  times  was  successfully  vindicated  by  Tertullian,  Minucius 
Felix,  Origen,  and  others.  But  real  disorders  having  aftervrard 
arisen,  similar  to  those  which  are  rebuked  in  the  Corinthian  church, 
1  Cor.  xi.  21,  22,  and  having  proceeded  to  considerable  lengths,  it 
became  necessary  to  abolish  the  practice  altogether ;  and  this  task 
was  eventually  effected,  but  not  without  the  application  of  various 
means,  and  only  after  a  considerable  lapse  of  time.  The  Council 
of  Laodicea,  A.  D.  320,  (372)  c.  28,  forbade  the  use  of  the  church 
for  such  festivities  and  excesses.  Chrysostom  and  Augustin,  a  few- 
years  later,  severely  censured  these  excesses.  At  the  suggestion 
of  the  latter,  the  third  Council  of  Carthage,  A.  d.  397,  c.  30,  re- 
newed the  prohibition  of  the  Council  of  Laodicea,  which  Avas  re- 
peated in  the  sixth  century  by  the  Council  of  Orleans  of  the  West- 
ern church,  and  again  in  the  seventh  century  by  that  of  the  Eastern 
church  at  Constantinople. 

§  14.    SACRAMENTAL   UTENSILS. 

Our  Lord,  at  the  institution  of  the  sacrament,  without  doubt 
used  the  cup  which  was  in  common  use  among  the  Jews  on  festive 
occasions — simple  and  plain  like  the  rude  vessels  of  those  days. 
But  a  large  silver  goblet  was  in  use  at  Jerusalem  in  the  seventh 
century,  which  was  said  to  be  the  identical  cup  that  our  Lord  used 


SEC.  XIV.]  SACRAMENTAL    UTENSILS.  449 


on  that  occasion.  At  a  period  still  later,  the  inhabitants  of  Valen- 
cia in  Spain,  also  claimed,  with  equal  probability,  to  be  in  posses- 
sion of  the  identical  cup  which  was  presented  by  Christ  to  his 
disciples  at  that  time. 

The  cup  which  was  used  by  the  primitive  church  was  of  no  pre- 
scribed form,  nor  of  any  uniform  material.  It  was  made  of  wood, 
horn,  glass,  or  marble,  according  to  circumstances.  But,  at  a  very 
early  period  the  sacramental  cup  began  to  be  wrought  with  great 
care^  and  to  be  made  of  the  most  costly  materials,  such  as  silver 
and  gold,  set  with  precious  stones.  In  the  seventh,  eighth,  and 
ninth  centui'ies,  the  use  of  vessels  made  of  horn,  wood,  glass,  lead, 
tin,  etc.,  was  forbidden,  and  each  church  was  required  to  have,  at 
least,  one  cup  and  plate  of  silver. 

Two  cups  were  generally  used,  one  exclusively  by  the  clergy,  the 
other,  of  larger  dimensions,  by  the  laity.  These  had  handles  at- 
tached to  their  sides.  The  sacramental  cup  of  the  Armenian 
church  is  said  to  contain  two  separate  apartments,  in  one  of  which 
the  wine  is  contained,  and  in  the  other  the  bread.  And  similar 
vessels  seem  to  have  been  in  use  in  the  Christian  church  previous 
to  the  eighth  century.  They  then  began  to  be  made  with  a  pipe 
attached  to  them,  like  the  spout  of  a  teapot,  and  the  wine  was  re- 
ceived from  the  vessel  by  suction.  These  spouts  were  called  fistula; 
eucharistse,  pagilares,  ar undines,  eannse,  canales,  pipse.  These 
pipes  were  used  to  prevent  the  waste  of  any  drop  of  the  consecrated 
wine  in  the  distribution  of  it.  Such  cups  are  still  in  use  in  some 
Lutheran  churches. 

The  cup  was  at  an  early  period  ornamented  with  inscriptions  and 
pictorial  representations. 

The  platter  for  the  distribution  of  the  bread  was,  at  first,  a  basket 
made  of  osier.  Like  the  cup,  it  has  from  time  to  time  been  made 
of  glass,  marble,  silver,  and  gold,  varying  in  form,  size,  and  style 
of  execution,  corresponding  with  that  of  the  cup. 

The  pomp  and  superstition  of  Catholic  worship  have  added  many 
other  articles  to  the  sacramental  vessels,  which  are  enumerated  by 
Siegel,  from  whom  the  above  is  extracted. 

From  this  survey,  it  appears  that  the  ordinance  of  the  Lord's 
supper  continued  until  the  third  century  to  be  administered  in  the 
expressive  simplicity  of  its  original  institution.  Common  bread  and 
wine  were  set  apart  for  this  purpose,  a  prayer  was  offered,  and  the 
elements  were  received  in  remembrance  of  our  Lord's  death.  A 
mutual  salutation  and  a  song  concluded  the  solemnity. 

29 


450  THE    lord's    supper.  [chap.  XXI. 


From  tlie  third  century  this  ordinance,  like  that  of  baptism, 
began  to  be  encumbered  with  other  rites,  which,  accumulating  from 
age  to  age,  overlaid  it  with  endless  ceremonials  and  superstitions. 
These  had  their  origin  essentially  in  the  false  notion  advanced  by 
the  hierarchy,  that  their's  was  a  levitical  priesthood,  the  medium 
appointed  of  God  for  the  communication  of  his  grace  to  man,  to- 
gether with  the  eflGcacy  of  the  sacerdotal  consecration,  and  the 
doctrine  of  the  Divine  presence  in  the  eucharist.  The  consecra- 
tion becomes  now  a  liturgical  service,  prescribed  with  great  minute- 
ness, and  performed  with  manifold  solemnities.  The  ofl&ce  becomes 
an  awful  mystery,  assayed  by  the  consecrated  priest ;  the  bread 
becomes  the  body,  and  the  wine  the  blood  of  Christ,  imparting 
grace  unto  salvation  and  eternal  life.  The  consecration  now  gives 
this  significant  importance  to  the  elements.  The  eulogia,  bread  that 
has  been  duly  blest  by  the  bishop,  is  reverently  reserved  in  store 
for  sacramental  use.  It  is  preserved  in  families  for  private  use. 
It  is  taken  to  sea  for  the  mariner  in  his  absence,  and  becomes  an 
essential  provision  for  the  traveller  on  his  journey,  and  at  times  is 
even  deposited  in  the  coffins  of  the  dead  previous  to  interment. 
Hence  the  reasons  also  for  administering  the  eucharist  to  the  un- 
conscious infant  and  to  the  lifeless  body  of  the  deceased ;  hence 
the  adoration  of  the  host,  and  cumbersome  ritual  of  high  mass,  in- 
vesting with  adventitious  solemnity  these  sacred  mysteries. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

OF  CHURCH  DISCIPLINE  AND  PENANCE. 
§  1.    OF    THE    DISCIPLINE    OF    THE    PRIMITIVE    CHURCH. 

This  subject  of  ecclesiastical  discipline,  like  almost  every  thing 
relating  to  the  ancient  church,  is  first  to  be  contemplated  as  it 
existed  in  the  apostolical  and  primitive  church ;  and  then,  as  modi- 
fied and  almost  totally  changed  under  the  episcopal  hierarchy.  In 
the  one  instance,  discipline  was  administered  by  the  church  collec- 
tively ;  in  the  other,  by  the  priesthood.  At  first  it  was  a  simple  and 
efficient  process  with  an  offending  member,  consisting  in  a  public 
exclusion  of  him  by  the  vote  of  the  church,  after  suitable  admoni- 
tion, from  their  fellowship  and  communion.  Then  it  became  a  long 
and  complicated  system  of  penance,  public  or  private,  administered 
by  the  priesthood.  Under  the  apostles,  and  in  the  first  two  centu- 
ries of  the  Christian  sera,  the  authority  of  the  church  and  its  disci- 
plinary power  was  vested  in  its  own  body  collectively ;  under  the 
hierarchy,  it  was  an  usurpation  of  the  priesthood.  These  positions 
have  been  discussed  in  another  place. ^ 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  a  mutual  covenant,  involving  the 
right  of  discipline  by  the  church,  appears  to  have  been  originally  a 
condition  of  church-membership.  This  is  a  consideration  of  great 
importance,  because  it  affects  almost  the  entire  organization  of  the 
church ;  and  yet  it  has  generally  been  passed  in  silence  by  archge- 
ologists.  It  becomes  therefore  pertinent  and  important  to  con- 
sider what  relations  one  assumed  originally  on  making  a  public 
profession  of  the  religion  of  Christ  and  uniting  with  a  Christian 
church.  Our  position  is  that  his  union  with  the  church  was 
solemnized,  not  only  by  a  declaration  of  his  faith,  but  by  a  mutual 
covenant  between  himself  and  the  church,  which  involved  the  right 
and  the  duty,  on  the  part  of  that  body,  of  excluding  him  from  their 
fellowship  and  communion  whenever  he  became  chargeable  with  a 
continued  disregard  and  violation  of  these  covenant  vows. 

451 


452  CHURCH   DISCIPLINE   AND    PENANCE.        [CHAP.  XXII. 


A  mutual  covenant  was  the  basis  of  ecclesiastical  discipline  in 
the  primitive  church. 

1.  Such  a  covenant  is  implied  as  a  necessary  condition  of  church- 
membership.  A  churcli  is  a  voluntary  association  of  believers, 
united  together  for  their  mutual  edification  in  the  enjoyment  of  re- 
ligious privileges.  Such  an  association  involves  mutual  obligations 
on  the  part  of  the  several  members  of  the  fraternity.  On  connect- 
ing himself  with  the  church,  one  assumes  new  obligations  to  that 
body,  and  they  in  turn  assume  ncAv  relations  and  obligations  toward 
him,  so  that  the  act  of  uniting  with  the  church  of  necessity  implies 
a  mutual  covenant,  whether  publicly  expressed  or  not,  between  the 
members  of  the  church  and  the  individual  whom  they  receive  into 
their  fellowship  and  communion.  Both  pledge  themselves,  by  the 
relations  which  they  assume,  to  a  faithful  discharge  of  the  responsi- 
bilities mutually  required  of  them  by  the  relations  into  which  they 
now  enter  one  with  another.  They  pledge  themselves  to  each  other 
by  a  mutual  covenant,  expressed  or  implied. 

2.  The  jurisdiction  of  the  apostolical  churches  over  their  members 
implies  the  existence  of  a  mutual  covenant  betiveen  the  members  of 
these  churches  respectively.  The  apostles  declined  oflBcial  jurisdic- 
tion over  the  churches  which  they  organized.  They  submitted  to 
the  church  the  choice  of  the  seven  deacons,  and  even  of  an  apostle 
in  the  place  of  the  apostate  Judas.  Acts  i.  15  et.  seq. ;  vi.  1-6.  Cy- 
prian, an  early  and  earnest  defender  of  episcopal  prerogative,  dis- 
tinctly recognises  in  both  these  instances  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
church  over  the  ministry,  and  the  importance  of  it  as  a  means  of 
guarding  the  sacred  ofiice  from  the  intrusion  of  bad  men.*  The 
apostle  Paul  earnestly  enjoins  the  church  at  Corinth  to  exercise 
their  authority  in  excommunicating  a  scandalous  member  of  their 
communion.  He,  in  connection  with  Barnabas  and  others,  was 
delegated  by  the  church  at  Antioch  to  go  up  to  Jerusalem  unto  the 
apostles  and  elders  about  a  question  which  had  arisen  among  them 
respecting  a  certain  rule  of  discipline.     When  this  Relegation  came 


*  Quod  postea  secundum  divina  magisteria  observatur  in  Actis  Apostolorum, 
quando  de  ordinando  in  locum  Judae  apostolo,  Petrus  ad plebem  loqnitnv:  Sur- 
rexit,  inquit,  Petrus  in  medio  discentium ;  fuit  autem  turba  m  uno.  Nee  hoc  in 
episcoporum  ordinationibus  observasse  apostolos  animadvertimus ;  de  quo  et  ipso 
in  Actis  eorura  scriptum  est.  Et  convocaverunt,  inquit,  duodecim,  totam  plebem 
discipulorum  et  dixerunt  eis.  Quod  utique  idcirco,  tamen  diligenter  et  caute  convo- 
cata  plebe  tota,  gerebatur,  ne  quis  ad  altaris  ministerium,  vel  ad  sacerdotalem  locum 
tudignus  obreperel. — Epist.  67. 


SEC.  I.]  DISCIPLINE    OF   THE    PRIMITIVE   CHURCH.  453 


to  Jerusalem,  "  thej  were  received  of  the  church,  and  of  the  apostles 
and  elders."  Acts  xv.  The  sequel  shows  that  the  question  was 
received  and  decided  hy  the  church,  the  apostles  and  elders  acting 
with  them. 

The  apostles  also,  in  their  epistles  to  the  churches,  when  treating, 
not  only  of  doctrines,  but  of  subjects  relating  to  their  discipline  and 
jurisdiction,  address,  not  the  presbyters  or  pastors,  but  the  com- 
munities themselves.  Clement  of  Rome,  a.  d.  96,  addresses  his 
epistle,  in  like  manner,  to  the  church  of  Corinth,  in  the  name  of 
the  church  of  Rome,  which  also  sent  it  by  the  hands  of  five  dele- 
gates, who  were  commissioned  to  use  their  influence  to  quiet  the 
dissensions  which  had  arisen  there  in  consequence  of  the  disaffection 
of  certain  members  toward  their  presbyters  or  teachers.  This 
epistle  recognises  the  jurisdiction  of  the  church  in  the  election  and 
dismissal  of  their  pastors,  and  urges  the  disaffected  members  to  sub- 
mit to  the  will  of  the  majority,  "  that  the  flock  of  Christ  may  be  in 
peace  with  its  appointed  presbyters."^ 

The  right  of  the  church  to  exercise  such  authority  over  its  mem- 
bers presupposes  a  mutual  recognition  of  this  authority  as  a  condi- 
tion of  admission  to  the  church,  and  a  covenant  on  the  part  of  each 
member  to  submit  to  its  jurisdiction. 

3.  We  have  direct  historical  evidence  of  the  existence  of  a  mutual 
covenant  between  Christians.  Pliny,  as  governor  of  Bithynia  in 
Asia  Minor,  A.  D.  103-4,  had  been  instructed  by  Trajan  to  keep  a 
strict  guard  against  all  secret  societies ;  and,  under  this  commission, 
proceeded  to  judicial  investigations  respecting  the  assemblies  of 
Christians  in  that  province.  He  took  the  testimony  of  persons  of 
both  sexes,  of  all  ranks,  and  of  every  age,  some  of  whom  fearlessly 
avowed  themselves  to  be  Christians ;  others,  that  they  had  been 
such,  but  had  renounced  the  profession.  These  all  afiirmed,  how- 
ever, "  that  the  whole  of  their  guilt,  or  error,  was,  that  they  met 
on  a  certain  stated  day,  before  it  was  light,  and  addressed  them- 
selves in  a  form  of  prayer  to  Christ  as  God,  binding  themselves  bij 
a  covenant,  not  for  the  purpose  of  any  wicked  design,  but  never  to 
commit  any  fraud,  theft,  or  adultery ;  never  to  falsify  their  Avord, 
nor  to  deny  a  trust  when  they  should  be  called  upon  to  deliver  it  up.* 

*  AfErmabant  autem,  banc  fuisse  summani  vel  culpne  suae  vel  erroris.  quod  essent 
soliti  stato  die  ante  lucem  convenire,  cnrmenque  Christo  quasi  Deo  dicere  sccum 
invicera ;  seque  sacramento,  non  in  scelus  aliquod,  obHtrinyere,  sed  ne  furta,  ne 
latrocinia,  ne  adulteria  committerent,  ne  fidem  fallerent,  ne  depositum  appellati 
abnegaront. — Plin.  ad  Traj. 


454  CHURCH    DISCIPLINE    AND    PENANCE.         [CHAP.  XXII. 


A  saeramentuni  was  a  solemn  oatli  or  pledge  for  the  fulfilment 
of  a  voluntary  engagement,  and  is  precisely  the  term  for  a  Roman 
civilian,  like  Pliny,  to  use  to  express  the  obligations  assumed  by  a 
covenant  between  the  different  members  of  a  Christian  community. 
Such  an  oath,  pledge,  or  promise,  voluntarily  assumed  by  them,  be- 
comes a  sacramentum,  a  covenant  of  the  most  sacred  character. 

The  passage  under  consideration  is  cited  both  by  Tertullian  and 
Eusebius,  each  in  his  own  language,  according  to  his  interpretation 
of  it.  In  his  Apology,  Tertullian  refers  to  the  examination  of 
Christians  by  Pliny,  and  repeats  the  declaration  of  the  Roman 
governor  that  he  found  no  cause  of  complaint  against  them,  except 
their  obstinacy  in  refusing  to  sacrifice,  their  early  assemblies  for 
the  worship  of  Christ  as  God,  and  their  confederated  discipline,  con- 
foederatam  discipUnam,  covenant  obligations  prohibiting  mm'der, 
adultery,  fraud,  perfidy,  and  all  other  crimes.* 

The  original  of  Pliny  and  the  paraphrase  of  Tertullian  forcibly 
illustrate  the  efforts  of  the  primitive  church,  by  a  mutual  confede- 
racy, to  guard  their  communion  against  the  reproach  of  scandalous 
crimes,  which  their  enemies  were  ever  ready  to  charge  upon  them. 
In  another  passage,  this  ancient  father  speaks  of  the  "  conditions 
of  the  covenant  by  which  we  become  united  to  this  sect."t  Thia 
again  presents  it  as  an  agreement,  compact,  or  covenant,  between 
the  parties  concerned,  the  church  on  the  one  hand — and,  on  the 
other,  the  communicant  about  to  be  received. 

Tertullian,  again,  in  his  address  to  martyrs  in  prison,  appeals  to 
their  baptismal  vows  to  encourage  their  steadfastness  under  perse- 
cution. "  We  enlisted  in  this  warfare  of  the  living  God  when  we 
responded  to  the  vows  of  that  covenant."^ 

Justin  Martyr,  born  about  the  time  that  the  last  of  the  apostles 
ceased  from  his  care  of  the  churches,  makes  a  confession  of  faith  and 
a  covenant  the  conditions  of  receiving  baptism.  The  passage  has 
been  cited  in  the  preceding  chapter.  The  term  used  by  Justin 
to  express  this  covenant  is  vnvLGj^Oivrai,  in  which,  as  Neander 


*  Plinium,  praeter  obstinationem  non  sacrificandi,  nihil  aliud  se  de  sacramentis 
eorum  comperisse  quam  coetus  antelucanos  ad  canendum  Christo  ut  Deo,  et  ad 
confocderandam  disciplinam ;  homicidium,  adulterium,  fraudem,  perfidiam  et  cetera 
scelera  prohibentes. — Apol.  c.  ii. 

•j-  Cum  ad  banc  sectam,  utique  suscepta  conditione  ejus  pacti,  venerimus. — Ad 
Scan.  c.  i. 

J  Vocati  sumus  ad  militiam  Dei  vivi,  jam  tunc  cum  in  sacramenti  verba  respon- 
dimus. — Ad  Mar.  c.  iii. 


SEC.  I.]  DISCIPLINE    OF   THE   PRIMITIVE   CHURCH.  455 

observes,  "instruction  in  doctrine  is  presupposed,  and  the  corre- 
sponding conduct  of  the  life  derived  from  it ;  and  both  are  supposed 
to  be  so  united  with  each  other,  that  those  who  wished  to  receive 
baptism  shoukl  declare  themselves  convinced  of  the  truth  of  the 
doctrines  they  had  been  taught,  and  hind  themselves  to  rule  their 
lives  by  them.'' 

Origen  also  affirms,  that  the  candidates  were  required  "  to  make 
the  most  solemn  protestations  of  their  desire  and  purpose  to  live  in 
conformity  with  Christian  duty."*  If  any  of  these  subsequently 
fell  into  scandalous  sin,  they  were  excommunicated  and  "  bewailed 
as  dead ;"  and  if  on  repentance  they  were  restored,  they  were  re- 
ceived as  "alive  from  the  dead."^  Such  were  the  mutual  relations 
which  the  members  of  the  church  considered  themselves  as  sustain- 
ing by  their  covenant  vows.^  Such  relations  are  distinctly  recog- 
nised even  by  Cyprian,^  who,  in  his  eiforts  to  exalt  the  dignity  and 
authority  of  the  bishop,  did  more  than  all  his  predecessors  to  sub- 
vert the  original  constitution  of  the  church. 

4.  The  primitive  churches  recognised  the  mutual  covenant  rela- 
tions of  members  in  their  discipline.  The  act  of  excommunication 
is  indeed  often  ascribed  to  bishops  and  presbyters  previous  to  the 
age  of  Cyprian,  But  such  declarations,  in  this  period  of  the  church, 
do  not  imply  the  independent  exercise  of  episcopal  prerogatives. 
The  bishop  acted  as  the  moderator  of  the  church :  as  such,  he  may 
be  said  to  have  pronounced  the  sentence  of  excommunication,  though 
acting  only  as  the  organ  of  the  church. 

Tertullian  makes  the  sentence  of  excommunication  to  be  the  act, 
not  of  the  bishop,  but  of  the  church.  In  speaking  of  those  who 
violated  the  rules  of  chastity,  he  says,  "  we  utterly  remove  them 
from  the  pale  of  the  church."*  Tertullian  never  held  the  office  of 
a  bishop  :  in  this  connection  he  speaks  of  no  official  act  of  his  own, 
but  of  the  associated  action  of  the  church. 

"The  faithful"  in  Asia  Minor,  A.  D.  180  to  193,  "held  frequent 
conferences"  throughout  that  counti-y  on  the  doctrines  of  the  Mon- 
tanists,  and  having  examined  these  novel  doctrines  and  pronounced 
them  vain,  rejected  them  as  heresy,  and  expelled  and  prohibited 
from  communion  with  the  church  those  Avho  held  them.  Observe 
also  the  action  of  the  church  in  the  case  of  Apollonius  of  Ephesus.® 
Even  Cyprian,  with  all  his  jealousy  for  the  prerogatives  of  the 

*  Ovx  aVko  Vi  Sov^ic^ai.  ri  ta  Xptar lafouj  hoxovvta. — Coiiir.  Cel.i.  lib.  iii.  c.  1. 
f  Not!   modo    limine,   veruni    onini  ecclesiae    tecto    submoviinus. — De  Predicit 
c.  iv. 


456  CHURCH  DISCIPLINE  AND  PENANCE.         [CHAP.  XXII. 

bishop,  accounts  the  suifrages  of  the  people  an  essential  part  of  the 
solemnity  of  excommunication  J 

In  this  connection  it  is  particularly  worthy  of  consideration,  that 
a  confession  before  the  church  by  one  who  had  been  guilty  of  a 
scandalous  offence  was  an  indispensable  condition  of  his  restora- 
tion to  the  communion  of  the  church.  Tertullian  requires  that  in- 
ward compunction  of  conscience  should  be  manifested  by  outward 
acts,  by  fasting  and  prayer,  by  the  entire  deportment  of  the  trans- 
gressor, by  a  confession  of  his  sins  before  the  presbyters,  and  by 
earnest  importunity  in  his  behalf  Avith  the  brethren,*  the  friends  of 
God.  Many  other  passages  of  the  same  general  import  might  be 
adduced,  sufficient  to  show  that  Such  a  confession  to  the  church  was 
required  as  a  satisfaction  for  the  injury  done  to  the  fraternity  by 
the  offence,  as  well  as  a  just  expression  of  penitence  for  the  sin 
committed.  The  confession  was,  therefore,  a  recognition  of  cove- 
nant relations  to  the  church.  Tertullian,  in  connection  with  the 
passage  just  quoted,  says,  "  the  body  cannot  rejoice  at  the  suffer- 
ing of  one  of  its  members ;  but  the  whole  body  must  share  in  the 
pain,  and  co-operate  toward  the  cure." 

As  those  who  had  relapsed  or  fallen  into  scandalous  sin  made 
their  confession  to  the  church,  so  they  were  also  restored  to  the 
communion  and  fellowship  of  the  church  by  the  vote  of  this  body. 
Cyprian  severely  censures  Therapius,  his  colleague,  for  having  re- 
ceived into  the  fellowship  of  the  church  prematurely,  and  without 
the  request  or  knowledge  of  the  people,  one,  once  a  presbyter,  who 
had  fallen  under  the  censure  of  the  church.^  He  rebukes  himself 
for  a  similar  irregularity,  in  which  the  conservative  power  of  the 
people  was  especially  manifest.  The  men  whom  he  had  been  in- 
strumental in  restoring,  against  the  better  judgment  of  the  church, 
jiroved  unworthy  of  his  confidence.  The  same  custom  also  pre- 
vailed at  Rome,  where  a  concourse  of  the  brethren  was  held  at 
the  restoration  of  certain  schismatics  who,  confessing  their  faults, 
sought  forgiveness  of  the  church.  "  All,  with  one  voice,  gave  thanks 
to  God,  receiving  them  with  tears,  as  if  just  released  from  prison. "f 

This  view  of  the  covenant  relations  assumed  in  the  primitive 


*  Plerumque  vero  jejuniis  preces  alere,  ingemescere,  lacrymari,  et  mugire  dies 
noctesque  ad  Dominum  suum,  presbyteris  advolvi,  et  caris  Dei  adgeniculari,  omni- 
bus fratribus  legationis  depricationis  suae  injungere. — De  Pcenitentia,  c.  ix. 

•j-  Una  vox  erat  omnium  gratias  Deo  agentium,  gaudium  pectoris  lacryniis  ex- 
primentes,  complecteus  eos  quasi  hodie  poena  carceris  fuissent  liberati. — Cyp. 
Epist.  46. 


SEC.  I.]  DISCIPLINE   OF   THE    PRIMITIVE   CHURCH.  457 

church  on  a  profession  of  the  Christian  faith,  may  be  concluded  in 
the  words  of  Neander  : — 

"  Whoever,  by  baptism,  united  himself  to  the  Christian  church, 
was  required,  by  the  covenant  administered  to  him  by  the  pastor  of 
the  church,  to  renounce  the  devil  and  his  works,  which  involved  not 
only  a  renunciation  of  idolatry,  but  of  sins  of  every  kind.  The 
affirmative  part  of  this  oath  was  a  covenant  to  live  a  religious  life, 
corresponding  to  the  precepts  of  Christ.  This  covenant  was  de- 
nominated the  Christian's  military  oath — sacramentum  militise 
Christianse  ;  and  the  creed  which  they  retained  in  memory,  was  the 
Christians  pass  or  watch  word — tassera  millitise  Christianse,  sym- 
holum.^ 

But  the  independence  of  the  churches  was  gradually  changed 
and  finally  subverted  by  the  rise  of  the  episcopal  hierarchy.  The 
authority  which  belonged  to  the  church  by  means  of  their  covenant 
relations,  passed  by  degrees  into  the  hands  of  the  bishop,  by  virtue 
of  his  episcopal  prerogatives,  derived,  as  he  soon  began  to  claim,  not 
from  the  church,  but  from  the  Great  Head  of  the  church  through 
the  apostolical  succession.  It  was,  in  the  language  of  Neander, 
''a  retrogression  of  the  Christian  spirit  to  the  Jewish" — the  com- 
mencement of  "  a  revolution  destined  to  last  for  ages,  and  ever  to 
unfold  itself  in  a  wider  circle  from  the  germ  which  had  once  been 
implanted." 

This  retrogression  was  the  fatal  error  of  the  ancient  church,  the 
proton  pseudon  of  all  that  system  of  false  assumptions  and  errors 
which,  under  the  episcopal  hierarchy,  early  supplanted  the  primitive 
organization  of  the  church,  perverted  its  ordinances,  and  finally 
ended  in  the  superstition,  the  idolatry,  the  blasphemy,  and  the 
spiritual  despotism  of  the  papal  supremacy.* 

*  The  following  passages  from  Cyprian  will  illustrate  his  views  of  the  authority 
and  powers  of  the  priesthood  : — 

Ne  putent  sibi  vitse  aut  salutis  constare  rationem,  si  episcopis  et  sacerdotibus 
obtemperare  noluerint,  cum  in  Deuteronomio  Dominus  dicat ;  et  homo  quicunque 
fecerit  in  superbia,  ut  non  exaudiat  sacerdotem,  aut  judicem,  quicunque  fuerit  in 
diebus  illis,  morietur  homo  ille  et  omnis  populus,  cum  audierit,  timebit,  et  non  agent 
impie  etiam  nunc.  Interfici  Deus  jussit  sacerdotibus  suis  non  obtemperantes. — Epist. 
4.  Cum  hsec  tanta  ac  talia  et  multa  alia  exempla  pi-aecedant,  quibus  sacerdotalis 
auctoritas  et  potestas  de  divina  dignatione  firmatur,  qualis  putas  eos  esse  qui  sa- 
cerdotuiii  hostes,  et  contra  ecclesiam  catliolicam  rebelles,  nee  prajmonentis  domini 
comnumicatione,  nee  futuri  judicii  ultione  terreutur  ?  Neque  enim  aliunde  haj- 
reses  obortse  sunt,  aut  nata  sunt  schismata,  quam  inde,  quod  sacerdoti  Dei  non 
obtemperatur  nee  unus  in  eclesia  ad  tempus  sacerdos  et  ad  tempus  judex  vice 
Christi  cogitatur. — Epist.  59.  Corap.  75.  Ej^ist.  De  Bapl.  in  0pp.  Cyp. 


458  CHURCH   DISCIPLINE   AND   PENANGE.         [CHAP.  XXII. 


The  clergy  became  now  a  mediating  priesthood,  independent  of 
the  church,  and  vested  with  authority  from  God  to  rule  the  church 
and  its  members ;  and,  by  outward  ordinances,  to  communicate  the 
gifts  and  graces  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

This  transition  changed  essentially  the  relations  of  the  officers  to 
the  members  of  the  church  and  the  conditions  of  church-member- 
ship. The  officers  of  the  church,  instead  of  receiving  authority  and 
office  from  that  body  for  their  service,  claim  authority  and  commis- 
sion from  God  for  the  exercise  of  their  functions.  They  are  now 
the  rulers,  not  the  servants,  as  at  the  beginning  they  were,  of  the 
church.  A  union  with  the  church  by  a  public  profession  is  a 
transaction,  not  so  much  between  the  church  and  the  professing 
Christian  as  between  him  and  the  bishop.  The  contracting, 
covenanting  parties  are  the  bishop  and  the  believer.  The  sove- 
reign authority  of  the  church  is  merged  and  lost  in  that  of  the 
priesthood. 

Ecclesiastical  discipline  naturally  resolves  itself  into  a  system  of 
penance  administered  by  the  priesthood,  in  whom  alone  authority 
is  vested  for  the  punishment  of  offences.  The  confessional,  which 
requires  the  offender  to  tell  the  tale  of  all  his  sins  in  the  ear  of  a 
sinful  creature  like  himself,  and  to  bow  down  to  degrading  penance 
dictated  by  the  confessor,  is  only  a  practical  application  of  the 
power  of  a  tyrannical  priesthood.  The  deep  degradation  and  de- 
basement to  which  popery  has  reduced  the  people  is  its  final  result. 

On  the  contrary,  the  total  neglect  of  all  discipline,  as  in  the 
established  churches  in  England  and  on  the  continent,  is  a  result 
equally  legitimate  of  wresting  the  disciplinary  power  from  the  laity, 
and  concentrating  it  in  the  priesthood.  Give  the  ministry  the  abso- 
lute and  independent  control  of  all  ecclesiastical  authority,  and 
they  will  either  abuse  or  neglect  it.  It  is  a  recorded  fact  in  all 
ecclesiastical  history,  that  the  great  conservative  power  in  the 
church,  her  ornament  and  her  strength,  the  defence  of  her  liberties, 
the  preservation  of  her  purity,  is — tJie  laity.  The  laity  are  at  this 
time  the  only  effectual  safeguard  against  the  disastrous  encroach- 
ments of  papacy  and  high-church  prelacy  in  the  Episcopal  churches 
of  England  and  America.  This  strange  effort  to  "  unprotestantize" 
these  churches,  and  reinvolve  them  in  the  darkness,  delusion,  and 
degradation  of  papacy,  is  eminently  a  perversion  of  the  priesthood, 
by  which  the  people  continue  comparatively  unaffected.  The  stead- 
fastness of  their  faith  is  the  hope,  and  may  be  the  defence  of  the 
Episcopal  church  against  that  tide  of  error  which  is  setting  in  upon 


SEC.  I.]  DISCIPLINE    OP   THE   PRIMITIVE   CHURCH.  459 

her  like  a  flood,  from  the  abominations  of  papacy.  "The  laity," 
says  an  American  bishop — "  The  laity  must  save  the  church." 

In  view  of  the  early  organization  and  discipline  of  the  Christian 
church,  we  may  well  pause  to  admire  the  Avisdom  and  grace  that 
directed  the  Puritans  to  take  up  the  work  of  the  reformation  where 
Luther  and  others  left  it,  and  restore  both  the  government  and 
worship  of  the  church  to  their  primitive  simplicity  and  purity.  Im- 
mortal honour  is  indeed  due  to  Luther  and  his  coadjutors  for  the 
great  work  which  they  so  nobly  began.  But  Luther  was  not  a 
radical  reformer.  He  sought  not  to  emancipate  the  church,  either 
from  the  thraldom  of  the  state,  or  the  more  disastrous  bondage  of 
the  pope.  He  sought  not  to  lead  out  the  Israel  of  God  from  their 
house  of  bondage  and  reinstate  them  in  the  liberty  wherewith  God 
hath  made  his  people  free.  He  sought  not  to  relieve  the  ritual  of 
the  enormous  burden  of  forms  and  ceremonies  and  solemn  absurdi- 
ties with  which  popery,  age  after  age,  had  been  overlaying  the  sim- 
ple worship  of  the  primitive  Christians.  His  effort  was  rather  to 
correct  the  wrong  than  to  restore  the  right,  to  reform  rather  than 
to  revolutionize,  to  rectify  rather  than  remove  the  abuses,  supersti- 
tions, and  errors  of  papacy.  The  church  was  in  his  view  an  ancient 
and  venerable  structure.  It  had  stood  fast  for  ages  in  solemn, 
gloomy  grandeur,  and  against  it  he  feared  to  raise  a  sacrilegious 
hand.  His  effort  was  to  clear  away  the  rubbish  which  had  gath- 
ered, in  the  lapse  of  ages,  about  the  sacred  edifice,  to  repair  its 
desolations,  to  renew  its  ancient  solemn  services  and  fill  its  vast 
courts  again  with  devout  worshippers.  Amazed  at  the  decay  and 
rottenness  which  he  everywhere  discovered,  he  faltered  at  the 
effects  of  his  own  great  arm  in  demolishing  what  he  only  thought 
to  repair  and  adorn.  He  understood  not  the  mission  on  which 
heaven  had  sent  him,  and  stayed  his  hand  when  as  yet  he  had  but 
begun  his  work.  To  change  the  figure,  he  held  in  his  hand  the 
arrow  of  the  Lord's  deliverance  ;  but,  like  the  timid  king  of  Israel, 
he  smote  three  times  and  stayed ;  whereas  he  should  have  smitten 
five  or  six  times,  then  had  he  smitten  the  enemy  until  he  had  con- 
sumed it. 

It  remained  for  other  men  at  a  later  age,  for  the  noble  army  of 
the  Puritan  dissenters,  to  re-establish  the  church  on  the  foundation 
of  Christ  and  the  apostles,  to  reassert  the  liberties  of  the  people, 
to  reject,  not  only  the  superstitions  and  empty  ceremonials  of  the 
popish  ritual,  but  the  formalities  also  of  the  liturgy  and  prayer 
book,  and  to  restore  the  freedom  and  simplicity  of  primitive  worship. 


460  CHURCH  DISCIPLINE  AND  PENANCE.  [CHAP.  XXII. 


§  2.    OF    PENANCE. 

This  system  of  penance  was  manifestly  of  a  penal  character,  a 
vindication  of  the  laws  of  religion,  and  a  warning  against  trans- 
gression, as  well  as  a  means  of  correction  and  reformation  to  the 
offender.  Administered  by  the  arbitrary  dictation  of  the  priest- 
hood, it  might  easily  be  perverted  for  the  gratification  of  private 
resentment  and  the  accomplishment  of  sinister  ends. 

Penance,  in  the  ecclesiastical  sense  of  the  term,  is  not  an  insti- 
tution either  of  the  Scriptures  or  of  the  apostolical  and  primitive 
church,  but  of  the  hierarchy.  It  is  essentially  an  institution  of 
prelacy  or  episcopacy,  administered  by  the  bishop. 

Tertullian,  f  A.  D.  220,  speaks  of  certain  acts  of  penance,  and 
Cyprian  also  often  speaks  of  them,  but  the  different  classes  of  peni- 
tents were  not  formed  and  their  specific  acts  of  humiliation  pre- 
scribed until  the  fourth  century,  when  prelacy  had  already  super- 
seded the  primitive  organization  of  the  church,  and  changed  her 
ordinances  and  her  rites.  "  It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  conse- 
quence of  making  outward  of  the  conception  of  the  church,  and 
of  that  Old  Testament  view  of  the  priesthood  had  here  already 
mixed  in.  Thus  the  judgment  on  an  individual  who  had  rendered 
himself  liable  to  the  church  penance  was  reckoned  among  the  acts 
of  the  priesthood  ;  and  the  full  power  of  exercising  it,  derived  from 
the  authority  to  bind  and  to  loose,  given  to  the  apostles."^ 

Tertullian  wrote  a  treatise  on  penitence,  in  which  he  teaches  that 
repentance,  consisting  in  a  sorrow  for  sins  committed,  whether  in 
act  or  thought,  arising  from  a  fear  of  God  and  tending  to  salva- 
tion, is  necessary  in  order  to  baptism ;  and  that,  in  case  of  sin  after 
baptism,  there  is  room  once  more,  but  only  once,  for  repentance. 
This  is  to  be  accompanied  with  an  outAvard  act  of  penitence,  s^o/io- 
Xoyy^Gig.  This  book  manifestly  departs  from  the  simplicity  of 
Scripture,  and  contains  various  seeds  of  error. 

Cyprian  of  Carthage  defends  the  same  general  principles  against 
the  Novatians,  who  denied  to  the  fallen  Christian  professor  the 
grace  of  God  and  the  hope  of  eternal  salvation,  and  accordingly 
refused  him  the  benefit  of  penance  and  readmission  to  the  church. 
The  sentiments  of  Tertullian  and  of  Cyprian  are  fully  developed 
in  the  note  below,  and  in  many  other  parts  of  their  writings.* 

*  Ne  igitur  ore  nostro,  quo  pacem  negatnus,  quo  duritiam  magis  humanaa  cre- 
dulitatis,  quam   divinse  et  paternoe  pietatis  opponimus,  eves  nobis  commissae  a 


SEC.  III.]  SUBJECTS    OF   PENANCE.  461 


§  3.    OF  THE   SUBJECTS  OF   PENANCE,  OR  THE  OFFENCES  FOR  WHICH 
IT  WAS   IMPOSED. 

Penance  related  only  to  such  as  had  been  excluded  from  the 
communion  of  the  church.  Its  immediate  object  was,  not  the  for- 
giveness of  the  offender  by  the  Lord  God,  but  Ms  reconciliation 
with  the  church.  It  could,  therefore,  relate  only  to  open  and 
scandalous  offences.  De  occultis  non  jzidicat  ecclesia — the  church 
takes  no  cognizance  of  secret  sins — was  an  ancient  maxim  of  the 
church.  The  early  fathers  say  expressly  that  the  church  offers 
pardon  only  for  offences  committed  against  her.  The  forgiveness 
of  all  sin  she  refers  to  God  himself.  Onuiia  autem,  says  Cyprian, 
Ep.  55,  remissimus  Deo  omnipotenti,  in  cujus  potestate  sunt  omnia 
reservata.*  Such  are  the  concurring  sentiments  of  most  of  the 
early  writers  on  this  subject.  It  was  reserved  for  a  later  age  to 
confound  these  important  distinctions,  and  to  arrogate  to  the  church 
the  prerogative  of  forgiving  sins. 

Various  synonymous  expressions  occur  in  the  writings  of  Tertul- 
lian  and  Cyprian,  to  denote  this  mode  of  discipline,  all  of  which 
are  in  accordance  with  the  representations  given  above  of  penance, 
such  as  disciplina,  orandi  disciplina,  patientise  discipUna,  deifica 
disciplina,  satisfactio,  satisfacere,  etc.  The  last-mentioned  terms 
imply  a  demand  made  by  the  church,  on  conditions  imposed  in 
order  to  a  restoration  to  that  body.  Hence  also  the  frequent  ex- 
Domino  reposcantur :  placuit  nobis,  Sancto  Spiritu  suggerente,  et  Domino  per  visiones 
multas  et  manifestas  admonenie,  quia  liostis  imminere  prsenuntiatur  et  ostenditur, 
coUigere  intra  castra  milites  Christi,  examiuatis  singulorum  causis,  pacem  lapsis 
dare,  imo  pugnaturis  arma  suggerere  ;  quod  credimus  vobis  quoque  paternae 
misericordite  contemplatione  placiturum.  Quod  si  de  collegis  aliquis  exstiterit, 
qui  urgente  certamine  pacem  fratribus  et  sororibus  non  putat  dandum,  reddet  ille 
rationem  in  die  judicii  Domino,  vel  importunje  censurge,  vel  iuhumanse  duritiae 
SUEe. — Cyprian,  £p.  54  ad  Corneliuvi,  de  pace  Lapsis  danda. 

*  Nos,  in  quantum  nobis  et  videre  et  judicare  conceditur,  faciem  singulorum 
videmus,  cor  scrutari  et  mentem  perspicere  non  possumus.  De  his  judicat  occul- 
torum  scrutator  et  cognitor  cito  venturus,  et  de  arcanis  cordis  atque  abditis  judi- 
caturus.  Obesse  autem  mali  bonis  non  debent,  sed  magis  mali  a  bonis  adjuvari. 
— Id.  Ep.  55.  Qua  ex  causa  necessario  apud  nos  fit,  ut  per  singulos  annos  seniores 
et  praepositi  in  unum  conveniamus  ad  disponenda  ea,  quaj  curse  nostrae  commissa 
eunt,  ut  si  qua  graviora  sunt,  communi  consilio  dirigantur,  lapsis  quoque  fratri- 
bus, et  post  lavacrum  salutare  a  diabolo  vulneratis  per  poenitentiam  medela  quas- 
ratur :  non  quasi  a  nobis  remissionem  peccatorum  consequantur,  sed  ut  per  nos 
ad  intelligentiam  delictorum  suorum  convertantur,  et  Domino  plenius  satisfacere 
cogantur. — Fxkmilian,  Ep.  ad  Cyprian,  Ep.  Cypr.  75. 


462  CHURCH  DISCIPLINE  AND  PENANCE.         [CHAP.  XXII. 


pression,  pcenitentia  canonica,  canones  poenitentiales — penitential 
exercises  required  by  authority  of  councils  and  bishops. 

In  the  ancient  phraseology  of  the  church,  the  lapsed,  "who  after 
professing  Christianity  had  abjured  their  faith,  were  included  among 
the  proper  subjects  of  penance.  The  term  was  frequently  applied 
in  a  wider  sense,  but  in  this  restricted  sense  the  lapsed  were  divided 
into  several  classes.  1.  The  lihellatici — those  who  received  from 
a  Roman  magistrate  a  warrant  for  their  security,  lihellum  securi- 
tatis,  or  pads,  certifying  that  they  were  not  Christians,  or  that 
they  were  not  required  to  sacrifice  to  the  gods.^  2.  The  sacrificati, 
including  all  those  who  had  sacrificed  to  heathen  gods,  whether  by 
constraint  or  voluntarily.^  3.  Taditores.  This  term  came  into  use 
about  forty  years  after  the  death  of  Cyprian,  and  was  employed  to 
denote  those  who  had  delivered  up  copies  of  the  sacred  Scriptures, 
church  records,  or  any  other  property  of  the  church.^  These  were 
chargeable  with  different  degrees  of  guilt,  according  to  the  nature 
of  their  offence.  They  who  had  been  guilty  of  murder  and  adultery 
were  sometimes  included  under  this  class. 

§4.    OF   THE   DIFFERENT   CLASSES   OF   PENITENTS. 

Neither  Tertullian  nor  Cyprian  make  any  mention  of  different 
classes  of  penitents.  It  is  therefore  to  be  presumed,  that  this  dis- 
tinction into  several  classes  was  made  at  a  later  period.  They  are 
first  mentioned  in  the  equivocal  epistle  of  Gregory  Thaumaturgus, 
bishop  of  Neocaesarea,  which,  if  genuine,  falls  between  A.  D.  244  and 
A.  D.  270.  This  classification  was  fully  known  in  the  fourth  cen- 
tury,^ and  probably  was  first  established  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
third  century,  or  beginning  of  the  fourth. 

The  penitents  were  divided  into  four  classes  or  degrees,  as  fol- 
lows : — 

1.  Tl^oax^MLOvrEC,,  flentes,  mourners  or  weepers.  These  were 
rather  candidates  for  penance  than  actual  penitents.  They  were 
wont  to  lie  prostrate  in  the  porch  of  the  church.  Sometimes  they 
knelt  or  stood,  entreating  the  faithful  and  the  clergy  to  intercede  for 
them  for  their  forgiveness  and  reconciliation.  These  were  probably 
called  '^ELy.6X,ovtec„  hiemantes,  because  they  remained  in  the  open 
air,  not  being  permitted,  on  any  occasion,  to  enter  within  the  sacred 
enclosure  of  the  church.  Others  suppose  that  demoniacs  Avere  desig- 
nated by  this  name  from  the  convulsions  to  which  they  were  subject. 

2.  "Axpoi^iJ.ei'oi,  audientes,  hearers.     These  were  permitted  to 


SEC.  IV.]  DIFFERENT   CLASSES    OF   PEXITENTS.  463 

enter  within  the  doors,  and  to  take  then-  station  in  the  narthex,  or 
lowest  part  of  the  house,  where  they  were  allowed  to  hear  the  read- 
ing and  exposition  of  the  Scriptures,  but  were  denied  the  privilege 
of  joining  in  the  prayers  of  the  church.  Basil  and  others  prescribe 
three  years  as  the  term  of  their  continuance  in  this  order."  They 
were  regarded  as  sustaining  the  same  relations  to  the  church  as  the 
first  class  of  catechumens,  and  were  known  by  the  same  name. 
They  were  distinguished,  however,  from  the  catechumens,  by  not 
being  permitted  to  receive  the  imposition  of  hands.^ 

3.  TTiOTtiTttovtsg,  TovvxTiivovTEg,  suhstrati,  or  genufiectentes, 
prostrators,  Jcneelers.  These  were  much  the  same  as  the  third  class 
of  catechumens,  who  also  bore  the  same  name.  They  were  per- 
mitted to  remain  at  public  prayer,  but  only  in  a  kneeling  posture. 
The  catechumens  took  precedence  of  them  in  attendance  upon 
prayers,  and  sooner  passed  into  a  higher  grade.  In  this  class  of 
penitents  they  continued  three,  and  sometimes  even  seven  years.* 

4.  ^vvLGtdfievoi,  consistentes,  bystanders.  This  class  take  their 
name  from  their  being  permitted  to  stand  with  believers,  and  to  join 
with  them  in  prayer,  but  not  to  partake  of  the  communion  with 
them.^  Whether  they  Avere  permitted  to  remain  as  spectators  of 
the  sacramental  service  is  uncertain.  They  continued  in  this  class 
for  the  space  of  two  years. 

Some  have  supposed,  but  without  sufficient  reason,  that  there  was 
a  fifth  class  of  penitents.  The  truth  rather  is  that  the  distinction 
between  these  classes  was  not  uniformly  observed.  In  the  time  of 
Cyprian,  the  bishop  had  not,  indeed,  authority  officially  to  regulate 
the  rules  of  penance ;  still  he  exercised  a  controlling  influence  in 
these  matters.  But  by  later  ecclesiastical  rules,  the  bishop  was 
authorized  to  abridge  or  extend  the  time  allotted  for  penance.  The 
Council  of  Ancyra,  especially,  accorded  to  the  bishop  a  discretion- 
ary power  in  this  respect,  and  particularly  directs  him  charitably 
to  consider  the  deportment  of  the  ofi'ender,  both  before  and  after 
entering  upon  a  course  o^'penance,  and  to  grant  him  a  dispensation 
accordingly.*  This  is  the  true  origin  of  that  practice  which  subse- 
quently led  to  such  enormous  abuses — the  grariting  of  indulgences. 

The  indulgentia  paschjr^s^  so  called,  has  a  special  reference  to 
the  penitents,  and  to  their  stations  in  the  early  church. 

*  Tcrvj  hi  sTiiaxoTCovi  i^ovaiav  tx^^v,  ^ov  fportoj'  ■fjjj  srttofpo^jjj  Soxt/taaavT'os  ^tXar- 
^ptorttiif  u^at,  r;  7<%ivova  jipoatL^ivai,  ;^poi/oi'"  rtpo  ftavruv  8«  xai  o  rtpoaywi-  ^toj,  xai,  o 
fiita  "tavta,  e^i-ta^sa^io'  xai  ovtu>i  rj  ^Ouv^^mnio.  irtifictpeia^a. —  Cone.  Ancyr,  c.  V 
This  rule  was  established  also  by  Constitut.  Carolin.  1.  vii.  c.  294. 


464  CHURCH  DISCIPLINE  AND  PENANCE.  [CHAP.  XXII. 


§  5.  OF  THE  DUTIES  OF  PENITENTS,  AND  THE  DISCIPLINE  IMPOSED 
UPON  THEM  ;  OR  THE  DIFFERENT  KINDS  AND  DEGREES  OF  PEN- 
ANCE. 

Penance,  as  has  been  already  observed,  was  wholly  a  voluntary 
act  on  the  part  of  those  who  were  subject  to  it.  The  church  not 
only  would  not  enforce  it,  but  they  refused  even  to  urge  or  invite 
any  to  submit  to  this  discipline.  It  was  to  be  sought  as  a  favour, 
not  inflicted  as  a  penalty.  But  the  offending  person  had  no  au- 
thority or  permission  to  prescribe  his  own  duties  as  a  penitent. 
When  once  he  had  resolved  to  seek  the  forgiveness  and  reconcili- 
ation of  the  church,  it  was,  exclusively,  the  prerogative  of  the 
bishop  to  prescribe  the  conditions  on  which  this  was  to  be  effected. 
No  one  could  even  be  received  as  a  candidate  for  penance,  without 
permission  first  obtained  of  the  bishop  or  presbyter  as  his  repre- 
sentative, to  which  they  were  admitted  by  imposition  of  hands. 

The  duties  required  of  penitents,  consisted  essentially  in  the  fol- 
lowing particulars : — 

1.  Penitents  of  the  first  three  classes  were  required  to  kneel  in 
worship^  while  the  faithful  were  permitted  to  stand. 

2.  All  were  required  to  make  known  their  penitential  sorrow  by 
an  open  and  public  confession  of  their  sin.  This  confession  was 
to  be  made,  not  before  the  bishop  or  the  priesthood,  but  in  the 
presence  of  the  ivhole  church,  with  sighs,  and  tears,  and  lamenta- 
tions. These  expressions  of  grief  they  were  to  renew  and  continue, 
so  long  as  they  remained  in  the  fii'st,  or  lowest  class  of  penitents, 
entreating,  at  the  same  time,  in  their  behalf,  the  prayers  and  in- 
tercession of  the  faithful.  Some  idea  of  the  nature  of  these  demon- 
strations of  penitence  may  be  formed  from  a  record  of  them  con- 
tained in  the  works  of  Cyprian.^  Almost  all  the  canons  lay  much 
stress  upon  the  sighs  and  tears  accompanying  these  effusions. 

3.  Throughout  the  whole  term  of  peno,nce,  all  expressions  of  joy 
were  to  be  restrained,  and  all  ornaments  of  dress  to  be  laid  aside. 
The  penitents  were  required,  literally,  to  wear  sackcloth,   and  to 

cover  their  heads  with  ashes.*     Nor  were  these  acts  of  humiliation 

jtn 

*  "O.O'tt  itS^tv  avaO'CrivaA,  xai  ivhvaa.fi.ivov  odxxov,  xai  ertoibv  xatartasdfisvov  fista 
ftoXKrji  OTiovSrj;,  xai  Baxpviov  rtpoarCfafiv. — ErsEB.  Hist.  Eccl.  lib.  v.  c.  28.  Quis  hoc 
crederet,  ut  saccum  indueret,  ut  errorem  publico  fateretur,  et  totaurbe  spectante 
llomana,  ante  diem  paschte  in  Basilica  Laterani  staret  in  ordine  pociiitentium? — 
HiERON.  Ep.  30,  Epit.  Fab.  De  ipso  quoque  habitu  atque  victu  mandat,  sacco  et 
cineri  incubare,  corpus  sordibus  obscurare. — Tertull.  De  Paenit.  c.  9.      Totum 


EEC.  VI.]     READMISSION   OF   PENITENTS    INTO   THE    CHURCH.  465 

restricted  to  Ash  Wednesday  merely,  when  especially  tliey  were 
required. 

4.  The  men  were  required  to  cut  short  their  hair,  and  to  shave 
their  beards,  in  token  of  sorrow.  The  women  were  to  appear  with 
dishevelled  hair,  and  wearing  a  peculiar  kind  of  veil.^ 

5.  During  the  whole  term  of  penance,  bathing,  feasting,  and 
sensual  gratifications,  allowable  at  other  times,  were  prohibited. 
In  the  spii'it  of  these  regulations,  marriage  was  also  forbidden.^ 

6.  Besides  these  restrictions  and  rules  of  a  negative  character, 
there  were  certain  positive  requirements  with  which  the  penitents 
were  expected  to  comply. 

(a)  They  were  obliged  to  be  present,  and  to  perform  their  part 
at  every  religious  assembly,  whether  public  or  private, — a  regulation 
which  neither  believers  nor  catechumens  were  required  to  observe.* 

{h)  They  were  expected  to  abound  in  deeds  of  charity  and  benevo- 
lence, particularly  in  almsgiving  to  the  poor. 

(c)  Especially  were  they  to  perform  the  duties  of  the  'paraholani, 
in  giving  attendance  upon  the  sick,  and  in  taking  care  of  them. 
These  ofiices  of  kindness  they  were  expected  particularly  to  bestow 
upon  such  as  were  affected  with  contagious  diseases. 

(c?)  It  was  also  their  duty  to  assist  at  the  burial  of  the  dead. 
The  regulations  last  mentioned  are  supposed  to  have  been  peculiar 
to  the  church  of  Africa.^ 

These  duties  and  regulations  collectively,  were  sometimes  in- 
cluded under  the  general  term  i^o^o/ioy/jOig,  confession.  By  this 
was  understood  not  only  words,  but  ivorhs ;  both,  in  connection, 
being  the  appropriate  means  of  manifesting  sorrow  for  sin,  and  the 
purpose  of  amendment. 

§  6.    OF    THE    READMISSION    OF    PENITENTS    INTO    THE    CHURCH. 

The  readmission  of  penitents  into  the  church  was  the  subject  of 
frequent  controversy  with  the  early  fathers,  and  ancient  religious 
sects.     Some  contended  that  those  who  had  once  been  excluded 

corpus  incuria  maceretur,  cinere  adspersum,  et  opertum  cilicia. — Ambros.  ad  Vir- 
gin Lapsam  c.  8.  Agite  poenitentiam  plenam,  dolentis  ac  lamentantis  animi  pro- 
bate moestitiara.  .  .  .  Orare  importet  impensius,  et  rogare,  diem  luctu  tran- 
sigere,  vigiliis  noctes  ac  fletibus  ducere,  tempus  omne  lacrimosis  lamentationibus 
occupare,  stratos  solo  adhierere,  in  cinere  et  cilicio  et  sordibus  volutari,  post  in- 
dumentum Cliristi  perditum  nullum  jam  velle  vestitum,  post  diaboli  cibum  malle 
jejunium,  Justus  operibus  incumbere,  quibus  peccati  purgantur,  eleemosynis  fre- 
quenter insistere,  quibus  a  morte  animae  liberantur. — Cyprian.  De  Lapsis. 

80 


466  CHURCH   DISCIPLINE   AND    PENANCE.  [CHAP.  XXII. 


from  the  church  for  their  crimes,  ought  never  again  to  be  received 
to  her  fellowship  and  communion.  But  the  church  generally  were 
disposed  to  exercise  a  more  charitable  and  forgiving  spirit. 

The  following  general  principles  prevailed  in  the  ancient  church, 
in  regard  to  the  restoration  of  excommunicated  members  to  their 
former  standing. 

1.  There  was  no  established  term  of  time  for  the  continuance  of 
penance.  The  several  grades  each  extended  through  three,  seven, 
and  even  ten  years ;  but  the  whole  was  varied  according  to  circum- 
stances, or  at  the  discretion  of  the  bishop.^  The  abuse  and  per- 
version of  this  privilege  and  prerogative  of  the  bishop  led  the  way 
to  the  sale  of  indulgences  in  the  Roman  Catholic  church. 

2.  Sincere  and  unfeigned  penitence  was,  alone,  considered  legiti- 
mate and  satisfactory.  It  was.  called  poenitentia  legitima,  plena, 
justa,  when  attended,  both  in  public  and  in  private,  Avith  lamenta- 
tions, and  with  tears,  and  every  demonstration  of  sincere  peniten- 
tial sorrow  for  sin.  This  was  regarded  more  than  the  amount  of 
time  spent,  under  the  discipline  of  penance.^ 

3.  In  case  of  extreme  sickness,  and  in  prospect  of  death,  the  ex- 
communicated person  might  be  forgiven  and  restored  by  the  bishop, 
or  by  a  presbyter  or  deacon,  by  virtue  of  authority  delegated  to 
him  for  this  purpose.  But  in  case  of  the  recovery  of  the  sick  per- 
son, the  whole  prescribed  course  of  penitence  was  usually  required 
of  him.^ 

4.  When  one  of  the  clergy  fell  under  ecclesiastical  censure  he 
was  forever  incapacitated  from  returning  to  the  discharge  of  his 
official  duties,  even  though  restored  to  the  communion  of  the  church. 
A  layman  also,  who  had  once  been  the  subject  of  discipline  in  the 
church,  was  ineligible  to  any  clerical  office.* 

In  regard  to  the  mode  of  receiving  again  the  returning  penitent, 
it  may  be  remarked, 

1.  That  the  restoration  was  not  only  a  public  act,  but  a  part  of 
public  worship.  For  this  public  absolution  the  obvious  reason  was 
assigned,  that  the  restitution  made  by  the  offender,  Avas  in  this  way 
made  as  public  as  the  act  of  excommunication  ;  and  that  the  salu- 
tary influence  of  the  discipline  might  be  felt  by  the  whole  body  of 
the  church. 

2.  The  same  bishop,  under  whom  the  penitent  had  been  excluded 
from  the  church,  or  his  successor,  was  the  only  appropriate  organ 
of  restoring  him  to  the  fellowship  of  the  church.^  This  rule  was 
so  strictly  enforced  that  the  bishop,  who  should  violate  it,  was  liable 


SEC.  VI.]      READMISSION    OP    PENITENTS   INTO   THE    CHURCn.         467 


to  severe  censure,  or  to  be  removed  from  office  for  the  offence.^ 
To  prevent  any  mistake,  the  names  of  excommunicated  persons 
were  publicly  enrolled,  and  a  list  of  their  names  sent  to  the  neigh- 
boring dioceses.''  These  regulations  were  severally  observed  in 
order  that  the  church,  who  witnessed  the  oiFence,  might  also  receive 
the  full  influence  of  the  discipline  with  which  it  was  was  visited. 

3.  The  restoration  usually  took  place  on  Passion  week,  which  was 
from  this  circumstance  denominated  hebclomas  indulg entice ;  or 
at  some  time  appointed  by  the  bishop.  The  transaction  was  per- 
formed in  the  cliurch,  when  the  people  were  assembled  for  religious 
worship  ;  and  for  the  most  part  immediately  before  the  administra- 
tion of  the  Lord's  supper.  The  individual,  kneeling  before  the 
bishop  in  the  attitude  and  garb  of  a  penitent,  and  before  the  altar, 
or  the  reading  desk,  {tJie  ambo,)  was  readmitted  by  him  with  prayer 
and  the  imposition  of  hands. ^  The  latter  rite,  especially,  was  re- 
garded as  the  significant  and  principal  token  of  admission  to  the 
communion  of  the  church.  The  chrism  was  also  administered  to 
heretics,  but  to  no  other  class  of  offenders. 

4.  No  established  form  of  absolution  is  recorded,  but  from 
analogy  it  might  be  presumed  that  some  such  was  in  use.  Nothing 
like  the  modern  method  of  absolving  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  was  known  to  the  ancient  church.^  The 
whole  rite  was  frequently  denominated  dare  pacem,  from  which 
it  is  fairly  presumed,  that  some  such  phraseology  was  included  in 
the  form  of  absolution. 

5.  The  fifty-first  Psalm  was  usually  sung  on  this  occasion,  but 
not  as  a  necessary  part  of  the  service.^'' 

6.  The  sacrament  was  immediately  administered  as  a  token  that 
the  penitent  was  reinstated  in  all  his  former  privileges,  the  disquali- 
fication for  the  clerical  office  only  excepted. 

Such  then  were  the  solemnities  by  which  penitents  were  restored 
to  the  privileges  of  the  church.  On  the  day  appointed  for  theii 
deliverance  from  this  humiliating  condition,  they  came  into  the 
church  in  a  penitential  garb  of  sackcloth,  and  with  a  trembling 
voice  and  copious  tears,  took  their  station  on  an  elevated  platform, 
where,  in  presence  of  the  assembled  congregation,  they  made  a  pub- 
lic confession  of  their  sins,  and  throwing  themselves  down  on  the 
ground,  they  besought  them  to  forgive  the  scandal  and  reproach 
they  had  brought  on  the  Christian  name,  and  to  give  them  the 
benefit  and  comfort  of  their  intercessory  prayers.  The  brethren, 
moved  with  the  liveliest  emotions  at  beholding  one  to  whom  they 


468  CHURCH    DISCIPLINE    AND    PENANCE.  [CHAP.  XXII. 

had  often  given  the  kiss  of  peace  in  so  distressing  a  situation,  fell 
on  their  knees  along  with  him ;  and  the  minister,  in  the  same  atti- 
tude of  prostration,  laying  his  hands  on  the  head  of  the  penitent, 
supplicated,  with  solemn  fervour,  the  divine  compassion  on  him, 
and  then  raising  him,  placed  him  in  the  ranks  of  the  faithful  at  the 
table  of  the  communion. 


§  7.    OF   PRIVATE    PENANCE. 

Roman  Catholic  writers  define  public  penance  to  be  such  as  re- 
lates to  notorious  offences,  and  is  performed  only  before  the  church ; 
private  penance  relates  to  sins  confessed  only  to  a  priest,  for  which 
satisfaction  is  privately  performed.  It  is  private  penance,  thus 
closely  connected  with  the  practice  of  auricular  confession,  which 
has  been  exalted  to  the  rank  of  a  sacrament  in  the  church  of  Rome. 

No  precedent  or  other  authority  in  favour  of  this  practice  can  be 
found  in  the  New  Testament.  James  v.  16,  relates  to  a  mutual 
confession  of  sins,  and  demands  no  more  confession  of  the  people 
to  a  priest,  than  of  a  priest  to  the  people.  The  Roman  Catholics, 
abandoning  this  passage,  contend,  however,  that  auricular  confes- 
sion is  founded  on  Scripture,  inasmuch  as  it  is  a  natural  and  ne- 
cessary accompaniment  of  the  power  of  forgiving  sins,  which  they 
suppose  to  have  been  vested  in  the  apostles,  Matt,  xviii.  18  ;  xvi. 
19  ;  John  xx.  23.  Such  is  the  position  maintained  by  the  Council 
of  Trent,  (Sess.  xiv.  c.  3-6 :)  the  unsoundness  of  which  has  been, 
however,  abundantly  proved. 

The  more  acute  and  judicious  controversialists  on  the  Romish 
side,  betake  themselves  to  the  authority  of  the  fathers  in  this  mat- 
ter ;  claiming  Irenaeus,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Origen,  Tertullian, 
and  others,  as  bearing  witness  to  the  existence  of  private  confession 
in  their  days.  But  it  is  found,  upon  examination,  that  the  e^ouo- 
^oyriOig,  or  confessio,  to  which  they  allude,  is  quite  another  thing 
. — such,  in  fact,  as  has  been  already  described;  a  point  which  is 
fully  conceded  by  a  celebrated  Roman  Catholic  antiquarian,  Gabriel 
Albaspinseus.^  The  truth  is,  that  the  ancient  writers  speak  of 
i^o^wXoyyiOig  only  in  the  sense  of  confession  of  sin  to  Almighty 
God,  or  as  denoting  public  penance  ;  the  whole  exercise,  in  the  lat- 
ter case,  being  denominated  from  its  introductory  part.  Concern- 
ing the  former  kind  of  confession,  the  fathers  teach  expressly  that  it 
is  to  be  made  only  to  God,  and  not  by  any  means  to  man,  whether  to 
the  whole  church  or  to  individual  ministers.^  It  is  wholly  unconnected 


SEC.  VII.]  PRIVATE    PENANCE.  469 

with  any  thing  in  the  shape  of  satisfaction  or  penalty ;  its  only  ne- 
cessary accompaniment  being  repentance  or  contrition,  with  purpose 
of  amendment.  The  other  kind  of  confession  related,  as  has  been 
already  explained,  to  those  open  or  notorious  oifences,  on  account 
of  which  a  member  of  the  church  had  been  excluded  from  her  com- 
munion ;  and  it  was  required  as  a  preparatory  step  in  order  to  a 
restoration  to  ecclesiastical  privileges.  And  together  with  this,  we 
may  rank  the  public  confession  of  previous  sins  which  was  required 
as  one  of  the  preliminaries  of  baptism ;  allusion  to  which  is  made 
by  some  of  the  earliest  ecclesiastical  writers. 

During  the  Decian  persecution,  the  number  of  penitents  being 
very  large,  the  bishop  deemed  it  expedient  to  appoint  certain  pres- 
byters to  the  especial  office  of  receiving  their  confessions  prepara- 
tory to  public  penance ;  it  having  been  already  recommended,  as  a 
wholesome  practice,  that  persons  suffering  under  any  perplexities 
of  mind  or  troubles  of  conscience,  should  have  recourse  to  some 
wise  and  skilful  pastor  for  their  guidance  and  satisfaction.  The 
appointment  of  these  penitentiary  priests  may  be  regarded  as  hav- 
ing led  the  way  to  the  institution  of  confessors,  in  the  modern  ac- 
ceptation of  the  term.  But  those  officers  were  by  no  means  identi- 
cal, and  ought  not  to  be  confounded  with  each  other.  The  office 
of  the  penitentiary  priests  "  was  not  to  receive  private  confessions 
in  prejudice  to  the  public  discipline ;  much  less  to  grant  absolution 
privately  upon  bare  confession  before  any  penance  was  performed, 
which  was  a  practice  altogether  unknown  to  the  ancient  church ; — 
but  it  was  to  facilitate  and  promote  the  exercise  of  public  discipline, 
by  acquainting  men  Avhat  sins  the  laws  of  the  church  required  to  be 
expiated  by  public  penance,  and  how  they  were  to  behave  them- 
selves in  the  performance  of  it ;  and  only  to  appoint  private  pen- 
ance for  such  private  crimes  as  were  not  proper  to  be  brought  upon 
the  public  stage,  either  for  fear  of  doing  harm  to  the  penitent  him- 
self, or  giving  scandal  to  the  church."^  The  confession  of  sins  was 
indeed  private ;  but  it  was  destined  to  be  made  public  in  order  to 
the  performance  of  penance.  The  private  or  auricular  confession 
of  later  centuries  is  quite  different  from  the  confession  made  to  those 
penitentiary  presbyters.  Confession  was  not  made  to  them  with  a 
view  of  obtaining  forgiveness  from  God,  but  in  order  to  procure 
restoration  to  the  former  privileges  of  the  offended  church.  It  was 
considered,  indeed,  useful  and  necessary  to  seek  for  both  kinds  of 
forgiveness  at  the  same  time ;  but  no  Christian  minister  claimed  the 
power  of  pronouncing  pardon  in  the  name  of  God.* 


470  CHURCH  DISCIPLINE  AND  PENANCE.         [CHAP.  XXII. 


The  manner  of  conducting  this  private  penance  at  Rome,  and  the 
scandalous  abuse  of  it  at  Constantinople,  which  caused  it  to  be  dis- 
continued in  the  Eastern  church,  is  related  by  Sozemen.^  It  is  a 
palpable  illustration  of  the  abuses  to  which  the  confessional  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  church  may  be  perverted,  "  There  is  a  place  ap- 
propriated to  the  reception  of  penitents,  where  they  stand  and 
mourn  until  the  completion  of  the  solemn  services,  from  which  they 
are  excluded ;  then  they  cast  themselves,  with  groans  and  lamenta- 
tions, prostrate  on  the  ground.  The  bishop  conducts  the  ceremony, 
sheds  tears,  and  prostrates  himself  in  like  manner ;  and  all  the  peo- 
ple burst  into  tears,  and  groan  aloud.  Afterward,  the  bishop  rises 
from  the  ground,  and  raises  up  the  others ;  he  offers  prayer  on  be- 
half of  the  penitents,  and  then  dismisses  them.  Each  of  the  peni- 
tents subjects  himself  in  private  to  voluntary  suffering,  either  by 
fastings,  by  abstaining  from  the  bath,  or  from  divers  kinds  of  meats, 
or  by  other  prescribed  means,  until  a  certain  period  appointed  by 
the  bishop.  When  this  time  arrives  he  is  made  free  from  the  con- 
sequences of  his  sin,  and  is  permitted  to  resume  his  place  in  the 
assemblies  of  the  church.  The  Roman  priests  have  carefully  ob- 
served this  custom  from  the  beginning  vo  the  present  time.  At 
Constantinople,  a  presbyter  was  always  appointed  to  preside  over 
the  penitents  until  a  lady  of  illustrious  birth  made  a  deposition  to 
the  effect,  that  when  she  resorted  as  a  penitent  to  the  presbyter,  to 
fast,  and  offer  supplications  to  God,  and  tarried  for  that  purpose  in 
the  church,  a  rape  had  been  committed  on  her  person  by  the  dea- 
con. Great  displeasure  was  manifested  by  the  people  when  this 
occurrence  was  made  known  to  them,  on  account  of  the  discredit 
that  would  result  to  the  church,  and  the  priests,  in  particular,  were 
thereby  greatly  scandalized,  Nectarius,  after  much  hesitation  as 
to  what  means  ought  to  be  adopted,  deposed  the  deacon ;  and  at 
the  advice  of  certain  persons,  who  urged  the  necessity  of  leaving 
each  individual  to  examine  himself  before  participating  in  the 
sacred  mysteries,  he  abolished  the  office  of  the  presbyter  presiding 
over  penance.  From  that  period,  therefore,  the  peformance  of 
penance  fell  into  disuse."'' 

The  regular  establishment  of  the  system  of  private  confession 
and  absolution  is  usually  ascribed  to  Leo  the  Great,  who  repre- 
sented not  merely  any  particular  penitentiary  priests,  but  every 
priest,  as  possessing  the  power  and  authority  to  receive  confession, 
to  act  as  an  intercessor  v/ith  God  on  behalf  of  the  penitent,  and  to 
declare  forgiveness  of  sins  in  the  name  of  God.     But  even  the 


SEC.  VIII.]  ABSOLUTION.  471 

system  introduced  by  tins  pontiff  differed  from  that  whicli  has  pre- 
vailed since  the  thirteenth  century  in  the  Roman  church,  inasmuch 
as  the  confession  of  sins  was  left  to  every  one's  own  conscience,  and 
penance  was  still  regarded  as  an  entirely  voluntary  act,  which  no 
one  could  be  compelled  to  perform ;  nor  Avas  the  priest  supposed  to 
possess  in  himself  any  (delegated)  power  of  forgiving  sins.  And 
subsequently  to  the  age  of  Leo,  it  was  considered  as  a  matter  quite 
at  the  option  of  an  offender  either  to  confess  his  sins  to  a  priest  or 
to  God  alone. 


§  8.    OF    ABSOLUTION. 

No  writer  of  the  first  three  centuries  of  the  Christian  era  makes 
mention  of  power  or  authority  on  the  part  of  priest  or  bishop  to 
forgive  sin  in  the  place  of  God.  Tertullian,  Cyprian,  Chrysostom, 
and  Ambrose,  insist  on  the  truth,  that  none  but  God  alone  can  for- 
give sin ;  but  Augustin,  who  survived  the  last  two  but  a  few  years, 
asserts  that  the  church  has  this  power.*  Gregory  the  Great,  f  A.  D. 
604,  fully  claims  for  the  bishops  this  high  prerogative,  f  In  the 
church  of  Rome,  absolution  was  exalted  to  the  rank  of  a  sacrament, 
administered  by  a  power  delegated  immediately  from  God. 

The  form  of  the  absolution  was  at  first  in  the  strain  of  supplica- 
tion. The  offices  of  the  priest  were  supposed  to  be  those  of  an 
intercessor  for  the  penitent.  From  this  mediatorial  office  of  inter- 
cessor, the  transition  was  to  that  of  vicegerent  of  God  !  A  sinful 
man  assumes  to  have  received  the  awful  prerogative  of  God  himself 
to  forgive  at  his  will  the  sins  of  men.  ^^  I  absolve  thee  from  all  thy 
sins  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
AmenJ"     Such  was  the  form  of  absolution  from  the  twelfth  century. 

Shocking  as  is  this  blasphemy,  it  seems  to  be  only  the  natural 
result  of  that  central  error  of  prelacy,  now  so  zealously  propagated 
by  a  portion  even  of  the  protestant  church — the  idea  of  a  priesthood 
serving  as  a  medium  of  connection  between  Christ  and  his  church, 
through  which  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  are  imparted  to 
the  church.  The  apostolic  succession,  the  grace  of  the  sacraments, 
baptismal  regeneration,  the  grace  of  confirmation  by  the  laying  on 

*  Nee  eos  audiamus  qui  negant  ecclesiam  Dei  omnia  peccata  pose  dimittere. 

■j-  jNIediator  enini  Dei  et  liominum,  homo  Jesus  Christus,  banc  prxpositis  ecclesix 
tradidit  potestatem  ut  confitentibus  actionem  pocnitcntite  darcnt,  et  eosdem  salu- 
bri  satisfactione  purgatos  ad  communionem  sacrameutorum  per  jauuam  reconcili- 
atiouLs  admitterent. — Ep.  59,  al.  46. 


472  CHURCH  DISCIPLINE  AND  PENANCE.         [CHAP.  XXH. 


of  hands  of  the  bishop,  the  power  of  the  keys  to  loose  and  to  bind 
in  heaven — these  were  the  stages  by  which  the  Pope  of  Rome  ad- 
vanced to  that  culminating  point  of  episcopal  prerogatives,  where  he 
as  God,  sitteth  in  the  temple  of  God,  blasphemously  dispensing  at 
will  absolution  or  hopeless  perdition  to  a  sinful  creature  like  himself. 

§  9.    DISCIPLINE    OF    THE    CLERGY,  AND   THE    PUNISHMENT    OP 
DELINQUENTS. 

The  stern  and  severe  sanctity  of  the  primitive  Christians  is  pecu- 
liarly manifest  in  the  severity  of  that  discipline  to  which  they  sub- 
jected offending  members  of  their  communion.  The  rules  of  disci- 
pline in  relation  to  the  clergy  are  a  part  of  the  polity  of  the  hierarchy. 

The  clergy,  however,  of  every  grade,  were  at  first  the  subjects 
of  a  discipline  peculiar  to  their  body ;  and  in  some  respects  even 
more  severe  than  that  of  private  members  of  the  church.  The 
latter  might,  by  suitable  demonstrations  of  penitence,  be  again 
restored  to  their  former  standing ;  but  this  pri\ilege  was  never 
accorded  to  a  degraded  or  excommunicated  minister.  If,  for  any 
offence,  he  once  fell  under  ecclesiastical  censure,  he  was  excluded 
from  the  clerical  order  entirely  and  for  ever.  But  the  higher  orders 
soon  found  means  of  relieving  themselves  from  the  severity  of  this 
discipline,  and  of  applying  it  to  subjugate  the  inferior  orders.  The 
practical  effect  of  this  peculiar  discipline,  which,  according  to  Planck, 
began  in  the  fourth  century,  was  to  exalt  the  office  of  the  bishop, 
and  often  to  subject  the  other  orders  of  the  clergy  to  a  humiliating 
degradation  according  to  his  whim  or  caprice.  It  was  a  crafty 
policy  Avhich  completed  the  subjection  of  the  clergy  to  the  bishop. 

The  offences  for  which  a  clergyman  was  liable  to  censure  or  pun- 
ishment were  very  numerous,  and  continually  increased  as  the  spirit 
of  ancient  Christianity  degenerated  and  gave  place  to  the  ostenta- 
tious formalities  of  later  times.  They  may,  however,  be  comprised 
under  the  following  classes :  apostasy,  heresy,  simony,  neglect  of 
duty  of  any  kind,  especially  departure  from  the  prescribed  forms 
of  worship  ;  and  open  immorality. 

Many  of  these  offences  evidently  related  to  the  peculiar  trials  to 
which  the  primitive  Christians  were  subject,  and  to  the  heresies  and 
defections  which  were  consequent  upon  them.  Offences  of  this  cha- 
racter were  visited  with  peculiar  severity  upon  the  clergy. 

The  punishments  inflicted  upon  offending  members  of  the  clerical 
body  from  the  fourth  to  the  seventh  or  eighth  centurieSj  may  be  re- 


SEC.  IX.]  PUNISHMENT   OP   DELINQUENT   CLEKGT.  473 


duced  to  the  following  heads  :  suspension,  degradation,  exclusion 
from  the  communion,  imprisonment,  corporal  punishmentj  and  ex- 
communication. 

1.  Suspension. — This  related  either  to  the  salary  of  the  clergy- 
man or  to  his  office.  Both  methods  of  punishment  were  practised 
by  the  ancient  church.  An  instance  is  related  in  the  writings  of 
Cyprian  of  some  whose  monthly  wages  were  suspended,  while  they 
were  allowed  to  continue  in  the  discharge  of  their  office. 

Suspension  from  office  was  varied  according  to  circumstances. 
At  one  time  the  offender  was  suspended  from  the  performance  of 
the  active  duties  of  his  office,  while  he  still  retained  his  clerical  rank 
with  his  brethren  in  the  ministry.^  Decrees  to  this  effect  were 
ordained  by  the  Councils  of  Nice,  Ephesus,  and  Agde,  in  the 
fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  centuries.  At  another,  he  was  forbidden  to 
perform  some  of  the  duties  of  his  office,  while  he  continued  in  the 
discharge  of  others ;  and  again,  he  was  debarred  the  performance 
of  all  ministerial  duties  for  a  definite  period  of  time. 

2.  Degradation. — This  punishment  consisted,  as  its  name  im- 
plies, in  removing  the  offender  from  a  higher  to  a  lower  grade  of 
office.  This  sentence  of  degradation  appears  to  have  been  final 
and  irrevocable.^  Bishops  were  in  this  manner  transferred  from  a 
larger  to  a  smaller  or  less  important  diocese.^  Presbyters  were 
degraded  to  the  order  of  deacons ;  and  deacons  to  that  of  subdea- 
cons.  This  species  of  punishment  was  also  inflicted  upon  bishops 
in  Africa  by  superseding  them  in  their  expected  succession  to  the 
office  of  archbishop  or  metropolitan.^ 

3.  Exclusion  from  the  communion.  —  Of  this  there  were  two 
kinds,  which  were  denominated  communio  peregrina,  and  com- 
munio  laica.  The  former  has  sometimes  been  confounded  with 
the  latter,  or  it  has  been  supposed  to  denote  a  communion  in  one 
kind,  or  communion  only  at  the  point  of  death,  which,  in  the 
Romish  church,  was  regarded  as  a  kind  of  passport  to  the  future 
world.  The  most  probable  explanation  of  this  point,  confessedly 
obscure,  is,  that  the  term  communion  implied  not  only  a  participa- 
tion of  the  eucharist,  but  in  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  a  mem- 
ber'of  the  church.  Travellers  and  strangers,  unless  they  had 
testimonials  certifying  to  their  regular  standing  in  the  church, 
were  presumed  to  be  under  censure,  and  were  not  allowed  the 
privileges  of  full  communion,  though  permitted  to  receive,  if  need 
be,  a  maintenance  from  the  funds  of  the  church.  An  instance  is 
related  of  Chrysostom,  who  on  a  certain  occasion  hospitably  enter- 


474  .     CHURCH  DISCIPLINE  AND  PENANCE.         [CHAP.  XXII. 

tained  certain  Egyptian  monks  who  had  fled  from  persecution  to 
him  at  Constantinople ;  but  they  were  not  allowed  to  partake  of 
the  eucharist  until  it  had  been  fully  ascertained  that  no  just  accu- 
sation could  be  brought  against  them.  Clergymen  under  censure 
were  sometimes  treated  in  this  way  in  their  own  communion.  They 
were  placed  in  the  same  relations  as  strangers,  which  was  denoted 
by  the  phrase  communio  peregrina.^  Under  these  circumstances 
they  could  neither  officiate  nor  be  present  at  the  celebration  of  the 
Lord's  supper,  until  they  had  given  the  prescribed  satisfaction. 

The  act  of  communion  was  indeed  the  highest  privilege  of  a  lay- 
man ;  but  it  was  a  severe  rebuke  to  one  who  had  been  elevated  to 
the  rank  of  the  clergy  to  be  again  degraded  to  the  condition  of  a 
layman,  and  to  be  required  to  communicate  as  a  layman  at  the 
table  of  the  Lord.  This  was  a  kind  of  mitigated  excommunication. 
He  was  excluded  from  the  body  of  the  clergy  and  reduced  to  the 
condition  of  a  humble  individual.  Li  this  situation  he  was  required 
to  perform  certain  services  for  that  same  body  from  which  he  had 
been  expelled.  This  was  styled  communio  laica,  and  the  subject 
of  this  penalty  was  said  to  be  delivered  over  to  the  secular  arm, 
curiae  tradi,  in  the  phraseology  of  the  ancient  canonists. 

4.  Imprisonyjient. — The  custom  of  confining  delinquent  clergy- 
men in  monasteries  appears  to  have  taken  its  rise  in  the  fourth  and 
fifth  centuries.  At  a  later  period  it  became  a  frequent  mode  of 
punishment. 

5.  Corporal  punishment. — This  kind  of  punishment,  together 
with  the  last-mentioned,  was  inflicted  only  on  clergy  of  the  in- 
ferior orders."  This  mode  of  punishment  was  by  no  means  uncom- 
mon in  the  time  of  Augustin.  A  presbyter,  who  had  given  false 
witness,  could  first  be  deposed  from  his  office ;  and  then,  as  a  lay- 
man, might  be  subjected  to  corporal  punishment.  Connected  with 
the  churches  in  large  cities,  such  as  Constantinople,  there  were 
houses  of  correction,  decanica,  for  administering  the  correction  of 
imprisonment  and  of  corporal  punishment. 

6.  Excommunication. — This  was  the  last  and  highest  form  of  ec- 
clesiastical censure.  It  cut  off  all  hope  on  the  part  of  the  offender 
from  ever  being  again  reinstated  in  the  ministry,  even  if  he  were  re- 
stored to  the  fellowship  of  the  churches.  None  who  had  at  any  time 
been  exposed  to  public  censure,  was  restored  again  to  his  ofiice.^ 

The  above  penalties  appear  to  have  been  inflicted  by  authority 
of  ecclesiastical  councils  alone,  or  at  least  to  have  been  prescribed 
by  them. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

OF  COUNCILS. 
§  1.    THE   ORIGIN   OF   COUNCILS. 

The  apostolic  churches  were  entirely  independent  of  each  other. 
Each  individual  church  assumed  the  form  of  a  little  distinct  repub- 
lic or  commonwealth  ;  and,  with  regard  to  its  internal  concerns,  was 
entirely  regulated  by  a  code  of  laws  which  may  indeed  have  been 
derived  from  the  apostles,  but  were  received  and  sanctioned  by  the 
people  constituting  the  church.  But  in  the  second  century  this 
primitive  liberty  and  independence  began  to  be  relinquished  and 
merged  in  a  confederation  of  the  churches  of  a  province  or  country 
into  a  larger  association,  like  the  confederated  republic  of  these 
United  States,  conventions  being  annually  held  by  delegates  from 
the  several  churches  to  consider  and  provide  for  the  common  inte- 
rest and  welfare  of  the  whole.  Whoever  may  have  been  the  au- 
thors of  this  original  confederation,  it  certainly  had  its  origin  in 
Greece.  During  the  second  century  it  extended  into  the  con- 
fines of  several  of  the  Grecian  states. 

In  process  of  time  other  provinces  followed  the  example  of 
Greece,  until  this  form  of  government  became  general  throughout 
the  church.  The  conventions  or  assemblies  held  by  delegates  from 
the  associated  churches,  to  consult  for  the  common  welfare  of  the 
whole,  were  called  by  the  Greeks  synods,  and  the  Latins,  councils. 
The  laws  enacted  by  the  deputies  from  the  different  churches  in 
mutual  council  were  called  in  the  Greek  language  canons,  which 
term  was*  also  adopted  into  the  Latin  language,  and  became  the 
authorized  nomenclature  of  the  churches. 

This  view  of  the  origin  of  councils  is  particularly  confirmed  by  a 
passage  from  Tertullian  on  the  observance  of  fasts  appointed  by 
authority  of  the  bishops,  winch  fasts  were  observed  by  the  Mon- 
tanists,  but  to  which  other  Christians  objected.  Tertullian  is  de- 
fending the  usage  of  the  Montanists,  in  doing  which  he  specifies  the 

475 


476  COUNCILS.  [chap.  XXIII. 

powers  of  a  bishop  at  this  time,  and  asserts  his  right,  on  his  own 
authority,  to  appoint  fasts,  as  being  a  part  of  the  religious  services 
which  were,  bj  virtue  of  his  office,  under  his  direction.  On  certain 
emergencies  he  might  also  require  special  contributions  from  the 
churches,  such  as  in  those  times  of  peril  and  persecution  were  fre- 
quently arising,  and  which  could  not  be  provided  for  by  the  ordi- 
nary and  stated  charities  of  the  church.  To  such  calls  by  their 
bishop,  he  says,  the  churches  were  accustomed  promptly  to  re- 
spond. 

In  addition  to  all  this,  he  urges  that  councils  of  the  churches  are 
accustomed  to  be  held  in  Greece  for  consultation  upon  the  common 
interests  of  the  churches,  and  that  the  enactments  of  these  councils 
are  treated  with  the  greatest  respect,  notwithstanding  they  were  of 
merely  human  origin  and  authority.* 

From  this  accidental  mention  of  the  original  formation  of  coun- 
cils, several  important  conclusions  may  be  derived : 

1.  They  were  appointed  by  merely  human  authority,  and  were 
regarded  as  being  instituted  neither  by  Christ  nor  by  his  apostles. 

2.  That  at  the  close  of  the  second  century  these  councils  were 
held  neither  in  Assyria,  nor  in  Egypt,  nor  in  Rome,  nor  even  in 
the  Eastern  churches  generally,  but  solely  in  Greece  and  Asia 
Minor :  per  Grcecias,  that  is  in  nations  bearing  the  name  of  Greeks. 

3.  These  councils  had  their  origin  in  Greece,  where  the  mutual 
relations  and  dependence  of  the  Grecian  republics  evidently  sug- 
gested the  idea  of  a  confederation  of  the  churches.  Indeed,  it 
was  little  else  than  a  modification  of  the  celebrated  Amphictyonic 
council,  which  was  held  "  for  the  sole  purpose  of  promoting  harmony 
and  celebrating  common  festivals ;  not  from  motives  of  foreign 
policy  or  party  views."  ^  This  was  called  the  common  council  of 
the  Greeks,  to  xolvov  toiv  'E/l/lrivur  Gvvih^tov.  It  was  composed 
principally  of  deputies  from  the  several  states,  who  met,  like  the 
ecclesiastical  councils,  in  the  spring  and  autumn  of  each  year,  for 
mutual  counsultation. 


*  Aguntur  praeter  ea  per  Graecias  ilia  certis  in  locis  concilia  ex  universis  ec- 
clesiis,  per  quae  et  altiora  quseque  in  commune  tractantur  et  ipsa  representatio 
totius  nominis  Christian!  magna  celebratione  veneratur.  Et  lioc  quam  dignum 
fide  auspicante  congregari  undique  ad  Christum?  Vide  quam  bonum  et  jucundum 
habitare  fratres  iu  unum !  Hoc  tu  psallere  non  facile  nosti,  nisi  quo  tempore  cum 
compluribus  cocnas.  Conventus  autem  isti  stationibus  prius  et  jejunationibus 
operari,  dolere  cum  dolentibus  et  ita  demum  congaudere  gaudentibus  norunt. — 
De  JejuniU,  c.  xiii. 


SEC.  I.]  ORIGIN    OF    COUNCILS.  477 

4.  "At  this  time,  certain  established  places,  or  certain  cities,  were 
already  assigned  for  these  councils  of  the  Greeks,  out  of  which  they 
could  not  be  held. 

5.  "  In  these  councils,  not  business  of  minor  importance,  con- 
cerning which  each  church  determined  according  to  their  own  dis- 
cretion, but  public  business,  greater  or  more  important  concerns, 
were  treated  of,  &c. 

6.  "  The  bishops  in  these  councils  represented  their  churches;  that 
is,  they  decreed  and  enacted,  not  in  their  own  private  name,  but  in 
the  name  of  the  churches  whose  delegates  they  were.  '  There  is  a 
representation  of  the  whole  Christian  name  celebrated.'  Bepre- 
sentatio  totius  noviinis  Christiayii  celehratur.  The  whole  Christian 
name  here  is  evidently  the  whole  church  which  bears  the  name  of 
Christ.  Therefore,  bishops  were  supposed  to  represent  the  whole 
church,  united  together  by  covenant,  and  each  one  of  them  the 
church  which  he  was  placed  over ;  whence  arose  the  respect  of 
which  councils  were  thought  worthy.  The  opinion,  therefore,  had 
not  yet  arisen  which  afterward  prevailed,  that  the  bishops,  collected 
in  councils,  judged  and  sanctioned  in  the  place  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
were  legislators  and  judges  of  the  Christian  people  by  the  very 
nature  of  their  office." 

The  information  thus  afforded  by  Tertullian  respecting  the  origin 
of  councils  is  supported  by  collateral  history.  No  notice  whatever 
is  given  of  any  earlier  councils ;  but  from  Eusebius  we  learn  that, 
about  the  close  of  the  second  century,  the  practice  of  holding  such 
councils  passed  into  Palestine  and  Syria. ^ 

About  the  middle  of  the  third  century,  Firmilian,  bishop  of  Cse- 
sarea,  wrote  to  Cyprian  an  epistle  in  which  he  took  occasion  to 
say,  that  "  the  bishop  and  elders  annually  assembled  to  deliberate 
upon  ecclesiastical  matters  committed  to  their  charge,  that  the  most 
important  of  these  might  be  adjusted  by  mutual  consultation,"^ 
which  confirms  the  account  of  Tertullian  relative  to  this  subject. 

An  ecclesiastical  council  may  be  defined  to  be  a  synod,  composed 
of  a  number  of  representatives  from  several  independent  Christian 
communities,  convened  together  to  deliberate  and  decide  upon  mat- 
ters relating  to  the  welfare  of  the  church. 

These  councils  were  popular  deliberative  assemblies,  composed  of 
representatives  of  independent  churches  from  which  they  wei'e  sent.* 
In  such  communities,  where  all  had  severally  a  right  to  bear  a 
part  in  such  deliberations,  the  council  must  of  necessity  have  been 
composed  of  representatives  from   each.     It  is  impossible  that  all 


478  couxciLS.  [chap,  xxiii. 


could  have  convened  collectively  in  council.  But  as  the  repre- 
sentatives of  their  respective  churches,  the  bishops  and  presbyters 
would  of  course  be  chiefly  selected.  In  this  manner,  what  was  at 
first  done  by  common  consent  would  also  in  time  become  an  esta- 
blished usage  and  a  right  confirmed  by  common  consent.  Such 
being  the  state  of  things,  the  crafty  bishops  would  easily  have  seen 
that,  by  constant  and  uniform  attendance  in  council,  they  acquired 
increasing  consideration  and  respect.  Such  councils  being  fre- 
quently held,  the  primate,  or  metropolitan  bishop,  would  of  course 
have  the  prerogative  of  convening  and  presiding  over  them. 

The  political  form  of  government  which  prevailed  in  the  Grecian 
states,  no  doubt  had  an  influence  in  shaping  the  administration  of 
their  ecclesiastical  aff"airs.  The  famous  Council  of  the  Amphic- 
tyons  Avere  accustomed  to  assemble  semiannually  from  all  the  Gre- 
cian states.  Something  like  this,  we  may  easily  suppose,  would 
have  obtained  in  the  administration  of  their  church  government. 
In  the  absence  of  direct  historical  testimony  to  this  effect,  it  is  at 
least  remarkable  that  both  the  Council  of  Nice,  c.  5,  and  the  Apos- 
tolical Canons,  c.  38,  direct  that  ecclesiastical  councils  be  held 
semiannually,  and  at  the  same  seasons  of  the  year  when  the  Am- 
phictyonic  council  were  wont  to  convene.  The  Council  of  Nice 
only  conformed  to  the  established  usage  in  settling  upon  these 
stated  seasons  for  the  convening  of  their  body.  This  circumstance 
shows,  beyond  doubt,  the  influence  of  political  institutions  in  eccle- 
siastical afl'airs,  which  is  confirmed  by  the  letter  of  Firmilian. 

These  councils  of  the  Grecian  states  must,  for  a  considerable 
length  of  time,  have  been  circumscribed  within  very  narrow  limits. 
But  toward  the  beginning  of  the  third  century  they  began  to  be 
better  known.  The  controversy  between  the  Eastern  and  Western 
church  relating  to  Easter,  threw  the  whole  Christian  world,  with 
the  exception,  perhaps,  of  Africa,  into  commotion,  and  brought 
them  together  in  opposing  councils.  Such  councils  were  now  held 
at  Csesarca,  or  MWa,,  and  at  Rome ;  in  Pontus  and  France ;  in 
proconsular  Asia,  in  Mesopotamia,  and  probably  in  Achaia.  Within 
the  third  century,  councils  began  also  to  be  held  in  Africa ;  and 
although  they  do  not  seem  to  have  acquired  so  regular  a  form  as 
among  the  Greeks,  yet  their  number  was  greater  in  this  country 
than  in  any  other,  especially  during  the  latter  half  of  the  century. 
The  controversy  concerning  the  baptism  of  heretics  and  the  Nova- 
tian  schism  furnished  them  with  abundant  matter  for  discussion. 
Cyprian  did  not  neglect  to  avail  himself  of  means  so  well  adapted 


SEC.  II.]  EXTENT    OF   THEIR    JURISDICTION.  479 

to  enhance  clerical  influence  and  poAver,  to  which  he  was  so  much 
inclined.  In  Africa,  therefore,  they  soon  became  frequent ;  and 
their  members  gradually  losing  sight  of  the  representation  of  their 
churches,  considered  themselves  as  acting  by  virtue  of  their  offices. 
And  as  the  presiding  presbyters  had  become  bishops  of  the  presbyters, 
who  constituted  the  presbyteries  of  the  respective  congregations,  so 
the  metropolitans  soon  became  moderators  of  the  provincial  synods ; 
and  the  patriarchs,  of  general  councils.  That  of  Carthage,  in  the 
reign  of  Decius,  was  convened  by  Cyprian,  A.  D.  258,  to  consult  on 
the  propriety  of  rebaptizing  those  who  had  been  baptized  by  heretics. 
There  were  eighty-four  members,  Avho  all  gave  their  own,  and  some- 
times also  the  votes  of  others  as  proxies,  and  the  details  evince  that 
they  were  considered  the  representatives  of  particular  churches 
there  named.  Cyprian,  when  opening  the  business,  described  the 
assembly  as  deliberative  only,  and  not  as  designed  to  pass  a  cen- 
sure upon  any  individual.  The  fifth  speaker  observed,  that  all  who 
came  to  his  church  from  heretics  he  baptized,  "  and  those  from  their 
clergy  he  placed  among  the  laity."  It  has  appeared  from  the  works 
of  Cyprian,  that  episcopacy  was  then  parochial ;  consequently,  the 
presbyters  of  a  single  church  must  have  been  the  clergy  here  named. 
But  without  pursuing  the  history  of  these  councils  further,  we 
will  confine  our  attention  to  the  following  inquiries  relating  to 
them: — 1.  What  was  the  extent  of  their  jurisdiction?  2.  What 
was  their  peculiar  organization  ?  3.  Who  were  appropriately  the 
constituent  members  of  them  ? 

§  2.    OF   THE   EXTENT   OF   THEIR   JURISDICTION. 

At  first  they  were,  without  doubt,  provincial  synods.  This  con- 
clusion is  fully  implied  from  the  fact  that  nothing  is  said  relating 
to  this  subject.  Had  their  jurisdiction  extended  beyond  the  limits 
of  their  own  provinces,  it  must  have  been  mentioned.  The  synods 
of  Asia  Minor  must  be  understood,  therefore,  to  have  been  restricted 
to  their  own  provincial  limits ;  such  as  that  of  Hierapolis  in  Phrygia, 
which  was  chiefly  inhabited  by  the  Montanists.  Those  of  Anchi- 
olus  were  probably  limited  in  their  jurisdiction  to  Thrace ;  but  if 
not,  they  were  only  an  exception  to  the  prevailing  custom.  The 
councils  which  were  held  in  many  places  respecting  the  controversy 
on  the  subject  of  Easter,  were  assuredly  provincial  synods.  Such 
were  also  the  synods  which  were  held  in  Arabia  in  the  third  cen- 
tury, A.  D.  243  and  246.     The  same  is  true  also  of  the  Synod  of 


480  COUNCILS.  [chap,  xxiii. 


Rome  lield  by  Cornelius  in  tbe  year  251;  and  of  the  Synod  of 
Antioch,  A.  D.  252,  against  the  Novatians,  and  again  at  Rome,  A.  D. 
260.  Three  provincial  synods  were  also  held  at  Antioch,  from  the 
vear  264  to  269,  against  Paul  of  Samosata.  Still,  it  is  not  to  be 
presumed  that  all  these  were  organized  on  precisely  the  same  prin- 
ciples ;  the  clergy  from  neighbouring  provinces  may  have  had  a 
seat  and  a  voice  in  some  of  them.  Men  of  great  weight  of  cha- 
racter, and  whose  counsels  were  highly  respected,  were  particularly 
desired  to  attend  from  other  places,  and  the  convening  of  the  coun- 
cil was  at  times  delayed,  in  order  to  secure  their  attendance. 
Origen,  in  this  capacity,  though  but  a  presbyter,  attended  the 
council  in  Arabia;  and,  by  his  learning  and  talents,  settled  the 
point  in  dispute  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  council.  The  bishops  of 
Antioch  also  were  so  much  embarrassed  by  the  learning  of  Paul  of 
Samosata,  whom  they  would  convict  of  heresy,  that  they  invited  for 
their  aid  the  attendance  of  certain  bishops  from  the  Grecian  pro- 
vinces in  Asia,  including  Palestine  and  Egypt.  The  metropolitan 
of  Alexandria  excused  himself  by  reason  of  his  great  age ;  ^  but 
many  bishops  from  those  provinces  attended  the  council — Firmilian 
from  Cappadocia,  Gregory  and  Athenodorus  from  Pontus,  Helenus 
of  Tarsus,  Nicomas  of  Iconium ;  and  the  archbishops  Hymenseus 
of  Jerusalem,  and  Theotecnus  of  Csesarea,  together  with  the  bishop 
Maximus  from  Arabia.  Paul,  however,  by  his  talents  withstood 
them  all ;  and  the  council  dispersed  without  gaining  any  advantage 
over  him.^  Foreigners,  in  like  manner,  attended  both  the  second 
and  third  councils  Avhich  were  held  for  the  same  purpose.  In  the 
last  council,  a  jyre^hyter^  Malchion,  bore  a  conspicuous  part,  and 
was  the  principal  agent  in  putting  an  end  to  the  discussion. 

About  the  same  period  of  time  other  councils  were  held,  which 
were  sometimes  more  and  at  others  less  than  provincial  synods. 
The  Council  of  Iconium,  a.  d.  235,  consisted  of  bishops  from  Phry- 
gia,  Galatia,  Cilicia,  and  other  neighbouring  provinces.  Another 
council  was  also  held  in  opposition  to  this  in  a  neighboiu'ing  town, 
Synada,  of  which  we  know  only  that  it  had  little  or  no  influence 
asrainst  the  first  at  Iconium.  But  this  is  suflBcient  to  show  that  no 
established  system  of  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  at  this  time  pre- 
vailed, even  in  the  states  of  Greece,  where  such  councils  were  first 
held. 

In  Africa,  there  was  much  less  of  system  in  these  matters  than 
in  the  Grecian  states.  Cyprian  informs  us  that  he  thought  it  ne- 
cessary to  convene  a  council  of  many  of  the  clergy,  to  deliberate 


SEC.  III.]  PRESIDENT    OF    THE    COUNCILS.  481 

respecting  the  common  good,  in  which  council  many  topics  were 
proposed  and  discussed.  But  he  adds,  "  I  am  aware  that  some  will 
never  change  their  minds,  nor  give  over  a  cherished  purpose ;  but 
however  harmonious  their  colleagues  may  be,  they  will  persist  in 
the  support  of  their  own  peculiar  views.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, it  is  not  my  business  to  attempt,  by  constraint,  to  give  laws 
to  any  one;  but,  in  the  administration  of  the  f'^urch,  to  leave 
every  one  to  the  freedom  of  his  own  choice,  who  must  answer  unto 
God  for  his  conduct."^ 

The  first  ecclesiastical  Council  of  Africa  cannot  be  said  to  have 
been  either  provincial  or  general.  Under  Galba  this  country  had 
been  divided  into  three  provinces.  Constantino  divided  it  into  six. 
And  yet  it  appears  from  Cyprian,*  that  the  former  division  of  Galba 
was  still  observed  in  the  organization  of  the  council,  and  that  one 
even  of  these  provinces  was  not  represented ;  but  for  what  reason 
does  not  appear.  All,  however,  by  common  consent  appear  to  have 
accorded  to  Cyprian,  at  Carthage,  the  right  of  convening  a  general 
council  at  his  pleasure.  This  is  the  more  probable  from  the  fact, 
that  in  the  year  255,  several  bishops,  who  apparently  composed  a 
provincial  synod,  appealed  to  him  for  the  settlement  of  certain 
subjects  of  discussion  among  them. 

'  The  other  councils  in  Africa  were,  for  the  most  part,  provincial 
in  their  character.  Such  was  the  council  which  was  held  before 
the  time  of  Cyprian,  the  date  of  which  is  not  distinctly  known.  So 
also  were  the  councils  held  by  Cyprian  in  the  years  249,  251,  252, 
255,  and  256. 

From  all  which  it  appears  that  most  of  the  councils  which  were 
held  in  Africa  were  limited  in  their  jurisdiction,  and  provincial  in 
their  character.  Some,  however,  were  of  a  more  general  character. 
At  the  end  of  the  fourth  century,  such  councils  began  to  be  held, 
which  took  the  name  of  2)lenary  councils.  The  councils  generally 
of  every  country,  like  those  of  Greece  and  Africa,  were  provincial, 
and  limited  in  their  jurisdiction. 

§  3.    OF    THE    PRESIDENT    OF    THE    COUNCILS. 

In  general,  the  highest  ecclesiastic  within  the  province,  whether 
bishop,  metropolitan,  or  patriarch,  presided  in  these  councils.  The 
popular  character  of  these  assemblies  Avould  indeed  have  permitted 
any  one  to  be  elevated  to  the  office  of  moderator.  But  the  grada- 
tions of  the  priesthood  and  the  jealousy  of  the  several  orders  were 

31 


482  COUNCILS.  [chap.  XXIII. 

such  that  none  but  he  that  was  highest  in  official  rank  could  have 
been  placed  in  the  chair  to  the  mutual  satisfaction  of  all  classes. 
The  presbyters  would  have  claimed  precedence  of  the  deacons,  the 
bishops  of  the  presbyters ;  and  so  on,  until  none  should  be  found 
to  dispute  the  claim  with  the  higest  dignitary  of  the  assembly.  The 
greatest  number  of  the  members  of  the  council  would  also  come 
from  the  diocese  of  the  highest  functionary,  which  circumstance 
would  give  him  the  strongest  party  in  the  election.  And  there 
are  many  other  ways  in  which  this  seat  might  have  been  secured 
to  him. 

As  a  natural  consequence  of  the  privilege  attached  to  the  office 
of  president,  and  especially  to  the  right  of  proposing  or  bringing 
forward  the  questions  to  be  discussed,  the  views  and  opinions  of 
the  metropolitan  obtained  a  predominance  in  the  council ;  so  that 
at  length  provincial  synods  became  the  mere  organs  of  this  digni- 
tary. Bishops  and  presbyters  were  too  dependant  on  him  to  act 
with  due  independence.  Councils  were  of  consequence  the  great 
means  of  advancing  the  hierarchy. 

The  results  or  decrees  of  the  councils  were  usually  published  in 
the  name  of  the  moderator.  There  are  some  instances  in  which 
the  names  of  the  attending  bishops  accompany  the  decree.  Such, 
however,  was  not  the  usual  custom.  The  metropolitans  were  jeal- 
ous of  their  rights,  and  strove  earnestly  for  a  controlling  influence 
in  the  councils.  For  the  same  reason  they  insisted  that  the  result 
should  be  published  under  the  sanction  of  their  authority,  and  in 
their  name.  They  usually  had  the  address  to  cause  their  own 
opinions  to  prevail ;  and  few  had  the  independence  to  dispute  them. 
Thus  the  metropolitan  of  Alexandria  had  the  influence  to  cause 
his  synod  to  banish  Origen,  a.  d.  230.  Cornelius  effected  the 
excommunication  of  three  bishops  at  Rome,  A.  D.  251,  in  the  same 
arbitrary  manner.  By  such  strides  did  the  principal  ecclesiastics 
advance  their  spiritual  hierarchy ;  and  so  tamely  did  the  subordi- 
nate members  of  their  councils  allow  the  most  esteemed  men  in 
the  church  to  suffer  unjustly  under  this  spiritual  despotism !  The 
councils  became  merely  the  organ  of  the  metropolitan  to  execute 
his  arbitrary  decrees. 

§  4.    OF    THE    CONSTITUENT    MEMBERS    OF    COUNCILS. 

The  bishops  early  perceived  that  those  councils  would  be  one 
of  the  most  efficient  means  of  advancing  the  authority  of  the 
bishops,  and  of  finally  establishing  their  supremacy.     It  was  ac- 


t 

SEC.  IV.]  CONSTITUENT   MEMBERS   OF   COUNCILS.  483 


cordingly  their  policy  to  concentrate  in  themselves  the  authority 
of  synodical  assemblies  and  general  councils,  and  to  exclude,  not 
only  the  laity,  but  the  deacons  and  presbyters.  This  policy 
finally  prevailed,  to  the  exclusion  both  of  the  laity  and  of  the  infe- 
rior orders  of  the  clergy  from  all  participation  in  the  delibera- 
tions and  decrees  of  councils,  whether  provincial  or  general.  But 
the  earliest  councils  were  of  a  more  popular  character,  in  which 
presbyters,  deacons,  and  laymen  had  a  seat  and  an  authoritative 
vote  in  common  with  bishops. 

1.  The  laity  were  originally  constituent  members  of  ecclesias- 
tical councils. — As  representatives  of  the  churches  to  which  they 
belonged,  they  must  be  presumed  to  have  a  place  in  deliberative 
assemblies  convened  to  consult  and  legislate  on  the  interests  of  the 
churches.  The  right  is  in  harmony  both  with  the  popular  charac- 
ter of  the  primitive  constitution  of  the  church,  and  of  the  Amphic- 
tyonic  councils  of  Greece,  which  were  the  model  of  the  first 
ecclesiastical  synods. 

This  presumptive  argument  is  confirmed  by  historical  evidence. 
About  the  middle  of  the  third  century,  a  council  was  held  in  Car- 
thage respecting  the  baptism  of  heretics,  in  which  bishops  were 
convened  from  the  neighbouring  provinces  of  Africa,  Numidia,  and 
Mauritania,  together  with  presbyters  and  deacons,  and  also  a 
great  multitude  of  the  laity.* 

In  the  Council  of  Elvira,  besides  the  bishops,  twenty-six  pres- 
byters, and  the  deacons  were  present  with  the  greater  part  of 
the  people. t  Eusebius  relates  that  the  faithful,  ol  TtiCToi,  held 
in  Asia  Minor  frequent  councils  respecting  the  errors  of  Mon- 
tanus,  and,  having  examined  these  novel  doctrines,  pronounced 
them  vain,  rejected  them  as  heresy,  and  expelled  and  prohibited 
from  communion  with  the  church  those  who  held  them.^  "  The 
faithful"  is  the  common  designation  of  the  people  of  the  church 
collectively,  and,  in  the  opinion  of  Bohmer,  and  many  others, 
indicates  the  action  of  the  laity  in  these  deliberations  and  deci- 
sions. 

Bishops,  presbyters,  deacons,  and  the  churches  of  Cfod  united 
in  the  council  which  condemned  Paul  of  Samosata.^  The  term 
churches,  contradistinguished  from  the  officers  and  pastors  of  the 
church,  of  necessity  denotes  the  laity. 


*  Adstantibus  diaconibus  et  omni  plebe. — Cone.  Eliber  Praef. 
f  Cum  presbyteris  et  diacouibus,  prsesente  etiam  plebis  maxima  parte. — Ctp. 
0pp.  De  Hxret.  Baptizand.  Sent.  87. 


484  COUNCILS.  [chap,  xxiii. 


The  presence  of  the  laity  is  distinctly  mentioned  in  a  council 
held  at  Rome  respecting  those  who  under  persecution  had  lapsed 
into  idolatry.  In  a  letter  addressed  by  the  presbyters  and  dea- 
cons to  Cyprian,  they  state  that  a  council  was  convened  to  treat 
of  the  case  of  the  lapsed,  which  was  composed  of  bishops,  presby- 
ters, confessors,  and  the  laity  who  remained  faithful  to  their 
vows.  Such,  in  the  phraseology  of  the  times,  were  denominated 
stantes  laid.* 

Even  the  general  Council  of  Nice,  the  most  famous  on  record, 
was  attended  by  laymen.  After  stating  that  "the  most  eminent 
of  the  ministers  of  God  in  all  the  churches  who  have  filled  Europe, 
Africa,  and  Asia,  were  convened,"  the  histoi'ian  adds,  "many  of 
the  laity  were  also  present  who  were  practised  in  the  art  of  rea- 
soning, and  each  prepared  to  advocate  the  cause  of  his  own  party .^ 

The  fourth  Council  of  Toledo,  a.  d.  633,  minutely  details  the 
manner  of  convening  a  council  and  opening  its  debates.  Among 
the  constituent  members  it  distinctly  specifies  the  laity,  in  connec- 
tion with  bishops,  presbyters,  and  deacons.  It  is  added  in  the 
note  below,  as  conclusive  of  the  right  of  the  laity  to  seat  and  a 
vote  in  the  councils  of  the  church. f 

Rheinwald  contends  that  the  laity  had  a  right  to  vote  in  the  early 
councils,  and  appeals  to  Cyprian,  who  says  that  many  bishops 
were  assembled  in  council  from  the  provinces  of  Africa,  Numidia, 
and  Mauritania,  with  the  presbyters  and  deacons,  a  great  part  of  the 


*  Quanquam  nobis  in  tam  ingenti  negotio  placeat,  quod  et  tu  ipse  tractasti  prius, 
ecclesioe  parem  sustinendam,  deinde  sic  collatione  consiliorum  cum  episcopis 
presbj-teris,  diaconis,  confessoribus,  pariter  ac  stantibus  laicis  facta,  lapsorum 
tractare  rationem. — Cyp.  Epist.  31. 

I  Hora  itaque  diei  prima  ante  solis  ortum  ejiciantur  omnes  ab  ecclesia,  obsera- 
tisque  foribus  cunctis  ad  unam  januam,  per  quam  sacerdotes  ingredi  oportet, 
ostiarii  stent;  et  convenientes  omnes  episcopi  pariter  introeant  et  secundum  ordi- 
nationis  suae  tempus  resideant.  Post  ingressum  omnium  episcoporum  atque  con- 
sessum  vocentur  deinde  presbyteres,  quos  causa  probaverit  introire,  nullus  se 
inter  eos  ingcrat  diaconorum  ;  post  hos  ingrediantur  diacones  probabiles,  quos 
ordo  proposcerit  interesse,  et  corona  facta  de  sedibus  episcoporum  presbyteres  a 
tergo  eorum  resideant,  diacones  in  conspectu  episcoporum  stent ;  deinde  ingre- 
diantur laici,  qui  electione  concilii  interesse  meruerint;  ingrediantur  quoque  et 
notarii,  quos  ad  recitandum  vel  cxcipiendum  ordo  requirit :  et  obserentur  januse, 
sedentcsque  in  diuturno  silentio  sacerdotes  et  cor  totum  habentes  ad  deum,  dicat 
arcliidiaconus  :  Orate ;  statimque  omnes  in  terra  prostrabuntur  et  orantes  diutius 
tacite  cum  fletibus  atque  gemitibus,  unus  ex  episcopis  senioribus  surgens  ora- 
tionem  palam  fundat  ad  dominum,  cunctis  adbuc  in  terra  jacentibus.  Finita 
autem  oratione  et  responso  ab  omnibus :  Amen,  rursus  dicat  diaconus :  Erigite 
Tos ;  et  confestim  omnes  surgant  et  cum  omni  timore  Dei  et  disciplina  tam  epis- 


SEC.  IV.]  CONSTITUENT   MEMBERS    OF   COUNCILS.  485 

people  being  also  present,  (pvcesente  etiam  plebis  maxima  parte.)* 
He  also  cites  the  preface  of  the  Council  of  Illiberis,  A.  D.  305,  in 
which  the  bishops  are  said  to  have  delivered  their  sentiments 
while  the  twenty-six  presbyters  were  sitting,  and  the  deacons  and 
all  the  people  (the  laity)  standing  hy  them.  In  both  of  these  pas- 
sages the  mention  made  of  the  laity  indicates  that  they  acted  as 
members  of  the  councils.  Bohmer  also  asserts  the  right  of  the 
laity  to  vote  in  council,  and  appeals  to  the  same  passage  from 
Cyprian  in  proof.  To  which  we  may  add  the  authority  of  Valesius, 
in  his  note  upon  Euseb.  vii.  30.  In  proof  of  this  he  appeals  to  the 
acts  of  the  Council  of  Carthage,  and  to  the  Council  Illiberis. 

Du  Pin  again,  of  the  Romish  church,  fully  accedes  the  laity 

this  right.     And  Riddle,  the  learned  historian  of  Oxford,  asserts 

that  the  councils  of  the  third  century  were  "  composed  of  bishops, 

•  presbyters,  deacons,  and  laymen."     The  same  is  also  asserted  by 

Dr.  Campbell,  and  again  by  Chancellor  King. 

2.  Presbyters  and  deacons  were  members  of  the  early  councils. 
The  presence  and  action  of  both  has  been  already  mentioned  in 
the  instances  cited.  It  is  indeed  undeniable  that  presbyters  were 
not  unfrequently  the  most  influential  and  important  members  of 
these  councils.  For  evidence  we  have  only  to  refer  to  the  autho- 
rity of  Firmilian  of  Cappadocia,  in  the  middle  of  the  third  cen- 
tury, and  to  Cyprian  at  Carthage.*  The  senior es,  as  distinguished 
from  the  bishops,  proepositi,  were  presbyters. 


copi  quam  presbyteres  sedeant,  sicque  omnibus  in  suis  locis  in  silentio  conse- 
dentibus  diaconus  alba  indutus  codicem  canonum  in  medium  proferens  capitula 
de  conciliis  agendis  pronuntiet,  finitisque  titulis  metropolitanus  episcopus  con- 
cilium alloquatur  dicens :  Ecce,  sanctissimi  sacerdotes,  recitatse  sunt  ex  canoni- 
bus  priscorum  patrum  sententisB  de  concilio  celebrando ;  si  qua  igitur  quem- 
piam  vestrum  actio  commovet,  coram  suis  fratribus  proponat.  Tunc  si  aliquis 
quamcumque  querelam  qua3  contra  canones  agit  in  audientiam  sacerdotalem 
protulerit,  non  prius  ad  aliud  transeatur  capitulum,  nisi  primum  quge  proposita 
est  actio  terminetur ;  nam  et  si  presbyter  aliquis  aut  diaconis,  clericus  sive 
laicus  de  his  qui  foris  steterint,  concilium  pro  qualibet  re  credideret  appellandura, 
ecclesise  metropolitanse  archidiacono  causum  suam  intimet,  et  ille  concilio  de- 
nuntiet ;  tunc  illi  et  introeundi  et  proponendi  licentia  concedatur.  Nullus  autcni 
episcoporum  a  coetu  communi  secedat  antequam  hora,  generalis  secessionis  ad- 
veniat ;  concilium  quoque  nullus  solvere  audeat  nisi  fuerint  cuncta  determinata, 
ita  ut  quiBcumque  deliberatione  communi  finiuntur  episcoporum  singulorum  mani- 
bus  subscribantur ;  tunc  enim  deus  suorum  sacerdotum  interesse  credendus  est,  si 
tumultu  omni  abjecto  sollicite  atque  tranquille  ecclesiastica  negotia  terminentur. 
*  Necessario  apud  nos  fit,  ut  per  singulos  annos  seniores  et  prsepositi  in  unum 
conveniamus  ad  disponenda  ea  quae  curse  nostras  commissa  sunt,  ut,  si  qus« 
graviora  sint  communi  consilio  dirigantur. — Cyp.  Epist.  75. 


486  COUNCILS.  [chap,  xxiir. 

To  the  same  effect  is  also  the  instance  of  Origen  in  the  Council 
of  Arabia,  to  which  allusion  has  already  been  made,  and  of  Mal- 
chion  at  the  Councils  of  Antioch  against  Paul  of  Samosata. 

About  the  year  244,  a  council  was  convened  in  Bostra,  in 
Arabia,  on  account  of  the  heretical  notions  of  one  Beryllus,  bishop 
of  that  place.  This  council,  Origen,  although  a  foreigner  and 
only  a  presbyter  under  ecclesiastical  censure,  attended,  by  a 
special  invitation  from  the  bishops  who  composed  the  council ; 
and  such  was  his  influence  that  he  happily  succeeded  in  con- 
vincing the  bishop  of  his  error,  who  not  only  retracted  it,  but  gave 
thanks  in  writing  to  the  learned  stranger  who  had  led  him  back 
to  the  truth.  On  a  subsequent  occasion,  Origen  was  again  called 
to  attend  a  council  in  Arabia,  over  which  he  actually  presided  as 
moderator^  in  the  presence  of  fourteen  bishops.^ 

By  far  the  most  famous  councils  of  the  third  century  are  the 
two  that  were  held  at  Antioch  against  Paul  of  Samosata,  A.  d.  262 
and  270.  Eusebius  specifies  several  of  the  most  eminent  bishops 
who  attended  the  first  council,  and  adds,  "  A  great  many  more 
may  be  reckoned  who,  together  with  presbyters  and  deacons,  were 
convened  at  the  same  time  upon  the  same  account.^  At  a  second 
council,  Malchion,  a  presbyter,  'most  especially  confuted  and 
convinced  him.'  And  moreover,  for  his  surpassing  sincerity 
in  the  faith  of  Christ,  he  was  honoured  with  a  presbytership 
of  the  church  there."''  The  result  of  this  council  is  published 
under  the  signature  of  sixteen  persons,  among  whom  Malchion, 
the  presbyter,  is  particularly  mentioned.  These,  together  with  all 
who  were  present  from  the  neighbouring  cities  and  villages — 
bishops,  presbyters,  and  deacons — all  concur  in  giving  to  the  world 
their  united  decision.  If  this  be  not  a  "council  proper,"  pray 
Avhat  is  ?  It  was  a  council  duly  convened,  and  attended  by 
almost  an  "infinite  number  of  bishops,"  episcopi  numero  prope 
injiniti.  At  the  first  council  the  attendance  of  bishops  was  invited 
from  Cappadocia,  from  Pontus,  from  Iconium,  from  Jerusalem,  from 
Arabia,  and  from  Egypt.  Hymenacus,  from  Jerusalem,  presided 
at  the  second,  and  it  is  fairly  to  be  presumed  that,  from  this  almost 
infinite  number,  many  came  from  countries  even  more  remote  than 
in  the  first  council.  And  yet  Malchion,  a  presbyter,  was  the  most 
influential  member  of  that  council.  His  name  appears  with  that 
of  the  bishops  in  their  public  manifesto  ;  and  other  presbyters  and 
deacons  united  in  making  up  the  result  of  the  council.  Eirmilian, 
the  president  of  the  first  council,  says  that  the  bishops  and  pres- 
byters (for  so  we  must  understand  him  by  his  seniores  et  proppositi) 


SEC.  IV.]  CONSTITUENT    MEMBERS    OF    COUNCILS.  487 

annually  assembled  to  deliberate  upon  ecclesiastical  matters  com- 
mitted to  their  charge,  that  the  most  important  of  these  might  be 
adjusted  bj  mutual  consultation.  Were  not  presbyters  then  "  re- 
coffnised  as  havino;  a  seat  and  a  vote  in  these  councils?" 

That  they  had  a  seat,  that  they  took  part  in  the  deliberations 
of  councils,  is  undeniable.  The  fourth  Council  of  Carthage,  c.  23, 
expressly  decreed  that  "  no  bishop  should  try  any  case  in  the  ab- 
sence of  his  clergy  ;  and  declared  his  decision  null  and  void  unless 
confirmed  by  them."  "^  It  is  sometimes  said  that,  though  attending 
councils,  presbyters  and  deacons  did  not  vote ;  but  what  evidence 
have  we  to  this  effect  ?  They  are  present,  and  take  a  part  in  the 
discussions,  both  of  provincial  and  oecumenical  or  general  councils. 
The  decrees  of  councils  are  given  under  their  names.  A  majority 
even  of  the  councils  both  of  Elvira  and  of  Aries  were  presbyters. 
No  decree  of  the  bishop  is  valid  without  their  sanction.  They 
even  preside  in  some  instances  over  a  council  composed  of  bishops ; 
and  yet  we  are  told  that  "  none  but  the  prelates  were  entitled  to 
vote  !"     Credat  Judseus,  Apella,  non  ego. 

Deacons  were  also  present  at  the  early  councils,  but  it  has  been 
a  matter  of  debate  whether  or  not  they  were  allowed  to  vote. 
They  were  often  employed  as  secretaries  and  assistants  of  the 
bishops,  and  may  have  served  them  in  this  capacity  in  councils. 
But  it  would  seem,  from  an  instance  recorded  by  Eusebius,  that 
both  presbyters  and  deacons  were  present  in  the  early  councils  for 
the  same  general  purpose  as  bishops.  Speaking  of  the  first  coun- 
cil of  Antioch  against  Paul,  he  says,  "We  might  reckon  up 
many  others,  (bishops,)  together  with  presbyters  and  deacons,  who 
then  assembled  in  the  said  city  concerning  this  matter ;  but  the 
aforementioned  were  the  most  celebrated  among  them."  What 
inducement  had  these  presbyters  and  deacons  to  attend  here, 
unless  permitted  to  sit  and  to  vote  in  the  council?  The  narrative 
indicates  that  they  had  the  same  motives  for  attendance  as  those 
of  the  archbishops  and  bishops.  We  may  also  appeal  to  the  Synod 
of  Rome  under  Cornelius,  A.  D.  251,  when  both  deacons  and  the 
laity  were  present. 

In  addition  to  the  authorities  of  Siegel,  Rheinwald,  and  Boh- 
mer,  we  may  adduce  the  opinions  of  Planck,  who  asserts  unquali- 
fiedly that  both  presbyters  and  deacons  took  part  in  the  provincial 
synods,  and  voted  as  members  of  the  same.''  D.  W.  L.  C.  Ziegler 
also  asserts  that  there  is  the  most  undeniable  evidence  of  the 
right  of  presbyters  to  sit  and  act  in  council,  and  expresses  the 
confident  opinion  that  deacons  had  the  same  rights.     Athanasius 


488  ■  COUNCILS.  [chap,  xxiir. 

is  declared  on  high  authority  to  have  been  an  active  member  of 
the  Council  of  Nice  while  only  a  deacon.  That  this  champion 
against  Arianism  was  duly  chosen  and  ordained  to  be  the  bishop  of 
Alexandria,  according  to  the  customs  of  that  church  and  the  direc- 
tions of  the  Council  of  Nice,  whereof  he  had  been  an  active  mem- 
ber but  five  months  before,  there  is  no  reason  to  question.  That 
he  had  attended  that  council  as  a  deacon,  and,  at  the  death  of 
Alexander,  was  an  archdeacon. 

If  further  authority  were  necessary  on  this  subject,  it  is  found 
in  Blondell,  Apologia,  p.  202  et  seq. 

The  practical  effect  of  these  councils,  from  the  beginning,  was 
to  give  undue  consideration  and  influence  to  the  clergy;  which 
continually  increased,  until  it  finally  ended  in  the  full  establishment 
of  the  ecclesiastical  hierarchy. 

§  5.    OF  COUNCILS    UNDER    THE    EMPERORS. 

After  the  conversion  of  Constantine,  the  councils  of  the  church 
fell  under  the  influence  of  the  Byzantine  emperors ;  and  at  a  still 
later  period,  they  submitted  to  the  presidency  and  dictation  of  the 
bishop  of  Rome. 

The  celebrated  Council  of  Nic?ea,  A.  D.  325,  is  distinguished  as 
having  been  the  first  which  pronounced  a  decision  respecting  a 
speculative  Christian  doctrine,  or  article  of  religious  faith  ;  as  well 
as  the  first  over  which  a  temporal  prince  presided.  Hosius,  the 
courtier  of  the  emperor,  was  in  form  the  president.  But  Constan- 
tine exercised  a  controlling  influence  over  their  deliberations,  and 
virtually  presided.  He  convened  the  council  by  his  own  authority. 
He  opened  the  council  in  person  with  a  public  speech,  in  which  he 
says,  "When,  contrary  to  all  expectation,  I  had  received  informa- 
tion of  your  disagreement,  I  looked  upon  that  thing  as  in  nowise  to 
be  neglected."^  The  same  author  also  informs  us  that,  when  a  great 
controversy  had  arisen  by  reason  of  their  mutual  accusations,  "the 
emperor  with  an  intent  mind  received  their  proposed  questions, 
and  by  degrees  reduced  those  who  pertinaciously  opposed  each 
other  to  a  more  sedate  mind ;  inducing  some  to  be  of  his  opinion 
by  the  force  of  his  arguments  ;  wooing  others  by  entreaties  ;  prais- 
ing others  who  spoke  well ;  exciting  all  to  an  agreement,  till  at 
length  he  made  them  all  of  the  same  mind  and  opinion  in  relation 
to  all  matters  concerning  which  they  had  before  been  disagreed.^ 

A  bishop,  we  are  told  by  Episcopal  authority,  filled  "that 
honoured  chair,"  nor  did   Constantine  presume  to  take  his  seat 


SEC.  v.]  COUNCILS    UNDER   THE   EMPERORS.  489 


'■^  until  requested  by  the  hisliops  to  do  so."  All  this,  however,  was 
merely  the  etiquette  of  the  time,  and  betokened  no  peculiar  defer- 
ence to  the  bishops.  We  have  at  least  a  fair  illustration  of  the 
respect  in  which  he  held  these  dignitaries  of  the  church,  in  his 
letter  to  the  Synod  of  Tyre,  soon  after  the  Council  of  Nice.  "If 
any  person,  which  I  don't  in  the  least  expect,  presuming  at  this 
juncture  to  violate  our  precept,  shall  refuse  to  be  present,  one  shall 
be  forthwith  despatched  from  us,  who,  by  an  imperial  order,  shall 
drive  that  person  into  exile,  and  shall  teach  him  that  'tis  in  no 
wise  fit  to  resist  the  determinations  of  an  emperor  when  published 
in  defence  of  the  truth."-^  So  much  for  the  profound  submission 
which  Constantino  yielded  to  episcopal  authority  !  The  controlling 
influence  of  the  emperor  over  the  Council  of  Nice  is  well  expressed 
by  Gibbon  in  the  words  following : — "  The  Nicene  creed  was  ratified 
by  Constantino ;  and  his  firm  declaration  that  those  who  resisted 
the  divine  judgment  of  the  synod  must  prepare  themselves  for  an 
immediate  exile,  annihilated  the  murmurs  of  a  feeble  opposition, 
which,  from  seventeen,  was  almost  instantly  reduced  to  two." 

There  were  no  general  councils  until  the  emperors  became 
Christian.  Constantino  set  the  example;  and,  without  invading 
the  peculiar  province  of  the  ecclesiastic,  presided  in  the  Council 
of  Nice,  and  probably  prevented  much  discord. 

It  is  also  usually  reckoned  as  the  first  general  council ;  but  it 
was,  in  fact,  a  council  only  of  the  oriental  church ;  the  Spanish 
bishop  Hosius  and  two  lloman  presbyters  were  the  only  ecclesi- 
astics from  the  Western  Church.  All  the  particulars  respecting 
this  remarkable  and  important  council  are  given  by  the  authors 
who  are  mentioned  in  the  index  of  authorities.* 

To  the  desired  result  the  emperor  brought  the  bishops  by  means 
of  influences  which  none  ever  knew  how  better  to  use  to  his  own 
advantage.  He  supported  them  at  his  own  expense ;  he  feasted 
them  at  his  palace,  and  enriched  them  with  princely  presents ; 
while  the  fearful  bans  of  the  church  awaited  any  who  should  dare 
to  dissent  from  the  decisions  of  the  council. 

And  yet  the  emperor  had  the  audacity  to  claim  for  these  deci- 
sions, so  obtained,  the  authority  of  Divine  inspiration,  and  "  that 
judgment  which  God,  who  seeth  all  things,  would  approve  !"^  It 
was  claimed,  indeed,  for  the  decrees  of  councils  generally,  that  they 
were  dictated  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  that  they  were  of  equal  autho- 
rity with  the  word  of  God  ;  that  they  contained  all  that  was  essen- 
tial to  eternal  life ;  and  that  to  disregard  them  was  to  sin  against 
the  Holy  Ghost. 


490  COUNCILS.  [chap,  xxiir. 


The  influence  of  them  was  to  bring  into  neglect  the  word  of  God, 
to  supprcvss  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  to  deny  the  right  of 
private  judgrpent,  to  bind  the  conscience,  to  exalt  the  power  of 
the  bishops  over  the  church ;  and,  iinder  the  Christian  emperors, 
to  degrade  them  to  the  condition  of  mere  sycophants  of  the  civil 
rulers. 

Thus  the  hierarchy  withheld  from  the  people  the  word  of  life, 
offering  instead  the  creeds,  the  canons,  and  the  decrees  of  their 
own  councils. 

We  have  been  more  minute  in  setting  forth  the  influence  of 
Constantine  over  the  ecclesiastical  councils,  for  the  purpose  of 
showing  the  interest  which  temporal  princes  manifested  in  the 
affairs  of  the  church.  The  example  of  Constantine  was  imitated 
more  or  less  by  his  successors  to  change  essentially  their  political 
relations  to  the  church,  both  in  the  Eastern  and  Western  empire. 
It  was  indeed  the  commencement  of  the  disastrous  union  of  church 
and  state — a  union  more  pernicious  in  its  consequences  to  the 
church  than  all  the  persecutions  of  the  civil  power  under  which 
she  from  the  beginning  had  been  bleeding.  Socrates,  the  ancient 
historian  of  the  church,  indeed,  assigns  the  same  reason  I'or  inter- 
weaving with  his  fourth  book  the  history  of  this  emperor,  "because 
all  the  affairs  of  the  church  depended  upon  his  nod."  "By  this 
interference  of  the  emperor  with  these  ecclesiastical  councils,"  says 
the  sagacious  Spittler,  "and  Avhile  the  affairs  of  religion  were 
treated  as  a  concern  of  the  state,  these  councils  assumed  a  high 
political  importance.  The  decrees  of  the  provincial  synods  were 
authoritative  only  within  their  respective  provinces ;  even  the  oecu- 
menical councils  would  have  never  become  general  had  they  con- 
tinued to  be  strictly  ecclesiastical.  They  were  not  imperative 
even  upon  those  who  assented  to  their  authority;  so  that  the 
adherents  of  the  bishops  were  still  at  liberty  to  dissent  from  them. 
But  when  the  highest  prelates  of  the  realm  were  summoned  by  the 
emperor  to  convene  in  general  council,  and  their  authority  became 
knov.n,  then  the  emperor  began  to  claim  the  direction  of  them  as 
his  own  institution.  Whether  their  decisions  should  be  obeyed  or 
not  was  no  longer  a  matter  of  indifference ;  for  the  concerns  of 
religion  became  so  intermingled  with  his  interests  that  their  decrees 
became  the  laws  of  the  church.  The  arm  of  the  civil  authority 
accordingly  fell  heavily  upon  them  who  refused  to  listen  to  the 
voice  of  their  spiritual  fathers.  This  is  the  date  of  that  disastrous 
hour  when  the  decrees  of  a  few  hundred  bishops,  enforced  by  the 
severest  threats  of  the  emperor,  became  the  rule  of  faith  and  of 


SEC.  Y.]  COUNCILS    UNDER   THE    EMPERORS.  491 

conduct  to  all  cliristendom."^  The  degeneracy  of  the  churcli  and 
the  corruption  of  religion  which  followed  so  soon,  were  only  the 
le<Titimate  consequences  of  the  ecclesiastical  polity  which  was  legal- 
ized under  Constantino.  It  was  the  final  overthrow  of  the  primi- 
tive simplicity  and  purity  which  had  hitherto  prevailed. 

The  various  influences  of  these  early  synods  in  overthrowing 
the  primitive  constitution  of  the  church  are  clearly  sketched  by 
Mosheim,  who  remarks  that  "these  councils  were  productive  of  so 
great  an  alteration  in  the  general  state  of  the  church  as  nearly  to 
effect  the  entire  subversion  of  its  ancient  constitution.  For,  in  the 
first  place,  the  primitive  rights  of  the  people,  in  consequence  of 
this  new  arrangement  of  things,  experienced  a  considerable  dimi- 
nution, inasmuch  as  thenceforward  none  but  affairs  of  compara- 
tively trifling  importance  w^ere  ever  made  the  subject  of  popu- 
lar deliberation  and  adjustment; — the  councils  of  the  associated 
churches  assuming  to  themselves  the  right  of  discussing  and  regu- 
lating every  thing  of  moment  or  importance ;  as  well  as  of  deter- 
mining all  questions  to  which  any  sort  of  weight  was  attached. 
In  the  next  place,  the  dignity  and  authority  of  the  bishops  were 
very  much  augmented  and  enlarged.  In  the  infancy,  indeed,  of 
the  councils,  the  bishops  did  not  scruple  to  acknowledge  that  they 
appeared  there  merely  as  the  ministers  or  legates  of  their  re- 
spective churches ;  and  that  they  were  in  fact  nothing  more  than 
representatives  acting  under  instructions.  But  it  was  not  long 
before  this  humble  language  began  by  little  and  little  to  be  ex- 
changed for  a  loftier  tone ;  and  they,  at  length,  took  it  upon  them 
to  assert  that  they  were  the  legitimate  successors  of  the  apostles 
themselves,  and  might,  consequently,  by  their  own  proper  autho- 
rity, dictate  to  the  Christian  flock.  To  what  extent  the  incon- 
veniences and  evils  arising  out  of  these  preposterous  pretensions 
reached  in  after  times,  is  too  well  known  to  require  any  particular 
notice  in  this  place." 

Many  examples  of  the  abuse  of  prerogatives  and  of  power  by 
the  bishops,  and  of  their  shameful  strife  for  preferment,  as  they 
gained  the  ascendency  in  these  councils,  might  be  drawn  from 
ancient  history.  But  let  one  authority  suffice.  It  is  that  of  a 
great  and  good  bishop  of  the  fourth  century,  who  still  retained 
much  of  the  piety  and  unpretending  simplicity  of  other  days.  On 
being  summoned  to  the  Council  of  Constantinople,  A.  D.  381,  he 
addressed  a  letter  to  Procopius  declining  his  attendance: — "How 
I  wish  there  had  been  no  precedence,  no  priority  of  place,  no 
authoritative  dictatorship,  that  we  might  be  distinguished  by  virtue 


492  COUNCILS.  [chap,  xxiii. 

alone.  But  now  this  right  hand,  and  left  hand,  and  middle,  and 
higher  and  lower,  this  going  before  and  going  in  company,  have 
produced  to  us  much  unprofitable  affliction ;  brought  many  into  a 
snare,  and  thrust  them  out  among  the  herd  of  the  goats ;  and  these, 
not  only  of  the  inferior  order,  but  even  of  the  shepherds,  who, 
though  masters  in  Israel,  have  not  known  these  things."  ....  "I  am 
worn  out — with  contending  against  the  envy  of  the  holy  bishops ; 
disturbing  the  public  peace  by  their  contentions,  and  subordinating 
the  Christian  faith  to  their  own  private  interests."  ....  "If  I  must 
write  the  whole  truth,  I  am  determined  to  absent  myself  from  all 
assemblies  of  the  bishops  ;  for  I  have  never  seen  a  happy  result  of 
any  councils,  nor  any  that  did  not  occasion  an  increase  of  evils, 
rather  than  a  reformation  of  them,  by  reason  of  these  pertinacious 
contentions,  and  this  vehement  thirst  for  power,  such  as  no  words 
can  express." 

Of  the  bishops  of  the  Council  of  Constantinople  he  says — "  These 
conveyers  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  these  preachers  of  peace  to  all  men, 
grew  bitterly  outrageous  and  clamorous  against  one  another  ;  in 
the  midst  of  the  chm-ch-meetings  accusing  each  other  and  leaping 
about  as  if  they  had  been  mad,  under  the  furious  impulse  of  a  lust 
of  power  and  dominion,  as  though  they  would  have  rent  the  world 
in  pieces."  He  is  also  almost  equally  severe  upon  the  unprincipled 
ambition  and  shameful  conduct  of  the  clergy  at  the  Council  of 
Nice,  A.  D.  425.  The  pride,  venality,  and  corruption  of  these 
ministers  of  the  gospel  continued  to  increase,  until  pure  and  un- 
defiled  religion  ceased  almost  from  the  ministry  and  from  the 
church.  Then  primitive  Christianity,  wearied  at  length  with  the 
vain  pomp  of  power,  and  in  disgust  at  the  bigotry,  venality,  and 
corruption  which  disgraced  her  name,  retired  from  the  gaze  of  men 
to  the  secluded  cloister,  drew  the  curtains,  and  sank  into  repose 
through  a  long,  dark  night  of  barbarism  and  superstition,  until  the 
dawn  of  a  better  day  in  the  Reformation. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

MARRIAGE. 

§1.    OF    CHRISTIAN    MARRIAGE. 

The  laws  of  Christian  marriage  seem,  at  first  view,  to  be  derived 
from  the  Mosaic  regulations  on  this  subject,  and  yet  it  is  remark- 
able that,  until  the  sixth  or  seventh  century,  the  marriag-es  of  the 
early  Christians  were  regulated  rather  by  the  Roman  than  by  the 
Mosaic  laws.  But  all  this  was  only  the  natural  result  of  the 
peculiar  circumstances  under  whicli  the  Christian  community  was 
formed.  Converts  from  the  Jews  might  be  expected  to  adhere  to 
the  Jewish  rites,  while  those  from  the  Gentiles  would  conform  to 
the  Roman  laws  and  customs.  For  this  reason  the  marriage  rites 
of  the  Christian  church  were  of  a  mixed  character,  in  which  the 
influence  of  the  Roman  law  was,  at  first,  predominant.  By  this 
law,  as  well  as  by  the  law  of  Christ,  polygamy  was  strictly  forbid- 
den.^ In  many  other  respects,  it  was  also  so  far  conformed  to  the 
law  of  God,  that  many  of  the  early  fathers  scrupled  not  to  borrow 
from  it  some  of  the  most  important  marriage  ceremonies.  They 
objected  to  the  adoption  of  heathen  customs,  in  this  respect,  only 
so  far  as  they  militated  against  the  spirit  of  Christianity.^ 

Much  controversy  prevailed  in  the  ancient  church  on  the  subject 
of  second  marriages,  particularly  with  the  Novatians  and  Monta- 
nists,  who  denounced  such  marriages  as  unlawful.  This  opinion 
was  also  upheld  by  many  councils.'^  A  concession  in  favour  of 
second  marriages  was  afterward  made  to  the  laity,  but  refused  to 
the  clergy.*  The  law  of  celibacy  finally  rendered  this  rule  nuga- 
tory with  respect  to  the  priesthood. 

The  state  claimed  the  right  of  regulating  the  laws  of  marriage ; 
the  church  at  the  same  time  possessing  a  subordinate  or  concur- 
rent jurisdiction.  This  concurrence,  however,  was  chiefly  of  a 
negative  and  passive  character,  and  was  the  occasion  of  continual 
discord  between  church  and  state.  For  the  first  five  centuries  the 
church  had  no  further  concern  with  the  laws  of  marriage  than  to 

493 


494  MARRIAGE.  [CHAP.  XXIV. 


censure  them,  as  occasion  required,  and  to  restrict  the  observance 
of  them,  by  her  discipline  and  authority.  The  laws  of  the  state 
and  the  regulations  of  the  church,  on  this  subject,  -were  first  made 
to  harmonize  under  the  emperor  Justinian.  By  making  the  sacer- 
dotal benediction  an  essential  part  of  the  marriage  covenant,  and 
by  exalting  this  covenant  to  the  dignity  of  a  sacrament,  the  clergy 
found  the  means  of  magnifying  their  office  and  increasing  their 
authority  over  the  people.  Under  the  dynasty  of  Charles,  the 
sanction  of  the  church  was  fully  established,  while  the  law  still  ori- 
ginated with  the  state.^  In  the  Middle  Ages,  from  the  tenth  to  the 
sixteenth  centuries,  the  church  possessed  a  preponderating  influ- 
ence in  these  matters ;  but  even  then,  her  claim  to  an  exclusive 
jurisdiction  was  neither  asserted  nor  allowed.  To  assert  this 
prerogative  was  regarded  as  a  direct  attack  upon  the  state."  In 
Protestant  states  it  is  regarded  as  a  civil  institution,  established  in 
conformity  with  the  law  of  God,  and  appropriately  solemnized  by 
the  rites  of  religion. 

The  regulations  in  relation  to  prohibited  marriages  were,  in  the 
lapse  of  time,  gradually  assimilated  to  the  law  of  Moses ;  but  these 
have  never  been  strictly  observed  in  the  Christian  church.  The 
canonists  have  very  carefully  specified  the  several  degrees  of  con- 
sanguinity and  affinity  within  which  marriage  could  not  lawfully  be 
contracted.  They  were  thirteen  in  number,  while  under  the 
Mosaic  economy  they  were  seventeen,  or,  according  to  others,  nine- 
teen. The  prohibited  grades,  in  the  ancient  church,  are  comprised 
in  the  following  lines : 

Nata,  soror,  neptis,  matertera  fratris  et  uxor 
Et  patrui  conjux,  mater  privigni,  noverca 
Uxorisque  soror,  privigni  nata,  nurusque 
Atque  soror  patris ;  conjungi  lege  vetantur. 

Whether  it  is  lawful  to  marry  a  brother's  wife,  or  a  wife's  sister, 
was  a  question  much  controverted  in  the  church.  The  general 
sense  of  the  church  was  against  such  connections,  as  appears  from 
the  dispensation  which  was  made  in  such  cases  in  favour  of  the 
clergy.     This  point  has  been  discussed  at  length  by  Schlegel.^ 

Mixed  marriages  between  the  Jews  and  Gentiles  were  strictly 
prohibited  by  the  law  of  Moses.  This  prohibition  is  not  repeated 
in  the  New  Testament  in  regard  to  the  marriage  of  Christians 
with  idolaters.  The  apostle  Paul,  however,  decidedly  objects  to 
such  connections,  as  inexpedient.  1  Cor.  vii;  2  Cor.  vi.  14-18.  The 
early  fathers  denounced  them  as  dangerous  and  immoral;'  and 
they  were,  at  a  later  period,  positively  prohibited  by  the  decrees 


SEC.  II.]  DIVORCE.  495 

of  councils  and  the  laws  of  the  empire.^  By  these  regulations  it 
was  unlawful  for  Christians  to  marry  either  Jews,  pagans,  Moham- 
medans, or  heretics. ^"^  If,  however,  such  marriages  had  already 
been  contracted,  they  appear  not  to  have  been  annulled  upon  the 
conversion  of  either  party  to  Christianity.  There  are,  indeed,  ex- 
amples of  the  violation  of  these  rules,  as  in  the  case  of  Monica,  the 
mother  of  Augustin,  and  Clotildis,  the  wife  of  Clovis,  both  of  whom 
were  instrumental  in  the  conversion  of  their  husbands." 


§  2.    OF   DIVORCE. 

On  this  subject  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  the  church,  with  few 
exceptions,  has  uniformly  adhered  to  the  rules  laid  down  by  our 
Lord  and  his  apostles.  Mark  x.  2,  12 ;  Luke  xvi.  18 ;  Matt.  v. 
31,  32 ;  xix.  2,  10  ;  1  Cor.  vii.  10,  11 ;  Rom.  vii.  2,  3.  But  under 
the  term  adultery  the  primitive  church  included  idolatry  and 
apostasy  from  the  Christian  faith, ^  to  which  may  be  added  witch- 
craft and  other  magical  arts.  The  laws  of  Constantino,  Honorius, 
Theodosius  the  Younger,  Valentinian  the  Third,  Anastasius,  and 
Justinian,  also  favour  this  construction.^  The  canonists  enumerated 
twelve  causes  of  divorce,  including  those  which  were  also  regarded 
as  suitable  reasons  for  not  assuming  the  marriage  vow.  The  same 
causes  which  are  a  bar  to  assuming  the  marriage  covenant  dis- 
solve it.     These  causes  are  set  forth  in  the  following  lines : 

Error,  conditio,  votum,  cognatio,  crimen, 
Cultus  disparitas,  vis,  ordo,  ligamen,  lionestas. 
Si  sis  adfinis ;  si  forte  coire  nequibis  (al  negabis). 

The  error  relates  to  a  mistake  in  regard  to  the  parties,  as  in 
the  case  of  Leah  and  Rachel,  conditio  to  the  marriage  of  freemen 
with  those  who  are  in  bondage,  cognatio  to  prohibit  degrees  of  con- 
sanguinity, votum  and  ordo  relate  to  the  marriage  of  monastics, 
ligamen  to  cases  of  bigamy,  lionestas  to  prohibited  connections 
between  persons  already  related  by  marriage. 


§  3.    OF    THE    CELIBACY    OF    THE    CLERGY. 

The  celibacy  of  the  clergy  was  not  required  in  the  first  three 
centuries  of  the  Christian  era.  Objections  were  indeed  earl}'-  made 
to  those  who  had  married  a  second  wife,  based  on  a  misconstruc- 
tion of  the  qualification  required  by  Paid,  "  the  husband  of  one 
wife,"  as  though   it   related   to    several   marriages,   and  not  to 


496  MARRIAGE.  [CHAP.  XXIV. 


polygamy.*  But  it  appears  from  the  instance  of  Novatus  in  the 
church  of  Africa,  and  from  other  authorities,  that  the  clergy  of 
these  provinces,  in  the  middle  of  the  third  century,  were  not 
bound  by  the  law  of  celibacy  ;^  and  Socrates  had  known  many 
bishops  in  the  East  who  had  "had  children  by  their  lawful  wives 
during  their  episcopate.^ "  Such  instances,  however,  after  the  fourth 
century,  are  to  be  regarded  rather  as  exceptions  to  the  general 
rule,  which  was  that  of  celibacy,  or  of  abstinence  from  the  rights  of 
the  marriage  relation  if  the  bishop  had  entered  into  these  bonds 
previous  to  his  consecration. f  The  duty  of  such  abstinence 
was  urged  in  the  Council  of  Nice,  A.  D.  325,  in  regard  to  bishops, 
presbyters,  and  deacons,  but,  through  the  influence  of  Paphnutius, 
was  finally  left  to  the  discretion  of  each.^ 

Down  to  the  close  of  the  seventh  century  the  law  of  celibacy 
was  not  fully  established,  nor  indeed  until  the  age  of  the  famous 
Hildebrand,  in  the  eleventh  century,  though  it  had  been  for  several 
centuries  a  prevailing  usage,  when  Hildebrand,  A.  D,  1074,  made 
it  obligatory  upon  the  clergy  throughout  the  papal  dominions. 

§  4.    OF    MARRIAGE    RITES    AND    CEREMONIES. 

It  was  a  rule  of  the  primitive  church  that  the  parties  who  were 
about  to  be  united  in  marriage,  both  male  and  female,  should 
signify  their  intentions  to  their  pastor,  that  the  connection  might 
be  formed  Avith  his  approbation.  The  church  were  expected,  in 
this  manner,  not  only  to  take  cognisance  of  the  proposed  marriage, 
but  to  determine  whether  it  was  duly  authorized  by  the  principles 
of  the  Christian  religion.  The  marriage  was  indeed  valid  in  law 
without  this  ecclesiastical  sanction ;  but  it  was  open  to  censure 
from  the  church,  and  was  followed  by  the  imposition  of  penance 
or  the  sentence  of  excommunication. | 

*  Quot  digami  praesident  apud  vos,  insultantis  utique  apostolo. — Tebtull.  De 
Monogam.  c.  iii.     Comp.  Apost.  Const,  iii.  2. 

f  Placuit  in  totum  prohibere  episcopis,  presbyteris  et  diaconibus,  vel  omnibus 
clericis  positis  in  ministerio,  abstinere  se  a  conjugibus  suis  et  non  generare 
filios ;  quicunque  vero  fecerit  ab  honore  clericatus  exterminatur. — Cone.  Elib. 
c.  iii.  A.  D.  806. 

+  ripfrtft  hi  tol^  yau.ov6c  xai  tali  yauovuai-j  ficTa  yvuiur^i  tov  irtiaxoriov  fjjv 
iVuon'  rtoift^^at,  iva  o  ya/xoj  tJ  xaia  Kvpt-ov,  xai  jxi]  xat  erti^vfilav. — Ignat.  Ep.  ad 
Polycarp.  ii.  5.  Unde  sufBciamus  ad  enarrandam  felicitatem  ejus  matrimonii,  quod 
ecclesia  conciliat,  et  eonfirmat  oblatio,  et  obsignat  benedictio,  Angeli  renuntiant, 
pater  rato  li.abet?  Nam  nee  in  terris  filii  sine  consensu  patrum  rite  et  juste 
nubent.  — Tertull.  ad.  Uxor.  lib.  ii.  c.  8,  9.  Occultae  conjunctiones,  id  est,  non 
^rius  apud  ecclesiam  professoe,  juxta  moechiam  et  fornicationem  judicari  peri- 
clitantur. — Teutull.  De  Fudkit.  c.  4. 


SEC.  IV.]  MARRIAGE    RITES    AND    CEREMONIES.  497 

This  notice  originally  answered  tlie  purpose  of  a  public  procla- 
mation in  the  church.  No  satisfactory  indication  of  the  modern 
custom  of  publishing  the  banns  appears  in  the  history  of  the 
church  until  the  twelfth  century,  when  it  was  required  by  the 
authority  of  ecclesiastical  councils.^  According  to  the  rules  of 
the  Romish  church,  this  publishment  should  be  made  on  three 
market-days.  In  some  countries,  the  banns  were  published  three 
times  ;  in  others,  twice ;  and  in  others,  once.  The  intentions  of 
marriage  were  sometimes  posted  upon  the  doors  or  other  parts  of 
the  church ;  sometimes  published  at  the  close  of  the  sermon  or 
before  singing.  The  word  banns,  according  to  Du  Cange,  means 
a  public  notice  or  proclamation. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  no  distinct  account  of  the  mode  of 
solemnizing  marriage,  nor  any  prescribed  form  for  this  purpose,  is 
found  in  any  of  the  early  ecclesiastical  writers,  although  they  have 
many  allusions  to  particular  marriage  rites  and  ceremonies.  It 
appears  that  the  propriety  or  necessity  of  religious  exercises  in 
solemnizing  the  marriage  covenant  was  not  recognised  by  the 
civil  law  until  the  ninth  century ;  but  that  such  religious  rites 
were  required  by  the  church  as  early  as  the  second  century.* 

The  rites  of  marriage  in  the  ancient  Greek  church  were  essen- 
tially three :  the  sponsalia — the  espousals,  the  investing  with  a 
crown,  and  the  laying  off  of  the  crown. 

1.  The  ceremony  of  the  espousals  was  as  follows : — The  priest, 
after  crossing  himself  three  times  upon  the  breast,  presents  the 
bridal  pair,  standing  in  the  body  of  the  house,  each  with  a  lighted 
wax  candle,  and  then  proceeds  to  the  altar,  where  he  offers  in- 
cense from  a  cruciformed  censer,  after  which  the  larger  collect  is 
sung  with  the  responses  and  doxologies. 

Then  follows  the  ceremony  of  presenting  the  ring.  With  a 
golden  ring  the  priest  makes  a  sign  of  the  cross  upon  the  head  of 
the  bridegroom,  and  then  places  it  upon  a  finger  of  his  right  hand, 
thrice  repeating  these  words  :  "  This  servant  of  the  Lord  espouses 
this  handmaid  of  the  Lord,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  both  now  and  for  ever,  world  without 
end,  Amen."     In  like  manner,  and  with  the  same  form  of  words, 

*  Cum  ipsum  conjugium  velamine  sacerdotal!  et  benedictione  sanctificari  opor- 
teat,  quomodo  potest  conjugium  dici  ubi  nou  est  fidei  concordia  ? — Ambros.  Ep.  70. 
Etiamsi  nostrae  absolutae  sit  potestatis  quamlibet  puellam  in  conjugium  tradere, 
tradi  a  nobis  Christianam  nisi  Christiano  non  posse. — August.  IJj).  234,  ad  Rus- 
ticum.     Asov — tspjoj   xaXuv,  xai,    6i    £v;^uiv    fiiT.oytuiv   -C/jv   o^ovoiav   "fov   (Jvvotxfototi 

tva^iyynv  X.  t.  %. 

82 


498  MARRIAGE.  [CHAP.  XXIV. 

he  presents  the  bride  a  silver  ring.  The  groomsman  then  changes 
the  rings,  while  the  priest,  in  a  long  prayer,  sets  forth  the  import  of 
the  rings.  After  which  the  whole  is  closed  with  a  prescribed  form 
of  prayer.  These  espousals  usually  took  place  some  time  previous 
to  the  consummation  of  the  marriage.  According  to  some  autho- 
rities, two  years  usually  intervened  between  the  espousals  and  the 
marriage. 

2.  The  act  of  crowning  the  parties  became,  in  process  of  time, 
the  initiatory  rite  in  solemnizing  the  marriage  covenant.  But 
this  was  strenuously  denounced  by  Tertullian  as  a  corrupt  imitation 
of  heathen  rites,  as  in  truth  it  was.  It  is  only  one  among  a  multitude 
of  instances  of  the  blending  of  Christianity  with  paganism.  The 
same  remark  applies  to  the  vailing  of  the  bride. ^  The  preliminaries 
of  the  rite  of  crowning  were  the  same  as  those  of  the  espousals, 
with  the  exception  that  in  this  instance  the  128th  Psalm  was  sung 
with  the  responses  and  doxologies.  After  this  a  discourse  was 
delivered  setting  forth  the  importance  and  responsibilities  of  the 
marriage  relation.  Then  various  interrogations,  relating  to  the 
marriage  covenant  and  the  unmarried  state,  were  presented :  next 
followed  the  larger  collects,  varied  according  to  circumstances; 
after  which  a  long  prayer  was  offered,  in  three  parts,  each  of  which 
was  announced  in  the  customary  form  by  the  deacon,  tov  xvpiov 
oeri^cifiEv.  After  this,  the  priest  sets  the  nuptial  crown,  which  has 
been  lying  on  the  altar,  first  upon  the  head  of  the  bridegroom,  and 
then  upon  that  of  the  bride,  saying,  "  This  servant  of  the  Lord 
hereby  crowns  this  handmaid  of  the  Lord,  in  the  name  of  the 
i'ather,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  world  without  end. 
Amen."  This  ceremony  is  followed  by  prayers,  doxologies,  and 
the  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  particularly  Eph.  v.  20-33  and  John 
ii.  1—11,  and  by  the  alternate  prayers  of  the  priest  and  the  deacon. 
The  whole  is  concluded  by  the  assembly  repeating  the  Lord's  prayer 
with  the  customary  responses,  and  the  usual  form  of  benediction. 

During  these  solemnities  the  priest  presents  to  the  newly-married 
couple  a  glass  of  wine,  of  which  each  drinks  three  times,  and  then 
the  glass  is  immediately  broken,  to  denote  the  transitory  nature  of 
all  earthly  things. 

The  minister  then  joins  the  hands  of  the  parties  and  leads  them 
three  times  around  in  a  circle,  while  the  whole  assembly  unite  in 
singing  a  nuptial  song,  the  groomsman  meanwhile  accompanying 
the  married  couple  with  his  hands  resting  upon  their  heads,  which 
are  still  adorned  with  the  crown. 


BEC.  IV.]  MARRIAGE    KITES    AND    CEREMONIES.  499 

3.  The  laying  off  of  the  croivn. — Upon  the  eighth  day  the  mar- 
ried pair  present  themselves  again  in  the  church,  when  the  minister, 
with  appropriate  prayer,  lays  off  the  nuptial  crown,  and  dismisses 
them  with  his  benediction,  offered  in  a  prescribed  form  of  words. 
This  ceremony,  however,  was  not  uniformly  observed. 

In  all  these  rites  the  reader  will  observe  a  studied  analogy  to 
those  of  baptism. 

The  second  and  third  marriage  was  solemnized  in  much  the  same 
manner,  the  ceremonies  being  abridged,  and  the  prayer  of  penance 
substituted  in  the  place  of  the  nuptial  prayer.  The  church  thus 
treated  these  as  just  occasions  for  discipline,  and  refused  altogether 
to  sanction  a  fom-th  marriage,  but  regarded  it  as  a  criminal  offence. 

The  marriage  ceremonies  in  the  Western  church  are  given  in  de- 
tail by  Bingham,  of  Avhich  the  following  account  is  a  brief  summary. 

When  persons,  against  whom  there  lay  no  lawful  impediment, 
were  disposed  to  join  in  matrimony  with  each  other,  they  were 
obliged  to  go  through  certain  preliminaries  appointed  by  custom 
or  law,  before  they  could  ordinarily  complete  the  marriage.  These 
went  by  the  general  name  of  sponsalia,  espousals  or  betrothing ; 
and  they  consisted  chiefly  in  a  mutual  contract  or  agreement  be- 
tween the  parties  concerning  their  future  marriage,  to  be  performed 
within  a  certain  limited  time ;  which  contract  was  performed  by 
certain  gifts  or  donations,  called  arrhse  et  arrhabones,  the  earnest 
of  marriage  ;  as  also  by  a  ring,  a  kiss,  a  dowry,  a  writing  or  instru- 
ment of  dowry,  with  a  sufficient  number  of  witnesses  to  attest  it. 

The  free  consent  of  parties  contracting  marriage  was  declared 
necessary  by  an  old  Roman  law,  {Lex  Papia  et  Julia,)  which  was 
confirmed  by  Diocletian,  and  inserted  by  Justinian  into  his  code. 
No  espousal  could  stand  firm  but  such  as  was  voluntarily  agreed 
upon  by  the  free  consent  of  each  contracting  party,  without  any 
force  or  violence  of  any  kind  intervening  to  compel  them. 

When  the  contract  was  thus  made,  it  was  usual  for  the  man  to 
bestow  certain  gifts  upon  the  woman,  as  tokens  and  pledges  of  the 
espousal ;  and  sometimes,  but  not  so  commonly,  the  woman  made 
presents  to  the  man  upon  the  same  account.  These  are  sometimes 
called  sponsalia,  espousals,  and  sometimes  sponsalitise  donationeSy 
espousal  gifts,  or  arrhse,  and  dignora,  earnest  or  pledges  of  future 
marriage  :  because  the  ffivins;  and  receivino;  of  them  was  a  confirma- 
tion  of  the  contract,  and  an  obligation  on  the  parties  to  take  each 
other  for  man  and  wife,  unless  some  legal  reason  gave  them  liberty  to 
do  otherwise.     To  make  these  donations  more  firm  and  sure,  it  was 


500  MARRIAGE.  [CHAP.  XXIV. 


required  that  they  should  be  entered  into  public  acts,  and  set  upon 
record. 

Together  with  these  espousal  gifts,  or  as  a  part  of  them,  it  was 
usual  for  the  man  to  give  the  woman  a  ring,  as  a  further  token  of 
and  testimony  of  the  contract.  This  was  an  innocent  ceremony, 
used  by  the  Romans  before  the  time  of  Christianity,  and  in  some 
measure  admitted  by  the  Jews,  whence  it  was  adopted  among  the 
Christian  rites  of  espousal.  But  it  does  not  appear  that  the  ring 
was  originally  used  in  the  solemnity  of  marriage  itself. 

Another  ceremony,  used  in  espousals  sometimes,  was  a  solemn 
kiss,  which  the  man  gave  to  the  woman,  in  confirmation  of  the  con- 
tract ;  which  was  an  ancient  rite  used  by  the  heathen,  together 
with  joining  of  hands,  in  their  espousals.  (Tertull.  de  Veland. 
Virg.  c.  11.) 

These  ceremonies,  being  innocent  in  themselves,  seem  to  have 
been  adopted  by  Christians,  with  other  such  customs,  into  their 
espousals,  who  never  rejected  any  innocent  rites  because  they  had 
been  used  by  heathens,  except  such  as  naturally  tended  to  defile 
them  with  some  unavoidable  stain  of  idolatry  or  superstition. 

Another  part  of  the  espousals  was  the  husband's  settling  a 
dowry  upon  the  woman,  to  which  she  should  be  entitled  after  his 
death — a  stipulation  commonly  made  in  writing,  or  with  public  in- 
struments under  hand  and  seal. 

To  make  the  business  of  espousals  not  only  the  more  solemn,  but 
also  the  more  firm  and  sure,  it  was  usual  to  transact  the  whole 
affair  befo^re  chosen  witnesses,  the  friends  of  each  party.^ 

§  5.    REMARKS    UPON    THE    MARRIAGE    RITES    AND    CEREMONIES    OF 
THE    ANCIENT    CHURCH. 

In  the  works  of  early  ecclesiastical  writers,  especially  in  those 
of  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Tertullian,  Augustin,  Jerome,  Basil, 
and  Chrysostom,  we  find  many  allusions  to  particular  rites  and  cere- 
monies, but  no  entire  or  general  account  of  them.  In  the  former 
part  of  the  seventh  century  a  writer  attempted  to  enumerate  the 
marriage  ceremonies  which  the  church  had  recognised  as  innocent 
and  convenient,  or  symbolical.^  We  possess  also  an  ofiicial  account 
of  the  ceremonies  used  in  the  Roman  church,  A.  D.  860,  from  the 
pen  of  Pope  Nicholas  I.* 

*  Morem  quem  eancta  Romana  suscepit  antiquitus  et  hactenus  in  hujusmodi 
conjunctionibus  tenet  ecclesia,  vobis  monstrare  studebimus.  Nostrates  siquidem 
tarn  mares  quain  feminse  non  ligaturam  auream,  vel  argenteam,  aut  ex  quolibet 


SEC.  v.]  REMARKS    UPON   MARRIAGE   RITES.  501 


To  proceed,  however,  with  our  general  remarks  : — 1.  The  office 
of  groomsman,  or  attendant  of  the  bridegroom,  is  of  high  antiquity ; 
common  alike  to  the  Hebrews,  Greeks,  and  Romans.  He  is  de- 
signated by  the  names  7tapa.vvi.i<pog,  vvi^^ayoyog,  vv^^evrric,, 
etc.  He  had  various  duties  to  perform  in  connection  with  the 
nuptial  contract  and  dowry,  such  as  the  following  : — To  accompany 
the  parties  to  the  church  at  their  marriage — to  act  as  sponsor  for 
them  in  their  vows — to  assist  in  the  marriage  ceremonies — to  ac- 
company them  to  the  house  of  the  bridegroom — to  preside  over  and 
direct  the  festivities  of  the  occasion,  etc.^ 

2.  The  use  of  the  ring  in  the  rites  both  of  espousal  and  of  mar- 
riage is  very  ancient.  It  is  mentioned  both  by  Tertullian^  and 
Clement  of  Alexandria  ;*  the  latter  of  Avhom  says — "  It  was  given 
her,  not  as  an  ornament,  but  as  a  seal,  to  signify  the  woman's  duty 
in  preserving  the  goods  of  her  husband,  because  the  care  of  the 
house  belongs  to  her."  Isidorus  Hispalensis  says,  "  that  it  was 
presented  by  the  husband,  either  as  a  pledge  of  mutual  affection,  or 
rather  as  a  token  of  the  union  of  their  hearts  in  love."^ 

3.  The  crowning  of  the  married  pair  with  garlands  was  a  mar- 
riage rite  peculiar  to  many  nations  professing  different  forms  of 
religion.  Tertullian  inveighs  against  it  with  all  the  zeal  of  a  gloomy 
Montanist  f  but  it  is  spoken  of  with  approbation  by  the  fathers  of 
the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  from  whom  it  appears  that  the  friends 


metallo  compositam,  quando  nuptialia  foedera  contraliunt,  in  capite  deferunt. 
Sed  post  sponsalia,  quae  futurarum  sunt  nuptiarum  promissa  foedera,  quaecunque 
consensu  eoi'um,  qui  hasc  contraliunt,  et  eorum,  in  quorum  potestate  sunt,  cele- 
brantur,  et  postquam  arrhis  sponsam  sibi  sponsus  per  digitum  fidei  a  se  annulo 
insignitum  desponderit,  dotemque  utrique  placitam  sponsus  ei  cum  scripto  pac- 
tum hoc  continente  coram  invitatis  ab  utroque  parte  tradiderit;  aut  mox,  aut 
apto  tempore,  ne  videlicet  ante  tempus  lege  definitum  tale  quid  fieri  praesumatur, 
ambo  ad  nuptialia  foedera  perducuntur.  Et  primum  in  ecclesia  Domini  cum  obla- 
tionibus,  quas  offerre  debent  Deo  per  sacerdotis  manum,  statuuntur,  sicque 
demum  benedictionem  et  velamen  coeleste  suscipiunt.  .  .  .  Verumtamen 
velamen  illud  non  suscipit,  qui  ad  secundas  nuptias  migrat.  Post  htec  autem  de 
ecclesia  egressi  coronas  in  capitibus  gestant  quis  in  ecclesia  ipsa  sunt  solitae  re- 
gervari.  Et  ita  festis  nuptialibus  celebratis  ad  ducendam  individuam  vitam 
Domino  disponents  de  cetero  diriguntur.  .  .  .  Tanta  solet  arctare  quosdam 
rerum  inopia,  ut  ad  haec  prasparanda  nullum  his  suflFragetur  auxilium  :  ac  per  hoc 
sufEciat,  secundum  leges,  solus  eorum  consensus,  de  quorum  conjunctionibus 
agitur.  Qui  consensus,  si  solus  in  nuptiis  forte  defuerit,  cetera  omnia  etiam  cum 
ipso  coitu  celebrata  frustantur.  .  .  .  Haec  sunt  praeter  alia,  quaj  ad  memo- 
riam  non  occurrunt,  pacta  conjugiorum  solemnia.  Peccatum  autem  esse,  si  haec 
cuncta  in  nuptiali  focdere  non  inierveniant,  non  dicimus,  quemadmodum  Greece's 
Tos  adstruere  dicitis. — Nicol.  I.  Respons.  ad  ConsuUa  Bulgar.  c.  3. 


602  MARRIAGE.  [CHAP.  XXIV. 


and  attendants  of  the  bridal  pair  were  adorned  in  the  same  man- 
ner.'' These  chaplets  were  usually  made  of  myrtle,  olive,  amarinth, 
rosemary,  and  evergreens,  intermingled  with  cypress  and  vervain. 
The  crown,  appropriately  so  called,  was  made  of  olive,  myrtle,  and 
rosemary,  variegated  with  flowers,  and  sometimes  with  gold  and 
silver,  pearls,  precious  stones,  etc.  These  crowns  were  constructed 
in  the  form  of  a  pyramid,  or  tower. 

Both  the  bride  and  the  bridegroom  were  crowned  in  this  manner, 
together  with  the  groomsman  and  the  bridesmaid.  The  bride  fre- 
quently appeared  in  church  thus  attired  on  the  day  when  proclama- 
tion of  the  banns  was  made. 

Chaplets  were  not  worn  by  the  parties  in  case  of  second  mar- 
riage, nor  by  those  who  had  been  guilty  of  impropriety  before 
marriage. 

In  the  Greek  church,  the  chaplets  were  imposed  by  the  officiating 
minister  at  the  altar.  In  the  Western  church  it  was  customary  for 
the  parties  to  present  themselves  thus  attired. 

4.  The  wearing  of  the  vail  by  the  bride  was  borrowed  from  the 
Romans.*  It  was  also  conformable  to  the  example  of  Rebekah, 
Gen.  xxiv.  The  vail  was  supposed  to  be  emblematical  of  the  re- 
tirement and  privacy  of  domestic  life  into  which  the  bride  was  now 
to  retire. 

From  this  marriage  rite  arose  the  custom  of  taking  the  vail  in  the 
Catholic  church.  By  this  act  the  nun  devotes  herself  to  perpetual 
virginity  as  the  spouse  of  Christ,  the  Bridegroom  of  the  church. 

5.  It  appears  to  have  been  customary  also  to  spread  a  robe  over 
the  bridegroom  and  bride,^  called  vitta  nuptialis,  pallium  jugaUj 
etc.,  and  made  of  a  mixture  of  Avhite  and  red  colours. f 

6.  Torches  and  lamps  were  in  use  on  such  occasions  both  among 
the  Jews  and  pagan  nations.^     No  mention  is  made  of  them  in  the 


*  Tertull.  De  Veland.  Virg.  lib.  xvii.  c.  11.  The  velamen  nuptiale,  of  ■which 
Ambrose  {Ep.  70)  says,  "  Conjugium  velamine  sacerdotali  sanctificari  oportet," 
is  usually  regarded  as  "  signum  pudoris  et  verecundise."  According  to  Isidor. 
Hispal.  [De  Off.  Ecd.  ii.  c.  19,)  it  is  rather  "signum  humilitatis  et  subjectionis 
erga  maritum."  He  says,  "  Feminje,  dum  maritantur,  velantur,  ut  noverint  per 
hoc  se  viris  esse  subjectas  et  humiles." 

•j-  Quod  nubentes  post  benedictionem  vitta  invicem  quasi  uno  vinculo  copulan- 
tur,  videlicet  ideo  fit,  ne  compagem  conjugalis  unitatis  disrumpant.  Ac  eadem 
vitta  candido  purpureoque  colore  permiscetur ;  candor  quippe  est  ad  munditiem 
vitse,  purpura  ad  sanguinis  posteritatem  adhibetur,  ut  hoc  signo  et  continentia 
et  lex  continendi  ab  utrisque  ad  tempus  admoneantur,  et  post  hoc  reddendum  de- 
titum  non  negetur. — Isidor.  Hispal.  de  Off.  Ecd.  lib.  ii  c.  19. 


SEC.  v.]  REMARKS    UPON    MARRIAGE    RITES.  50i 


cliurch  previous  to  the  time  of  Constantine,  though  they  may  have 
been  in  use  at  an  earlier  date. 

7.  All  the  marriage  rites  and  ceremonies  indicate  that  the  day 
was  observed  as  a  festive  occasion,  while  measures  were  carefully 
taken  to  guard  against  all  excesses  and  improprieties  of  conduct. 
These  festivities  were  celebrated  by  nuptial  processions,  going  out 
to  meet  the  bridegroom  and  conducting  him  home — by  nuptial 
songs,  and  music, ^^  and  marriage  feasts.  These  festivals  are  fre- 
quently the  subject  of  bitter  animadversion  by  the  fathers,  espe- 
cially by  Chrysostom,"  and  often  called  for  the  interposition  of  the 
authority  of  the  church.  It  appears,  however,  that  the  efforts  of 
the  church  were  not  to  abolish  these  convivial  entertainments  and 
festivities,  but  to  restrain  them  within  the  bounds  of  decency  and 
good  order.^^  The  clergy  were  expected  to  refrain  from  attending 
them.*^^ 

8.  In  connection  with  these  festivities,  it  was  customary  to  dis- 
tribute alms  to  the  poor;  and,  instead  of  the  old  Roman  custom  of 
scattering  about  nuts,  to  throw  out  pieces  of  money  to  the  children 
and  to  the  poor. 

*  Presbyteri,  diaconi,  sub-diaconi  vel  deinceps,  quibus  ducendi  uxores  licentia 
modo  non  est  etiam  aliarum  nuptiarum  evitent  convivia,  nee  his  coetibus  miscan- 
tur  ubi  amatoria  canuntur  et  turpia,  aut  obsceni  motus  coi-porum  choreis  et  salta- 
tionibus  efFeruntur,  ne  auditus  et  obtuitus  sacris  ministeriis  deputati  turpium 
spectaculorum  atque  verborum  contagione  polluantur.  On  the  practical  teudency 
of  the  laws  under  the  hierarchy  relating  to  marriage,  see  Planck's  Gesell.  Virfass. 
vol.  ii.  p.  468. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

OF  FUNERAL  RITES  AND  CEREMONIES. 
§  1.  OP  THE  TREATMENT  OF  THE  DEAD. 

The  early  Christians  were  accustomed  to  entertain  cheerful  views 
of  death,  as  a  soft  and  gentle  slumber,  from  which  they  awoke  to  a 
joyful  immortality.  The  common  emblems  of  death  on  their  sepul- 
chral monuments  were  an  anchor,  a  lyre,  a  harp,  a  ship  under  full 
sail ;  or  a  phoenix,  a  crown,  a  palm,  or  other  symbols  of  hope,  and 
of  victory,  and  of  joy.  Their  birthday,  dies  natalis,  was,  in  their 
phraseology,  not  the  day  of  their  natural  birth,  but  of  their  death, 
when  they  were  born  to  a  new  and  nobler  life.  The  natalis  mar- 
tyrum,  in  ancient  history,  ever  indicates  the  day  when  they  sealed 
with  their  blood  their  faith  in  Chi'ist,  and  entered  upon  a  life  ever- 
lasting, where  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling  and  the  weary  are 
at  rest. 

At  a  later  period,  and  subsequent  to  the  age  of  Constantine,  it 
became  customary  to  represent  death  by  the  most  frightful  images. 
The  tendency  of  the  religious  mind  was  to  turn,  from  the  contem- 
plation of  the  bright  and  cheerful,  to  the  dark  and  gloomy  in  reli- 
gion. A  death's  head,  a  skeleton,  the  "  deep,  damp  vault,  the  mat- 
tock, and  the  grave,"  became  the  emblems  of  death;  and  every 
form  and  image  of  what  is  frightful  and  distressing  was  seized  upon 
to  body  forth  a  conception  of  future  woes. 

Christians  were  distinguished  by  their  care  for  the  dead,  and  their 
sympathy  with  the  afflicted.  Their  funeral  solemnities  they  cele- 
brated with  gravity  and  propriety,  with  the  intent  of  showing  due 
respect  for  the  deceased  and  of  administering  consolation  to  sur- 
vivors. These  funeral  services  were  performed  as  a  public  religious 
duty.^  This  is  one  of  the  three  points  for  which  they  were  com- 
mended by  the  apostate  Julian.^ 

The  Christian  church  manifested  from  the  beginning  a  decided 

preference  for  the  custom  of  burying  the  dead/  for  which  they  had 
604 


SEC.  I.]  TREATMENT   OF   THE   DEAD.  505 


the  example  of  Jews.  Gen.  iii.  9  ;  xxiii.  19  ;  Deut.  xxiv.  6 ;  Matt, 
xix.  28 ;  etc.  But  the  custom  of  hiir7ih\g  ihe  dead  at  that  time  pre- 
vailed throughout  the  Roman  empire,  to  which  they  were  zealously 
opposed.*  They  had,  at  first,  no  separate  burying-places  ;  nor  would 
their  circumstances  admit  of  any  such  design.  The  public  burial- 
places,  according  to  both  Jewish  and  Roman  laws,  were  on  the  out- 
side of  cities.*  Matt.  xxvi.  60  ;  Luke  vii.  12 ;  John  xi.  30.  In  the 
fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  centuries  an  open  space  around  the  church 
was  appropriated  for  the  burial  of  princes,  bishops,  and  other  clergy, 
and  afterward  of  those  who  died  in  the  communion  of  the  church. 
This,  like  every  thing  which  was  appropriated  to  the  service  of  the 
church,  was  formally  consecrated.  The  first  instance  of  this  kind 
occurred  in  the  sixth  century.^  In  the  ninth  century  began  the 
custom  of  interring  the  dead  within  the  walls  of  the  church.  This 
arose  from  the  veneration  entertained  for  martyrs.  Churches  were 
erected  over  their  remains.  Then  the  dying  Christian  sought  to  be 
laid  in  his  final  rest  near  the  sainted  martyi*,  and  found  a  grave  in 
the  church  near  his  side. 

Burial-places  were  styled  xoij.iyjT'r^pLa,  plaees  of  repose^  cemeteries, 
denoting  hereby,  not  only  that  the  dead  rest  from  their  earthly 
labours  and  sorrows,  but  pointing  out  the  hope  of  a  future  resur- 
rection.*^ The  graveyard  was  also  styled  the  Lord's  ground,  be- 
cause it  enjoyed  the  immunities  of  the  church,  or  more  properly 


*  The  Romans,  in  ancient  times,  used  to  bury  tlieir  dead.  The  dictator,  Corne- 
lius Sj'lla,  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  first  among  them  whose  corpse  was  burnt, 
and  that  was  done  in  compliance  with  his  own  desire.  Afterward  this  practice 
became  general,  especially  among  the  higher  orders ;  and  continued  to  prevail 
until  the  fourth  century  of  the  Christian  era. — Cic.  De  Legg.  ii.  c.  25  ;  Vikg.  JEn. 
vi.  177.  Plin.  Hut.  Nat.  vii.  c.  5-1 :  "  Ipsum  cremare  apud  Romanos  non  fuit  veteris 
instituti,  terra  condiebantur."  Conf.  Plutarch.  Vitce  Numce ;  Stob.ei, -Serw).  122  ; 
Macrob.  Saturn,  vii.  c.  7 ;  Cod.  Theodos.  lib.  ix.  tit.  6,  leg.  6.  The  first  Roman 
emperor  whose  corpse  was  interred  was  Commodus,  as  we  learn  from  Xiphilinus. 
The  early  Christians  protested  against  the  custom  of  burning  the  bodies  of  the 
dead,  and  advocated  inhumation — a  practice  which  was  always  observed  in  the 
Christian  church.  Corpus  omne,  sive  arescit  in  pulverem,  sive  in  huraorera  solvi- 
tur,  vel  in  cineuam  comprimitur,  vel  in  nidorem  tenetur,  subducitur  nobis ;  sed 
Deo,  elementorum  custodi,  reservatur.  Nee,  ut  creditis,  uUum  damnum  sepul- 
turse  timemus,  sed  veterem  et  meliorem  consuetudinem  humandi  frequentamus. — 
MiNUC.  Fkl.  Octav.  c.  34.  Ego  magis  ridebo  vulgus,  tunc  quoque  cum  ipsos  de- 
functos  atrocisime  exurit,  quos  post  modum,  gulosissime  nutrit,  iisdem  igni- 
bus  et  promerens  et  ofFendens.  0  pietatem  de  crudelitate  ludentem  ! — Tertull. 
De  Resurr.  c.  1.  Conf.  Tertull.  De  Anima,  c.  51  ;  Lactant.  Instil.  Div.  lib.  vi.  c. 
12;  Orig.  contr.  Cels.  lib.  viii. ;  Augustin,  De  Civ.  Dei.  lib.  i.  o.  13;  Euseb.  Hist 
Eccl.  lib.  iv.  c.  16 ;  v.  1. 


506  FUNERAL   RITES   AND    CEREMONIES.  [CHAP.  XXV. 


perhaps,  because  of  tlie  sacred  communion  wliich  those  "who  sleep  in 
the  Lord  were  supposed  to  hold  with  him. 

The  church  did  not  approve  of  the  custom  of  interring  the  dead 
in  family  graves  and  private  sepulchres.  It  was  supposed  to  be  in- 
vidious and  encourage  the  pride  of  distinction. 

Like  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  Christians  erected  monuments  and 
marked  them  with  inscriptions,  tit?.oig,  titulis,  in  memory  of  their 
friends.^  Their  luxury  and  extravagance  in  these  matters  are 
severely  censured  by  Basil  the  Great,  Chrysostom,  and  others. 
Frustra  struunt  homines  pretiosa  sepulcra,  quasi  ea  animse,  nee 
solius  corporis,  receptacula  essent. 

The  funeral  solemnities  of  the  Romans  were  held  by  night.* 
Those  of  Christians,  on  the  other  hand,  were  solemnized  by  day, 
but  with  lighted  tapers,  in  the  fourth  century.  In  times  of  perse- 
cution, the  Christians  were  often  compelled  to  bury  their  dead  by 
night,  and  with  all  possible  secrecy.  But  under  Constantino  and 
his  sons,  Christian  funerals  were  attended  by  day,  and  at  times 
with  great  pomp.  Probally  they  enacted  laws  on  this  subject  in 
favour  of  Christian  burials,  for  the  apostate  Julian  was  compelled 
to  issue  a  positive  decree  to  restore  the  nocturnal  celebration  of 
funeral  rites.* 

The  Jews,  and  the  Eastern  nations  generally  were  accustomed 
to  bury  very  soon  after  death.  The  nature  of  the  climate  might 
direct  to  this  custom;  but  the  principal  reason  probably  was, 
that  by  the  speedy  removal  of  the  corpse,  they  might  avoid  cere- 
monial pollution.  The  custom  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans  corre- 
sponded in  this  respect  with  that  of  the  oriental  nations.  The  early 
Christians  also  conformed  to  the  custom  of  the  country,  in  the  early 
removal  of  the  corpse,  but  they  utterly  discarded  the  idea  that  any 
ceremonial  pollution  could  be  contracted  by  contact  with  the  dead. 
On  the  contrary,  they  fearlessly  exposed  themselves  to  contagion 
by  their  faithful  offices  to  those  who  had  died  of  malignant  diseases 
as  well  as  by  administering  to  their  necessities  in  sickness.'  The 
corpse  was  soon  removed  from  the  house,  but  was  usually  kept  for 


*  EfiFerri  cognovimus  cadavera  mortuorum  per  confertam  populi  frequentiam  et 
per  maxiraam  iusistentium  densitatem :  quod  quidem  oculos  hominum  infaustis  in- 
festat  adspectibus.  Qui  enim  dies  est  bene  auspicatus  a  funere  ?  aut  quomodo 
ad  Deos  et  templa  venietur  ?  Ideoque  quoniam  et  dolor  in  exsequiis  secretum 
amat,  et  diem  functis  nihil  interest,  utrum  per  noctes  an  per  dies  efferantur,  libe- 
rari  convenit  totius  populi  adspectus,  ut  dolor  esse  in  funeribus,  non  ponipa  exe- 
quiarum,  nee  ostentatio  videatur. — Cod.   Tlieodos.  lib.  ix.  tit.  17,  1,  5. 


6EC.  IT.]  AFFECTION  FOR  THE  DYING.  507 

a  day  or  more  in  the  church,  and  from  this  originally  arose  the 
custom  of  keeping  vigils  for  the  dead.^°  The  funeral  was  sometimes 
delayed  for  several  days. 


§  2.    OF   AFFECTION    FOR    THE    DYING. 

The  greatest  attention  was  bestowed  by  the  early  Christians 
upon  the  dying,  and  the  highest  respect  entertained  for  their  final 
counsels,  instructions,  and  prayers.  Their  exhortations  to  surviving 
friends,^  and  their  prayers  in  their  behalf,  were  treasured  up  with 
pious  care.^  Their  will  in  regard  to  the  disposal  of  their  effects, 
and  the  appropriation  of  them  for  objects  of  charity  and  benevo- 
lence, were  religiously  observed.^  The  sign  of  the  cross  was  ad- 
ministered to  them^  in  the  fourth  century.  The  bishop  and  the 
several  orders  of  the  clergy,  as  well  as  relatives  and  friends,  sought 
to  offer  them  consolation.  Prayers  were  offered  in  the  church  for 
them.*  Friends  pressed  around  them  to  give  and  receive  the  parting 
kiss  and  the  last  embrace.^  To  such  as  were  restored  to  Christian 
fellowship  in  their  dying  moments,  the  sacrament  was  administered. 
This  was  afterward  united  with  the  ceremony  of  extreme  unction. 

Friends  and  relatives  closed  the  eyes  and  mouth  of  the  dying^ — 
a  becoming  rite,  which  some  pagan  nations  have  observed.  But  to 
the  early  Christians  this  was  an  emblem  of  the  peaceful  slumber  of 
the  deceased,  from  which  he  was  expected  to  awake  at  the  resur- 
rection of  the  just.^  The  body  was  then  washed  and  clothed  in  a 
garment  usually  of  white  linen,  but  sometimes  made  of  more  costly 
materials  and  ornamented  with  gold,  precious  stones,^  etc.,  which, 
however,  was  the  frequent  subject  of  severe  censure.^'**  The  corpse 
was  laid  out  in  its  best  attire ;  and,  in  Egypt,  in  addition  to  these 
rites,  it  was  frequently  anointed  and  embalmed. 

Christians,  contrary  to  the  custom  of  the  Jews,  deposited  the 
body  in  a  coffin.  This  custom  they  observed  in  common  with  many 
heathen  nations.  The  corpse  was  exposed  to  view  for  some  time 
before  interment,  either  at  home,  or  in  the  streets,  or  more  fre- 
quently in  the  church. ^^  During  this  time  it  was  attended  by  the 
nearest  relatives  and  friends,  whose  duty  it  was  to  perform  these 
last  offices  of  affection  for  the  dead.     The  wailings  of  mourning 

*  Parcite  quaeso  vobis,  parcite  saltern  divitiis  quas  amatis.  Cur  et  martuos 
▼estros  auratis  obvolvitis  vestibus  ?  Cur  ambitio  inter  luctus  lacrimasque  non 
cessat  ?  An  cadavera  divitum  nisi  in  serico  putrescere  nesciunt  ? — Hieeon.  De  Vita 
Paulin. 


508  FUNERAL   RITES   AND   CEREMONIES.  [CHAP.  XXV. 


women  were  on  no  account  allowed,  as  was  customary  among  the 
Jews  and  many  pagan  nations.  Such  lamentations  were  exceed- 
ingly incongruous  to  the  Christian,  who  regarded  death  as  no  loss, 
but  unspeakable  gain. 

The  office  of  sexton  was  of  very  early  date,  and  held  in  high  re- 
pute, as  an  honourable  occupation. 

§  3.    OF   FUNERAL    SOLEMNITIES. 

The  body  was  borne  on  a  bier  in  solemn  procession  to  the  burial- 
place,  and  followed  by  the  relatives  and  friends  of  the  deceased  as 
mourners,  among  whom  the  clergy  and  some  others  were  reckoned. 
Besides  these,  many  others,  as  spectators,  joined  in  the  procession. 
These  processions  were  sometimes  so  thronged  as  to  occasion  seri- 
ous accidents,  and  even  the  loss  of  life.^  It  was  the  duty  of  the 
acolyths  to  conduct  the  procession.  The  bier  was  borne  sometimes 
on  the  shoulder,  and  sometimes  by  the  hands.  The  nearest  rela- 
tions or  persons  of  rank  and  distinction  were  the  bearers.  Even 
the  bishops  and  clergy  often  officiated  in  this  capacity.  In  the 
early  ages  of  the  church  the  nearest  relatives  especially  were  the 
pall-bearers  to  carry  the  body  to  the  grave. 

The  tolling  of  bells  at  funerals  was  introduced  in  the  eighth  and 
ninth  centuries.  This  office  is  expressed  in  the  following  distich, 
which  was  inscribed  upon  the  church-bell : 

Laudo  Deum  verum ;  plebem  voco ;  congresso  clerum, 
Defunctos  ploro  ;  nimbum  fugo  ;  festaque  honor o. 

Previous  to  the  use  of  bells,  the  trumpet  and  wooden  clappers  were 
used  for  similar  purposes. 

The  can-ying  of  the  cross  in  funeral  processions  is  mentioned  in 
the  sixth  century,  and  again  in  the  ninth,  but  it  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  in  earlier  use.  Palms  and  olive-branches  were  carried 
in  funeral  processions  for  the  first  time  in  the  fourth  century,  in 
imitation  of  Christ's  triumphal  entry  into  Jerusalem.  The  cypress 
was  rejected,  because  it  was  a  symbol  of  mourning.  The  carrying 
of  burning  lamps  and  tapers  was  earlier  and  more  general.  This 
was  a  festive  representation  of  the  triumph  of  the  deceased  over 
death,  and  of  his  union  with  Christ,  as  in  the  festival  of  the  Lamb 
in  the  Apocalypse.^  The  Christians  repudiated  the  custom  of 
crowning  the  corpse  and  the  coffin  with  garlands,  as  savouring  of 
idolatry.^  But  it  was  usual  with  them  to  strew  floAvers  upon  the 
grave.*     Lighted  torches  were  sometimes  carried  before  and  after 


SEC.  III.]  FUNERAL   SOLEMNITIES.  509 

the  coffin,  in  token  of  victory  over  death,  and  union  with  Christ  at 
the  marriage-supper  of  the  Lamb.  References  to  this  rite  date 
back  no  further  than  the  fourth  century. 

Psalms  and  hymns  v/ere  sung  while  the  corpse  was  kept,  while 
it  was  carried  in  procession,  and  around  the  grave.  Notices  of  this 
custom  are  found  in  several  authors.^  These  anthems  were  alto- 
gether of  a  joyful  character.  But  Bingham  has  well  remarked  that 
"  we  cannot  expect  to  find  much  of  this  in  the  first  ages,  while  the 
Christians  were  in  a  state  of  persecution ;  but  as  soon  as  their 
peaceable  times  were  come,  we  find  it  in  every  writer.  The  author 
of  the  Apostolical  Constitutions^  gives  this  direction,  that  they 
should  carry  forth  their  dead  with  'reading  the  holy  books  and 
sinking  for  the  martyrs  who  are  fallen  asleep  in  the  Lord;  for  all 
the  saints  from  the  beginning  of  the  world,  and  for  your  brethren 
that  are  asleep  in  the  Lord.'  'For  precious  in  the  sight  of  the 
Lord  is  the  death  of  his  saints.'  And  again  it  is  said,  'Return  to 
thy  rest,  0  my  soul,  for  the  Lord  hath  rewarded  thee.  And  the 
memory  of  the  just  shall  be  blessed ;  and  the  souls  of  the  just  are 
in  the  hand  of  the  Lord.'  These,  probably,  were  some  of  the  versi- 
cles  v/hich  made  up  their  psalmody  on  such  occasions.  For  Chry- 
sostom,  speaking  of  this  matter,  not  only  tells  us  the  reason  of 
their  psalmody,  but  what  particular  psalms  or  portions  of  them  they 
made  use  of  for  this  solemnity.  '  What  mean  our  hymns  ?'  says 
he ;  'do  we  not  glorify  God  and  give  him  thanks,  that  he  hath 
crowned  him  that  is  departed,  that  he  hath  delivered  him  from 
trouble,  that  he  hath  set  him  free  from  all  fear  ?  Consider  what 
thou  singest  at  that  time :  Turn  again  unto  thy  rest,  0  my  soul, 
for  the  Lord  hath  rewarded  thee.  And  again,  I  fear  no  evil,  be- 
cause thou  art  with  me.  And  again,  Thou  art  my  refuge  from 
the  afiliction  which  compasseth  me  about.  Consider  what  these 
psalms  mean.  If  thou  believest  the  things  which  thou  sayest 
to  be  true,  why  dost  thou  weep  and  lament,  and  make  a  mere 
pageantry  and  mock  of  thy  singing  ?  If  thou  believest  them  not 
to  be  true,  why  dost  thou  play  the  hypocrite,  so  much  as  to  sing  ?'^ 
He  speaks  this  against  those  who  used  excessive  mourning  at  fune- 
rals, showing  them  the  incongruity  of  that  with  this  psalmody  of 
the  church."*  (Book  xxiii.  c.  3.) 

Funeral  prayers  also  constituted  an  appropriate  part  of  the  burial- 
service  of  the  dead. 

Funeral  orations,  Xoyo  lstClxt.^eioi,  STtL'td^La,  were  also  delivered, 
commemorative  of  the  deceased.     Several  of  these  are  still  extant, 


510  FUNERAL    RITES    AND    CEREMONIES.  [CIIAP.  XXV. 

as  that  of  Eusebius  at  the  funeral  of  Constantine ;  those  of  Am- 
brose on  the  deaths  of  Theodosius  and  Yalentinian,  and  of  his*  own 
brother  Satjrus  ;  those  of  Gregory,  and  of  Nazianzum  upon  his 
father,  his  brother  Cassarius,  and  his  sister  Gorgonia. 

The  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper  was  administered  at  fune- 
rals and  often  at  the  grave  itself.^  By  this  rite  it  was  intimated 
that  the  communion  of  saints  was  still  perpetuated  between  the 
living  and  the  dead.  It  was  a  favourite  idea  that  both  still  con- 
tinued members  of  the  same  mystical  body,  one  and  the  same  on 
earth  and  in  heaven.  This  mode  of  celebrating  the  supper  was  also 
an  honourable  testimony  to  the  faith  of  the  deceased,  and  of  his 
consistent  Christian  profession  in  life.  The  Roman  Catholic  super- 
stition of  offerings  and  masses  for  the  dead  took  its  rise  from  this 
ancient  usage  of  the  church.  Some  time  previous  to  the  sixth  and 
seventh  centuries,  it  became  customary  to  administer  the  elements 
to  the  dead — to  deposit  a  portion  of  the  consecrated  elements  in 
the  coffin — to  give  a  parting  kiss  of  charity,  and  to  conclude  the 
funeral  solemnities  with  an  entertainment  similar  to  the  agapse. 
Of  these  usages  the  first  mentioned  were  speedily  abolished, ^"^  and 
the  last  was  gradually  discontinued. 

It  was  universally  customary  with  Christians  to  deposit  the  corpse 
in  the  grave,  as  in  modern  times,  facing  the  east ;  and  in  the  same 
attitude  as  at  the  present  day.  The  reasons  for  this  are  given  in 
the  following  extract: — "  Christiani  solent  sepelire — 1.  jSupinos, 
quia  mors  nostra  proprie  non  est  mors,  sed  brevis  quidam  somnus. 
2.  Vultu  ad  coelum  converso,  quia  solo  in  ccelo  spes  nostra  fundata 
est.  3.  Versus  orientem,  argumento  sperandge  et  exoptandae  resur- 
rectionis."  " 

The  burial-service  was  concluded,  like  all  other  religious  solem- 
nities, with  the  Lord's  prayer  and  the  benediction. 

§  4.    OF    MOURNERS. 

Death  was  regarded  by  the  early  Christians,  not  as  an  afl3ictive 
but  joyful  event.  All  immoderate  grief  or  mourning  was  accord- 
ingly inconsistent,  in  their  view,  with  Christian  faith  and  hope.* 

*  Fratres  nostri  non  lugendi  accersione  Dominica  de  sseculo  liberati,  cum  scia- 
mus,  non  eos  omitti,  sed  prsemitti,  recedentes  praecedere,  ut  proficisccntes  et 
navigantes,  desiderari  eos  debere,  non  plangi ;  nee  accipiendas  liic  alras  vestes, 
quando  illi  ibi  indumenta  alba  jam  sumserint:  occasionem  non  dandam  esse  gen- 
tilibus,  ut  nos  merito  et  jure  reprehendant,  quod  quos  vivere  apud  Deum  dicimuB 


SEC.  IV.]  MOURNERS.  511 


For  this  reason^ tliey  severely  reproved  the  Jewish  and  Roman  cus- 
tom of  hiring  women  to  make  lamentations  for  the  dead.^  It  must 
not  be  supposed,  however,  that  they  either  condemned  the  exercise 
of  natural  affection  or  affected  a  stoical  indifference.  On  the  con- 
trary, there  are  many  passages  of  ancient  authors  in  which  the 
right  and  power  of  nature  in  this  respect  are  recognised,  and  a 
becoming  sorrow,  occasioned  by  the  death  of  friends,  is  justified, 
both  on  principles  of  reason,  and  by  reference  to  examples  in  Scrip- 
ture.* 

In  conformity  with  their  views  of  death,  Christians  also  utterly 
discarded  the  Jewish  badges  of  mourning — sackcloth  and  ashes,  and 
garments  rent.  Some  of  the  fathers  severely  censure  the  Roman 
custom  of  wearing  black. ^  Augustin  especially  is  peculiarly  severe 
on  this  point.  "Why,"  says  he,  "should  we  disfigure  ourselves 
with  black,  unless  we  would  imitate  unbelieving  nations,  not  only 
in  their  wailing  for  the  dead,  but  also  in  their  mourning  apparel ! 
Be  assured  these  are  foreign  and  unlawful  usages ;  but  if  lawful, 

ut  exstinctos  et  perditos  lugeamus,  et  fidem,  quam  sermone  et  voce  depromimus, 
cordis  et  pectoris  testimonio  reprobemur. — Cyprian,  De  Mortal.  Omnibus  Chris- 
tianis  prohibitum  defunctos  flere. — Concil.  Tolet.  111. 

*  Non  omnis  infidelitatis  aut  infirmitatis  est  fletus ;  alius  est  naturae  dolor,  alia 
est  tristitia  in  diffidentia,  et  plurimum  refert,  desiderare,  quod  habueris,  et  lugere, 
quod  amiseris.  .  .  .  Fecerunt  et  fletum  magnum  sui,  cum  patriarcliiB  sepe- 
lirentur.  Lacrymae  ergo  pietatis  indices,  non  illices  sunt  doloris.  Lacrymatus 
sum  ergo,  fateor,  et  ego,  sed  lacrymatus  est  et  Dominus;  ille  alienum,  ego  fra- 
trem. — Amrros.  Oral,  in  Obit.  Fratris.  Quorum  nos  vita  propter  amicitise  solatia 
delectabat,  unde  fieri  potest,  ut  eorum  mors  nullam  nobis  ingerat  moestitudinem  ? 
Quam  qui  prohibet,  prohibeat,  si  potest,  arnica  colloquia,  interdicat  amicalera 
societatem,  vel  intercidat  adfectum  omnium  humanarum  necessitudinum,  vincula 
mentis  immiti  stupore  disrumpat,  aut  sic  eis  utendem  esse  censeat,  ut  nulla  ex 
eis  animum  dulcedo  perfundat.  Quod  si  fieri  nullo  modo  potest,  etiam  hoc,  quo 
pacto  futurum  est,  ut  ejus  nobis  amara  mors  non  sit,  cujus  dulcis  est  vita?  Hinc 
enim  est  luctus  quidem  [al.  quidam]  humano  corde  quasi  vulnus  aut  ulcus,  cui 
sanando  adhibentur  ofiBciosae  consolationes.  Non  enim  propterea  est,  quod  non 
sanetur ;  quoniam  quanto  est  animus  melior,  tanto  in  eo  citius  faciliusque  sana- 
tur. — Augustin.  De  Civ.  Dei,  lib.  xix.  c.  8.  Premebam  oculos  ejus  [sc.  matris,] 
et  confluebat  in  prsecordia  mea  mcestitudo  ingens,  et  transfluebat  in  laciimas, 
ibidemque  oculi  mei  violento  animi  imperio  resorbebant  fontem  suum  usque  ad 
siccitatem,  et  in  tali  luctamine  valde  male  mihi  erat.  Turn  vero  ubi  efflavit  ex- 
tremum  spiritum,  puer  Adeodatus  exclamavit  in  planctum,  atque  ab  omnibus 
nobis  coercitus  tacuit.  Hoc  modo  etiam  meum  quiddam  puerile,  quod  labebatur 
in  fletus,  juvenili  voce  cordis  coercebatur  et  tacebat.  Neque  enim  decere  arbitra- 
bamur,  funus  illud  questibus  lacrimosis  gemitibusque  celebrare,  quia  his  plerumque 
solet  deplorari  qusedam  miseria  morientium,  aut  quasi  omnimoda  exstinctio.  At 
ilia  ncc  misere  moriebatur,  nee  omnino  moriebatur. — Augustin.  Confess,  lib.  is 
c.  12.     Couf.  Chrysost.  Horn.  29,  De  Dormient. ;   Horn.  61,  in  Johann. 


512  FUNERAL   RITES   AND    CEREMONIES.  [cHAP.  XXV. 

they  are  not  becoming."^  Black,  however,  was,  from  the  begin- 
ning, the  customary  moui'ning  habit  iu  the  Greek  church,  and  the 
use  of  it  soon  became  generaL 

No  precise  rules  prevailed  respecting  the  duration  of  mourning 
for  the  dead.  This  matter  was  left  to  custom  and  the  feeling  of 
the  parties  concerned.  "  The  heathen  had  a  custom  of  repeating 
their  mourning  on  the  third,  seventh,  and  ninth  day,  which  was 
particularly  called  the  novendiale ;  and  some  added  the  twentieth, 
thirtieth,  and  fortieth,  not  without  a  superstitious  opinion  of  those 
particular  days,  wherein  they  used  to  sacrifice  to  their  manes  with 
milk,  and  wine,  and  garlands,  and  flowers,  as  the  Roman  antiquities 
inform  us.  Something  of  this  superstition,  abating  the  sacrifice, 
■was  still  remaining  among  the  ignorant  Christians  in  St.  Austin's 
time;  for  he  speaks  of  some  who  observed  a  novendial  in  relation 
to  their  dead,*  which  he  thinks  they  ought  to  be  forbidden,  because 
it  was  only  a  heathen  custom.  He  does  not  seem  to  intimate  that 
they  kept  it  exactly  as  the  heathen  did ;  but  rather  that  they  were 
superstitious  in  their  observation  of  nine  days  of  mourning,  which 
■was  without  example  in  Scripture.  There  was  another  way,  of  con- 
tinuing the  funeral  ofiices  for  three  days  together,  which  was  al- 
lowed among  Christians,  because  it  had  nothing  in  it  but  the  same 
■worship  of  God  repeated.  Then  Euodius,  writing  to  St.  Austin,^ 
and  giving  him  an  account  of  the  funeral  of  a  very  pious  young 
man,  ■who  had  been  his  votary,  says  that  he  had  given  him  ho- 
nourable obsequies,  worthy  of  so  great  a  soul :  for  he  continued  to 
sing  hymns  to  God  for  three  days  together  at  his  grave,  and  on  the 
third  day  offered  the  sacraments  of  redemption.  The  author  of 
the  Constitutions^  takes  notice  of  the  repetition  of  the  funeral  ofiice 
on  the  third  day,  and  the  ninth  day,  and  the  fortieth  day,  giving 
peculiar  reasons  for  each  of  them: — "  Let  the  third  day  be  observed 
for  the  dead  with  psalms,  and  lessons,  and  prayers,  because  Christ 
on  the  third  day  rose  again  from  the  dead ;  and  let  the  ninth  day 
be  observed  in  remembrance  of  the  living  and  the  dead ;  and  also 
the  fortieth  day,  according  to  the  ancient  manner  of  the  Israelites 
mourning  for  Moses  forty  days  ;  and  finally  let  the  anniversary  day 
be  observed  in  commemoration  of  the  deceased." 

"  On  the  anniversary  days  of  commemorating  the  dead,  they 
■were  used  to  make  a  common  feast  or  entertainment,  inviting  both 
the  clergy  and  people,  but  especially  the  poor  and  needy,  the 
widows  and  orphans,  that  it  might  not  only  be  a  memorial  of  rest 
to  the   dead,  but  an   odour  of  sweet  smell  to  themselves  in   the 


SEC.  v.]  PRAYERS  FOR  THE  DEAD.  513 

sight  of  God,  as  the  author  under  the  name  of  Origen  words  it. 
St.  Chrysostom  says'^  that  they  were  more  tenacious  of  this  custom 
than  they  were  of  some  others  of  greater  importance.  But  this 
often  degenerated  into  great  abuses."^ 


§  5.  OF  THE  PRAYERS  FOR  THE  DEAD. 

The  fact  is  undeniable  that  the  ancient  church,  at  a  very  early 
period,  entertained  unwarrantable  notions  of  the  efficacy  of  prayer 
for  the  dead,  and  habitually  made  them  the  subject  of  their  inter- 
cessions both  in  their  public  and  their  private  devotions.  This 
subject  is  generally  passed  in  silence  by  the  German  authors  on  the 
antiquities  of  the  Christian  church,  but  it  has  been  discussed  by 
different  writers  of  the  English  church,  particularly  by  Bingham 
and  Usher,  from  whom  the  following  summary  of  ancient  autho- 
rities have  been  chiefly  collected  by  Riddle,^  whose  order  and  lan- 
guage is  adopted  in  the  following  article,  with  some  additions  and 
omissions. 

TertuUian,  (died  220,)  in  his  treatise  on  the  Soldier  s  Chaplef, 
speaks  of  prayer  for  the  dead  as  a  custom  of  the  church  at  the  time 
of  his  writing  that  treatise,  which  was  probably  not  long  after  the 
year  200 : — "  We  make  anniversary  oblations  for  the  dead,  for 
their  birthdays,"  meaning  the  days  of  their  death.*  In  another 
of  his  works  the  same  author  says  that  it  was  the  practice  of  a 
widow  to  pray  for  the  soul  of  her  deceased  husband,  desiring  on  his 
behalf  present  refreshment  or  rest,  and  a  part  in  the  first  resurrec- 
tion; and  offering  annually  an  oblation  for  him  on  the  day  of  his 
falling  asleep,  i.  e.,  his  death.  And  elsewhere  he  represents  a 
bereaved  husband  as  praying  for  the  soul  of  his  deceased  wife,  and 
offering  annual  oblations  for  her.f 

Origen  (died  254)  tells  us  that  Christians  in  his  time  "  thought 
it  right  and  useful  to  make  mention  of  the  saints  in  their  public 


*  Oblationes  pro  defunctis,  pro  natalitiis,  annua  die  facimus. — Tertuli,.  De 
Corona  Militis,  c.  3. 

■j-  Pro  anima  ejus  orat,  et  refrigerium  interim  adpostulat  ei,  et  in  prima  rcsur- 
rectione  consortium,  et  offert  annuls  diebus  dormitionis  ejus. — Id.  De  Monogamia, 
c.  10.  Jam  repete  apud  Deum  pro  cujus  spiritu  postules,  pro  qua  oblationes 
annuas  reddas. — Exhort,  ad  Castit.  c.  11.  TertuUian  held  that  every  little  oifence 
of  the  faithful  would  be  punished  by  delaying  their  resurrection.  Modicum 
quodque  delictum  mora  resurrectionis  luendum. — De  Anima,  c.  58. 

33 


514  FUNERAL    RITES    AXD    CEREMONIES.  [CHAP.  XXV. 

prayers,  and  to  improve  themselves  by  the  commemoration  of  their 
worthies.* 

Cyprian  (died  258)  aflfirms  that  in  his  time  it  was  the  practice  of 
Christians  to  offer  oblations  and  sacrifices  of  commemoration  for 
martyrs,  on  the  anniversary  days  of  their  martyrdom,  with  thanks- 
giving ;  and  he  refers  also  to  the  oblations  and  supplications,  or 
deprecatory  prayers,  on  behalf  of  other  departed  members  of  the 
church. f  In  another  place  Cyprian  says — "When  we  have  de- 
parted hence,  there  is  no  place  left  for  repentance,  and  no  effect  of 
satisfaction."! 

Arnohius,  in  his  treatise  against  the  heathen,  written  probably 
about  the  year  305,  speaking  of  the  prayers  offered  after  the  con- 
secration of  the  elements  in  the  Lord's  supper,  says  that  Chris- 
tians prayed  for  pardon  and  peace  on  behalf  of  the  living  and  the 
dead.§ 

Cyril  of  Jerusalem  (died  386)  reports  the  prayer  made  after  con- 
secration of  the  elements  at  the  holy  communion,  in  these  words : 
"We  offer  this  sacrifice  in  memory  of  all  those  who  have  fallen 
asleep  before  us,  first,  patriarchs,  prophets,  apostles,  and  martyrs, 
that  God  by  their  prayers  and  intercessions  may  receive  our  suppli- 
cations ;  and  then  we  pray  for  our  holy  fathers  and  bishops,  and 
all  that  have  fallen  asleep  before  us,  believing  that  it  is  a  great  ad- 
vantage to  their  souls  to  be  prayed  for,  while  the  holy  and  tremen- 
dous sacrifice  lies  upon  the  altar."  ^ 

The  same  writer  furnishes  evidence  that  in  his  time  many  persons 
doubted  the  efficacy  of  prayer  as  a  means  of  procuring  benefit  to 
the  dead.  "I  know  many,"  he  observes  in  the  same  book,  "who 
say,  W^hat  profit  does  the  soul  receive  that  goes  out  of  this  world, 
either  with  sins,  or  without  sins,  if  you  make  mention  of  it  in 
prayer?" 

*  Meminisse  sanctorum  sive  in  coUectis  solennibus,  sive  pro  eo  ut  ex  recorda- 
tione  eorum  proficiamus,  aptum  et  conveniens  videtur. — Orig.  lib.  ix.  in  Rom.  12. 

j-  Celebrentur  hie  a  nobis  oblationes  et  saci-ificia  ob  commemorationes  eoruin 
Cypr.  Ep.  37,  al.  22,  ad  Clerum.  Sacrificia  pro  eis  semper,  ut  meministis,  oflFeri- 
mus,  quoties  martyrum  passiones  et  dies  anniversaria  commemoratione  cele- 
bramus. — Ep.  34,  al.  39.  Non  est  quod  pro  dormitione  ejus  apud  vos  fiat  oblatio, 
aut  deprecatio  aliqua  nomine  ejus  in  ecclesia  frequentetur. — Ep.  66,  al.  1. 

J  Quando  istbinc  excessum  fuerit,  nullus  jam  locus  poenitentiie  est  nuUus  satis- 
factiones  effectus. — Cypk.  ad  Demetrian,  g  16. 

§  Cur  immaniter  conventicula  nostra  dirui  meruerint  ?  In  quibus  summus 
oratur  Deus,  pax  cunctis  et  venia  postulatur,  magistratibus,  exercitibus,  regibus, 
familiaribus,  inimicis,  adhuc  vitam  degentibus,  et  resolutis  corporum  vinctione. — 
Arnob.  Adv.  Gentcs,  lib.  iv. 


SEC.  v.]  PRAYERS  FOR  THE  DEAD.  515 

Gregory  of  Nazianzum  (died  390)  prayed  that  God  would  receive 
tlie  soul  of  his  brother  Csesarius.'^  Archbishop  Usher  quotes  the 
following  passage  from  this  father,  in  testimony  of  his  dissent  from 
the  opinion  that  the  dead  could  be  profited  by  the  prayers  of  the 
living: — "Then  in  vain  shall  one  go  about  to  relieve  those  that 
lament.  Here  men  may  have  a  remedy,  but  afterward  there  is 
nothing  but  bonds,  or  all  things  are  fast  bound."*  It  may  be  ob- 
served that  this  passage  proves  only  that  Gregory  esteemed  prayer 
of  no  avail  to  those  who  may  die  in  sin. 

In  the  writings  of  Ambrose,  (died  397,)  we  meet  with  prayers  of 
that  father  on  behalf  of  the  deceased  Theodosius  and  Valentinian, 
and  his  own  brother ;  and  we  find  him  giving  instructions  to  a 
Christian  not  to  weep  for  a  deceased  sister,  but  to  make  prayers  and 
oblations  for  her."  The  same  author  affirms,  in  another  place,  that 
"death  is  a  haven  of  rest,  and  makes  not  our  condition  worse  ;  but 
according  as  it  finds  every  man,  so  it  reserves  him  to  the  judgment 
that  is  to  come."* 

Aerius  appears  to  have  been  the  first  who  publicly  protested 
against  the  practice  of  praying  for  the  dead ;  which  he  did  upon 
the  ground  of  the  uselessness  of  such  prayers  to  those  who  were 
the  subjects  of  them.  His  objections  were  met  by  Upiphanius, 
(died  403,)  who  maintained,^  first,  that  prayer  for  the  dead  was 
useful,  as  testifying  the  faith  and  hope  of  the  living,  inasmuch  as 
it  showed  their  belief  that  the  departed  were  still  in  being,  and 
living  with  the  Lord ;  and  secondly,  as  a  further  argument  that 
"  the  prayer  which  is  made  for  them  does  profit,  although  it  do  not 
cut  ofi"  all  their  sins ;  yet,  forasmuch  as  while  we  are  in  the  world 
we  oftentimes  slip,  both  unwillingly  and  with  our  will,  it  serves  to 
signify  that  which  is  more  perfect.  For  we  make,"  continues  he, 
"  a  memorial  both  for  the  just  and  for  sinners  ;  for  sinners,  entreat- 
ing the  mercy  of  God ;  for  the  just,  (both  the  fathers  and  patriarchs, 
the  prophets,  and  apostles,  and  evangelists,  and  martyrs,  and  con- 
fessors ;  bishops  also,  and  authorities,  and  the  whole  order,)  that 
we  may  serve  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  from  the  rank  of  all  other  men, 
by  the  honour  that  we  do  unto  him,  and  that  we  may  yield  worship 
unto  him." 

Clirysostom,  (died  407,)  speaking  of  the  death  of  the  wicked,  says, 
"  They  are  not  so  much  to  be  lamented  as  succoured  with  prayers, 
and  supplications,  and  alms,  and  oblations.  For  these  things  were 
not  designed  in  vain,  neither  is  it  without  reason  that  we  make 
mention  of  those  that  are  deceased  in  the  holy  mysteries,  inter- 


516  FUNERAL   RITES   AND    CEREMONIES.  [CHAP.  XXV. 

ceding  for  them  to  the  Lamb  that  is  slain  to  take  away  the  sins  of 
the  world ;  but  that  some  consolation  may  hence  arise  to  them. 
Neither  is  it  in  vain  that  he  who  stands  at  the  altar,  when  the  tre- 
mendous mysteries  are  celebrated,  cries,  '  We  offer  unto  thee  for 
all  those  that  are  asleep  in  Christ,  and  all  that  make  commemora- 
tions for  them.'  For  if  there  were  no  commemorations  made  for 
them,  these  things  would  not  be  said.  Let  us  not  therefore  grow 
weary  in  giving  them  our  assistance,  and  offering  prayers  for 
them. 

"Let  us  not  be  weary  in  aid  of  the  departed,  and  in  prayer  for 
them,  for  the  communion  is  a  sin-offering  for  the  whole  world. 
Encouraged  by  this  consideration,  we  pray  for  the  whole  world ; 
and  Avith  martyrs,  confessors,  and  priests,  we  make  mention  also  of 
them  (the  dead)  in  our  prayers,  and  it  surely  is  possible  by  our 
prayers,  by  our  offerings  in  their  behalf,  and  by  the  (saints)  invoked 
in  connection  with  them,  to  obtain  pardon  for  them."*  Several 
other  passages  to  the  same  effect  may  be  found  in  Bingham  and 
Riddle. 

Augustin  (died  430)  maintained  that  the  martyrs  do  not  need 
the  prayers  of  the  church,  and  that  we  ought  to  offer  only  thanks- 
givings on  their  behalf.  He  considered  that  the  prayers  of  the 
living  might  be  of  some  advantage  to  such  of  the  dead  as  had  been 
guilty  of  only  minor  trespasses ;  but  that  they  could  not  at  all 
assist  those  who  had  been  very  wicked.  "There  goes  a  common 
saying  under  his  name,"  says  Bingham,  "  which  Pope  Innocent  IIL 
quotes  as  holy  Scripture,  'that  he  who  prays  for  a  martyr  does 
injury  to  the  martyr,  because  they  attained  to  perfection  in  this  life, 
and  have  no  need  of  the  prayers  of  the  church,  as  all  others  have.' 
Tlierefore,  he  says,  '  When  they  were  named  at  the  altar,  and  their 
memorials  celebrated,  they  did  not  commemorate  them  as  persons 
for  whom  they  prayed,  as  they  did  all  others  that  rested  in  peace, 
but  rather  as  men  that  prayed  for  the  church  on  earth,  that  we 
might  follow  their  steps.'  Upon  this  account,  St.  Austin  thought 
that  oblations  and  alms  that  were  usually  offered  in  the  church  for 
all  the  dead  that  had  received  baptism  were  only  thanksgivings  for 
such  as  were  very  good,  and  propitiations  for  those  that  were  not 

*  M^  hi]  Attoxvfiu>fttv  fwj  orttX^oiJot  por;^ovv(i^,  xai,  Jtpootpcpovtii  iftsp  av-tuiv 
ivxO'S'  xai  yap  to  xoivov  Tjjj  olxov/jivrji  xtitai  xa^apaiov,  6ia  tovto  ^apliovvtti  VTtip 
"trii  oixovfiivrji  6(ojUE^a  toti,  xai  ^cta  ■fuiv  i^aptvpcov  avtovi  xoTuOV/xiv,  fieta  oyuoXo- 
yf-tiov  y-ita.  ifpuij'"  *tti — bwa-t'ov  Havto^tv  avyyvuifirjv  auToij  ovvayaynv  ano  tuv 
ivX^v,  arlo  -tiov  5<jp<oj',  arCo  rCjv  fitt'  avrwv  xaXov/jivuv. — Chrysost.  Horn.  41,  1  Cor. 


SEC.  v.]  PRAYEKS  FOR  THE  DEAD.  517 

very  bad ;  and  for  such  as  were  very  evil,  though  they  were  no 
helps  to  them  when  they  were  dead,  yet  they  were  some  consola- 
tion to  the  living.  And  to  those  who  derive  any  benefit  from  these 
prayers,  this  is  the  benefit,  either  that  they  obtain  a  full  remission, 
or  that  their  condemnation  be  made  more  tolerable." 

In  the  Confessions  of  Augustin,  (lib.  ix.  c.  13,)  we  find  a  long 
prayer  of  this  writer  in  behalf  of  his  departed  mother,  Monica. 

Theodoret  (died  456)  says,  "After  death  the  punishment  of  sin 
is  without  remedy  (immedicabilis)."  [Qusest.  in  lib.  ii.  Reg.,  cap. 
18,  19.) 

In  the  Apostolical  Constitutions  we  find  the  following  prayer 
among  those  which  are  appointed  to  be  repeated  after  the  consecra- 
tion of  the  elements  in  the  Lord's  Supper : 

"  We  offer  unto  thee  for  all  thy  saints  that  have  lived  well- 
pleasing  in  thy  sight  from  the  foundation  of  the  world,  for  pa- 
triarchs, prophets,  holy  men,  apostles,  martyrs,  confessors,  bishops, 
presbyters,  deacons,  subdeacons,  readers,  singers,  virgins,  widows, 
laymen,  and  all  whose  names  thou  knowest." 

The  form  of  prayer  to  be  used  at  funerals,  as  given  in  the  Con- 
stitutions, (lib.  vii.  c.  41,)  is  still  more  express. 

Tliis  chapter  is  particularly  worthy  of  notice  as  introducing  the 
idea  of  the  ministry  of  guardian  angels  for  the  dying  and  the  dead. 
The  prayer  is  for  them  who  have  fallen  asleep,  (i;7tfp  tciv  xsxol- 
fiyjfisvoj',)  for  our  brethren  that  are  at  rest  in  Christ,  [vTtep 
dvaTtavaafiefov  iv  Xp/cTTO)  a.S£?L<pG)v.)  Very  remarkable  in  this 
prayer  is  the  passage,  "  Forgive  him,  if  voluntarily  or  involuntarily 
he  hath  sinned,  and  afford  him  merciful  angels,"  [dyye/iovg  sv^svelc, 
TtapdatYjCfov  ai'To.)  Here  is  expressed  a  view  which  our  consti- 
tutions have  in  common  with  many  of  the  church  fathers,  namely, 
that  in  the  death  of  men,  angels  assist  the  dying;  the  angel  of 
peace,  the  pious ;  who  soothes  their  souls,  leads  them  to  heaven, 
and  conducts  them  to  God.  It  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  determine 
the  age  of  this  prayer ;  for  nothing  is  contained  in  it  that  could 
lead  to  individual  relations  of  time.  There  is,  however,  no  ground 
at  all  to  deny  its  belonging  to  the  age  of  Chrysostom ;  and  our 
opinion  is  corroborated  by  the  consideration  that  his  extended 
liturgy,  embracing  all  parts  of  the  ecclesiastical  life,  contained  also, 
perhaps,  this  prayer  for  them  who  have  fallen  asleep.  It  is  here 
to  be  further  remarked,  that  in  the  author  of  the  Incomplete  Work 
on  Mattheiv,  (xxiv.  43,)  is  found  the  same  representation  of  the 
angel  which  we  have  pointed  out  in  this  prayer.     In  the  passage 


)18  rUNEKAL   RITES   AND   CEREMONIES.         [CHAP.  XXV. 


cited,  he  calls  liim  the  angel  of  death,  (angelum  mortis.)  Pearson 
has  proved  that  this  author  lived  soon  after  the  time  of  the  Em- 
peror Theodosius  [who  died  A.  D.  395] ;  and  hence  it  is  very  possi- 
ble that  the  mention  of  that  angel  proceeded  from  the  representa- 
tion prevalent  in  the  time  common  to  them  both. 

Jerome  (died  420)  says : — "  While  we  are  in  this  present  world 
wo  may  be  able  to  help  one  another,  either  by  our  prayers  or  by 
our  counsels ;  but  when  we  shall  come  before  the  judgment-seat 
of  Christ,  neither  Job,  nor  Daniel,  nor  Noah  can  entreat  for  any 
one,  but  every  one  must  bear  his  own  burden."^ 

On  the  whole,  therefore,  it  appears  that  from  the  time  of  Ter- 
tullian,  at  least,  and  probably  from  a  still  earlier  date,  the  church 
was  accustomed  to  offer  prayers  for  the  dead.  Many  teachers  of 
the  church  during  the  third  and  fourth  centuries  sanctioned  this 
superstitious  practice  ;  some  of  them  encouraging  a  belief  that  the 
prayers  of  the  living  were  a  means  of  procuring  certain  imaginary 
benefits  for  those  who  had  died  in  sin,  as  well  as  for  those  who  had 
departed  in  the  faith ;  but  others  affirming  that  the  dead  could  de- 
rive no  benefit  from  the  prayers  of  survivors.  So  that  while  it  was 
the  erroneous  opinion  that  prayers  and  oblations  ought  to  be  made 
for  the  dead,  and  was  the  received  and  universal  doctrine  of  the 
church,  it  was  yet  a  question  among  Christian  doctors,  on  which 
they  were  allowed  to  differ,  whether  the  dead  received  any  profit 
from  such  prayers.  The  entire  abandonment  of  a  custom  so  much 
at  variance  with  Divine  truth  was  reserved  for  that  brighter  period 
in  the  history  of  the  church  in  which  "the  Bible,  the  Bible  alone," 
began  (perhaps  for  the  first  time  since  the  commencement  of  the 
second  century)  to  be  recognised  as  the  sole  depository  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  our  religion,  and  the  only  unerring  guide  of  Christian 
practice. 

When  the  prayers  of  the  early  Church  were  offered  in  behalf  of 
persons  supposed  to  have  died  in  the  faith,  who  were  regarded  as 
;ibout  to  enter  into  happiness,  Christians  were  understood  to  be- 
seech God  that  he  would  receive  those  persons  to  himself;  they 
gave  thanks  for  their  deliverance  out  of  this  sinful  world  ;  they 
petitioned  for  the  Divine  forgiveness  of  all  remains  of  sin  and  im- 
perfection in  the  departed;  they  intended  to  offer  a  tribute  of 
respect  and  affection  to  the  deceased,  and  to  testify  their  own  belief 
of  the  immortality  of  the  soul  and  a  future  life ;  and  they  sought 
to  procm^e  for  their  departed  friends  the  blessings  of  an  early  share 
in  the  millennial  reign  of  Christ  upon  earth,  (which  was  confidently 


EEC.  v.]  PRAYERS  FOR  THE  DEAD.  519 

expected  by  the  early  Christians,)  as  well  as  favour  at  the  day  of 
judgment,  (when  they  supposed  that  all  men  would  pass  through  a 
fire  of  purgation,)  and  an  augmentation  of  their  reward  and  glory 
in  the  state  of  final  blessedness. 

It  is  certain  also  that  prayers  were  offered  for  those  who  had  died 
in  sin,  in  the  hope  of  mitigating  their  sufi'erings,  or  rendering  their 
condemnation  more  tolerable.^ 

The  extracts  which  follow  are  added  to  show  what  sentiments 
were  held  by  the  early  church  on  this  subject,  and  by  what  per- 
versions of  these  errors  the  Romish  doctrine  of  purgatory  was 
evolved. 

"  Christians,"  says  Dr.  Burton,  "  were  at  this  time  (namely,  in 
the  middle  of  the  third  century)  generally  agreed  in  supposing  that 
the  soul  in  its  separate  or  disembodied  state  enjoyed  a  kind  of  con- 
sciousness, and  was  not  insensible  or  asleep.  They  seem,  also,  to 
have  considered  that  the  souls  of  good  and  bad  men  were  in  a 
difterent  state,  or  rather  in  a  different  place ;  for  we  have  little 
means  of  judging  of  the  opinion  of  the  early  Christians  as  to  the 
actual  condition  of  the  souls  of  bad  men :  but  with  respect  to  the 
souls  of  the  righteous,  they  conceived  them  to  be  in  a  place  by 
themselves,  where  they  enjoyed  a  kind  of  foretaste  of  the  happi- 
ness which  awaited  them  hereafter.  It  was  also  believed  by  a  large 
portion  of  Christians,  that  the  resurrection  of  the  righteous  would 
take  place  before  the  final  resurrection  of  all  mankind  at  the  day 
of  judgment.  .  .  .  When  they  spoke  of  the  first  resurrection, 
they  meant  that  the  righteous  would  rise  and  reign  with  Christ 
upon  earth  for  a  thousand  years,  at  the  end  of  which  period  the 
general  resurrection  would  take  place.  It  was  natural  for  them  to 
add  to  this  belief,  that  the  souls  of  the  righteous,  while  they  were 
in  their  separate  abode,  were  anxiously  looking  forward  to  the  time 
of  the  first  resurrection,  when  they  would  be  released  from  their 
confinement ;  and  their  surviving  friends  did  not  think  it  improper 
to  make  it  a  subject  of  their  own  prayers  to  God,  that  He  would  be 
pleased  to  hasten  the  period  when  those  who  had  departed  in  His 
faith  and  fear  might  enter  into  his  heavenly  kingdom. 

"  This  was  the  only  sense  in  which  prayers  were  offered  for  the 
dead  by  the  early  Christians.  They  did  not  think  that  their 
prayers  could  affect  the  present  or  future  condition  of  those  who 
were  departed.  They  believed  them  to  be  in  a  state  of  happiness 
immediately  after  death,  and  to  be  certain  of  enjoying  still  greater 
happiness  hereafter.     It  was  only  the  period  of  their  entering  upon 


520  FUNERAL   RITES   AND    CEREMONIES.  [CHAP.  XXV. 


this  final  state  which  was  supposed  to  be  affected  by  the  prayers 
of  the  living ;  and  it  afforded  a  melancholy  satisfaction  to  the  latter 
to  meet  at  the  graves  of  their  friends,  or  on  the  anniversary  of  their 
death,  and  to  remember  them  in  their  prayers  to  God." 

§  6.    OF   THE    ORIGIN   OF   THE   DOCTRINE    OP   PURGATORY. 

"  The  idea  of  Hades,  which  was  known  both  to  the  Hebrews  and 
the  Greeks,  was  transferred  to  Christianity,  and  the  assumption 
that  the  true  happiness  or  the  final  misery  of  the  departed  does  not 
commence  till  after  the  general  judgment  and  the  resurrection  of 
the  body,  appeared  to  render  necessary  the  belief  in  an  interme- 
diate state.  The  soul  was  supposed  to  remain  there  from  the  mo- 
ment of  its  separation  from  the  body  to  the  said  catastrophe.  Jus- 
tin Martyr  makes  the  souls  of  the  pious  take  up  their  temporary 
abode  in  a  better,  those  of  the  wicked  in  a  worse  place.^  He  even 
terms  that  doctrine  heretical  (§  80)  according  to  which  the  souls  are 
received  into  heaven  immediately  after  death ;  but  he  admits  that 
they  have  a  presentiment  of  their  future  destiny.  Irenaeus  also 
assigns  to  the  soul  a  separate  place  of  abode,  where  it  awaits  the 
resurrection  of  the  body,  to  which  it  is  then  reunited.^  Tertullian 
speaks  of  the  sequestration  of  the  body,  but  explicitly  rejects  the 
notion  of  the  sleep  of  the  body.^  He  held  that  the  martyrs  went 
immediately  to  the  abode  of  the  blessed. 

The  oriental  idea  of  a  purifying  fire  occurs  also  during  this  period, 
in  the  writings  of  Clement  of  Alexandria  and  Origen.  This  purify- 
ing fire,  however,  is  not  thought  to  perform  its  work  in  the  interme- 
diate state,  but  is  either  taken  in  a  comprehensive  sense,  or  sup- 
posed to  stand  in  some  connection  or  other  with  the  general 
conflagration  of  the  world.*  Origen  thought  that  this  baptism  of 
fire  at  the  end  of  the  world  would  be  necessary  for  those  who  have 
forfeited  the  baptism  of  the  spuit.^ 

§  7.    OF    the    WORSHIP    OF    MARTYRS,  SAINTS,  AND   ANGELS.i 

The  worship  of  these  came  into  use  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  cen- 
turies. Some  few  traces  of  such  worship  at  earlier  periods  may  be 
found,  and  innumerable  instances  of  a  later  date.  It  has  been  a 
great  question  whether  such  were  invoked  as  direct  mediators  with 
God,  or  not ;  and  again,  whether  these  invocations  imply  the  offer- 
ing of  such  divine  honours  as  are  paid  to  Christ  or  to  God.     This 


SEC.  VII.]    WORSHIP   OF   MARTYRS,  SAINTS,  AND  ANGELS.  521 


the  Catholic  writers  generally  deny.  Their  assertion  is,  that  these 
invocations  are  not  acts  of  adoration,  but  only  a  means  of  grace  to 
awaken  pious  feeling  and  to  aid  us  in  rendering  due  worship  to  God. 
Non  sancti  Dei  appetunt  indebitas  laudes  sed  ut  rationahile  Jiat  oh- 
sequium  nostrum.^  The  saints  are  not  our  immediate  intercessom 
with  God ;  but  whatever  they  obtain  for  us  from  God,  they  obtain 
through  Christ.  We  therefore  invoke  the  saints,  to  the  end  that 
they  may  do  that  which  we  also  do,  and  which  they  are  better  able 
to  do  than  we  are ;  and  the  united  prayer  of  both  must  be  more 
influential  than  that  of  us  alone.  We  only  implore  the  saints  to 
intercede  with  God  for  us,  that  the  merits  of  Christ  may  be  applied 
to  us ;  and  that  through  him  we  may  obtain  grace  and  glory.  "^ 

The  evangelical  church,  on  the  other  hand,  contend  that  all  wor- 
ship of  saints  and  images  is  idolatry.  The  primitive  church,  while 
they  scrupulously  worshipped  Christ  as  God,  rejected  with  abhor- 
rence the  worship  of  saints  and  of  images.^ 

The  history  of  the  delusion  above  mentioned  is  sketched  by 
Gieseler  in  the  following  terms  : — 

"  The  notion  that  the  prayers  of  the  dead  availed  for  the  living 
was  prevalent  in  the  school  of  Origen  even  in  the  third  century,* 
but  had  not  yet  sufficient  authority  to  influence  directly  the  mode 
of  honouring  the  martyrs. 

*  Origines  in  Cant.  Cant.  lib.  iii.  ed.  de  la  Rue,  t.  iii.  p.  75 :  Sed  et  omnes  sancti, 
qui  de  hac  vita  decesserunt,  habentes  adhuc  charitatem  erga  eos  qui  in  hoc  mundo 
sunt,  si  dicantur  curam  gerere  salutis  eorum,  et  juvare  eos  precibus  suis  atque 
interventu  suo  apud  Deum,  non  erit  inconveniens. — Idem,  in  libr.  Jesu  Naz.  Horn.  16, 
§  5,  (t.  ii.  p.  437 :)  Ego  sic  arbitror,  quod  omnes  illi,  qui  dormierunt  ante  nos, 
patres  pugnent  nobiscum  et  adjuvent  nos  orationibus  suis.  Ita  namque  etiam 
quemdam  de  senioribus  magistris  audivi  dicentem  in  eo  loco,  in  quo  scriptum  est 
in  Numeris,  (xxii.  4,)  quia  ablinget  synagoga  ilia  hanc  synagogam,  sicut  ablingit  vitu- 
lus  herbam  viridem  in  campo.  Dicebat  ergo  :  Quare  hujusmodi  similitude  assumta 
est,  nisi  quia  hoc  est,  quod  intelligendum  est  in  hoc  loco,  quod  synagoga  Domini, 
qua;  nos  prsecessit  in  Sanctis,  ore  et  lingua  consumit  adversariam  synagogam,  i.  e. 
orationibus  et  precibus  adversarios  nostros  absumit? — Idem,  in  Epist.  ad  Rom. 
lib.  ii.  p.  479  :  Jam  vero  si  etiam  extra  corpus  positi  vel  sancti,  qui  cum  Christo 
sunt,  agunt  aliquid,  et  laborant  pro  nobis  ad  sipiilitudinem  angelorum,  qui  salutis 
nostra}  ministeria  procurant:  vel  rursum  peccatores  etiam  ipsi  extra  corpus  positi 
agunt  aliquid  secundum  propositum  mentis  suse,  ad  angelorum  nihilominus  simili- 
tudinem  sinistrorum,  cum  quibus  et  in  aeternum  ignem  mittendi  dicuntur  a  Christo: 
liabeatur  et  hoc  quoque  inter  occulta  Dei,  nee  chartulx  committenda  mysteria.  Origen's 
follower,  Eusebius  prtep.  Evang.  xii.  c.  3,  begins  with  referring  to  Plato  de  Legg. 
lib.  xi.,  and  then  proceeds :  Kai  sv  -toi  |3i-',3^g)  hi  ■titv  Maxxa/3at.wi'  (2  Mace.  xv.  14) 
^iys^ae.  Ifpf(U.i.aj  o  Tipo^rjtrii  fiita  xriv  artaX^.oy^i'  •foti  |3iioD,  svxo^i-f^voi  opaa^at  vHtfi  -iov 
Xaov,  W5  (J>poj'T'i.6a  rtoi. ovjusroj  tZjv  tTii  y^;  oi'^piortcoi'.  Aft  ht  <|))^3t  xom-  o  YlXa-tiitv 
Tovrotj  Tiiativtiv.     Hence  the  custom,  very  early,  of  asking  the  living  martyrs  for 


522  FUNERAL    RITES    AND    CEREMONIES.  [CHAP.  XXV. 


"  The  more  remote  the  times  of  the  martyrs,  the  greater  the 
adoration  paid  to  them.  The  heathen  converts,  natm-ally  enough, 
transferred  to  them  the  honours  they  had  been  used  to  pay  their 
demigods,  while  the  horror  of  creature-worship,  which  had  hitherto 
operated  as  a  check  on  the  growing  superstition,  had  been  gradu- 
ally dying  away  since  the  extinction  of  paganism.  As  men  had 
long  been  accustomed  to  assemble  for  public  worship  at  the  graves 
of  the  martyrs,  the  idea  of  erecting  churches  {(laprvpLOr,  memoria) 
over  them  would  readily  occur.  In  Egypt,  the  Christians  began  to 
embalm  the  bodies  of  reputed  saints  and  keep  them  in  their  houses. 
The  communion  with  the  martyrs  being  thus  associated  with  the 
presence  of  their  material  remains,  these  were  dug  up  from  the 
graves  and  placed  in  the  churches,  especially  under  the  altars ;  and 
the  popular  feeling  having  now  a  visible  object  to  excite  it,  became 
more  extravagant  and  superstitious  than  ever.  The  old  opinion  of 
the  efficacy  of  their  intercession  who  had  died  a  martyr's  death, 
was  now,  united  with  the  belief  that  it  was  possible  to  communicate 
Avith  them  directly ;  a  belief  founded  partly  on  the  popular  notion 
that  departed  souls  always  lingered  around  the  bodies  they  had 
once  inhabited,  and  partly  on  the  views  entertained  of  the  glorified 
state  of  the  martyrs,  a  sort  of  omnipresence  being  ascribed  to  them. 
These  notions  may  be  traced  to  Origen,  and  his  followers  were  the 
first  who  apostrophized  the  martyrs  in  their  sermons,  and  besought 
their  intercession.  But  though  the  orators  were  somewhat  extrava- 
gant in  this  respect,  they  were  far  outdone  by  the  poets,  who  soon 
took  up  this  theme,  and  could  find  no  expressions  strong  enough  to 
describe  the  power  and  the  glory  of  the  martyrs.  Their  relics  soon 
besan  to  work  miracles,  and  to  be  valuable  articles  of  trade.  In 
proportion  as  men  felt  the  need  of  such  intercession  they  sought  to 
increase  the  number  of  the  intercessors.  Not  only  those,  who,  on 
account  of  services  rendered  the  church,  were  inscribed  in  the  Dip- 
tycha,  but  the  pious  characters  from  the  Old  Testament  and  the 
most  distinguished  of  the  monks  were  ranked  among  the  saints. 
Martyrs  before  unknown  announced  themselves  in  visions ;  others 
revealed  the  place  of  their  burial.  From  the  beginning  of  the  fifth 
century  the  prayers  for  the  saints  were  discontinued,  as  unbefitting 


tlieir  intercession  after  death.  Thus  Euseb.  de  Martyr.  Palcest.  cap.  7,  relates 
that  a  certain  Theodocia  in  Caesarea  approached  the  martyrs  who  were  awaiting 
deat'i.  ojxov  (piXo^povovj.uvr;.,  xai  ola  fixo;  vHep  -fov  fivr^fiovtviiv  avr^s  rtpo?  tbv  xvpiov 
ytvoiuvovi  napaxaXovaa.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  as  yet  no  trace  of  prayers  to 
the  dead. 


SEC.  VIII.]      RECAPITULATION. — CEMETERIES,  CATACOMBS.  523 

tlieir  glorified  state.  Christians  were  now  but  seldom  called  upon 
to  address  their  prayers  to  God  ;  the  usual  mode  being  to  pray  only 
to  some  saint  for  his  intercession.  With  this  worship  of  the  saints 
were  joined  many  of  the  customs  of  the  heathen.  Men  chose  their 
patron  saints,  and  dedicated  churches  to  their  worship.  The  hea- 
then, whom  the  Christians  used  to  reproach  with  worshipping  dead 
men,  found  now  ample  opportunity  of  retort. 

"  Throughout  the  fourth  century  there  was  no  peculiar  preference 
of  the  Virgin  Mary  above  other  saints.  The  church  went  as  yet  no 
further  than  to  maintain  the  doctrine  of  her  perpetual  virginity,  to 
which  the  monastic  notions  of  the  time  naturally  led.  The  opinion 
that  she  had  ever  borne  other  children  than  Jesus  was  declared  to 
be  heresy ;  as  for  instance  by  Epiphanius,  in  the  case  of  the  Avtcoi- 
zouapiavitai  in  Arabia,  A.  D.  367,  by  Jerome  in  the  case  of  Hel- 
vidius  at  Rome,  A.  D.  383,  and  by  the  Macedonian  bishops  in  the 
case  of  Bonosus,  bishop  of  Sardica,  A.  D.  391,  while  it  was  shown 
in  Avhat  way  she  gave  birth  to  our  Saviour  without  ceasing  to  be  a 
virgin.  Neither  did  the  teachers  of  the  church  in  the  fourth  cen- 
tury scruple  to  attribute  to  her  faults ;  and  Epiphanius  includes 
certain  women  in  his  catalogue  of  heretics,  for  their  extravagant 
adoration  of  the  Vii'gin.  The  Nestorian  controversy  first  led  men 
to  set  her  above  all  other  saints  as  the  mother  of  God,  ^eotoxog. 

Though  it  was  the  general  belief  that  the  angels  watched  over 
men  and  brought  their  prayers  to  God,  it  was  thought  unallowable 
to  worship  them,  because  of  the  passages  Col.  ii.  18  ;  Rev.  xix.  10 ; 
xxii.  8,  9.  Ambrose  is  the  first  who  seems  to  recommend  such  a 
worship  ;  and  after  his  time  we  find  many  marks  of  adoration  paid 
them ;  though  much  fewer  than  to  the  saints." 

§  8.    RECAPITULATION. — CEMETERIES,  CATACOMBS. 

Fleury  has  concisely  stated  the  ceremonials  of  the  last  offices  to 
the  dead,  which  statement  is  added  as  a  brief  recapitulation. 

"  The  Christians  buried  their  dead  after  the  manner  of  the  Jews. 
They  first  washed,  then  embalmed  them ;  employing  (saith  Ter- 
tullian)  more  perfumes  and  aromatic  gums  in  this  use  than  the 
heathens  did  in  their  sacrifices.  They  wrapped  them  up  in  fine 
linen  or  silk,  and  sometimes  put  them  on  rich  habits.  They  laid 
them  forth  for  the  space  of  three  days,  during  which  time  they  con- 
stantly attended  the  dead  body,  and  passed  those  days  in  watching 
and  praying  by  it.     Then  they  carried  it  to  the  grave,  accompa- 


>24  FUNERAL    RITES   AND    CEREMONIES.  [CHAP.  XXV. 


nying  the  corpse  witli  torches  and  flambeaus,  with  singing  of  psalms 
and  hymns  to  the  praise  of  God,  and  in  testimony  of  their  hope  of 
the  resurrection.  They  made  prayers  also  on  their  behalf ;  offered 
the  sacrifice,  and  made  their  agape  or  love-feast  for  the  poor,  dis- 
tributing likewise  other  alms  among  them.  At  the  end  of  the 
year  they  made  a  fresh  commemoration  for  them,  and  so  from  year 
to  year,  besides  the  standing  commemoration  for  the  dead  always 
joined  wdth  the  sacrifice. 

*'  The  church  had  officers  appointed  on  purpose  for  the  burying  of 
their  dead,  who  were  called  gravemakers  or  labourers,  and  who  are 
sometimes  reckoned  among  the  clergy.  The  priests  and  bishops 
themselves  looked  upon  the  employment  as  an  honour ;  and  St. 
Eutj^chian,  the  pope,  who  was  himself  a  martyr,  is  reported  to  have 
interred  with  his  own  hands  the  bodies  of  three  hundred  and  forty- 
two  martyrs.  There  were  often,  together  with  the  body,  put  into 
the  sepulchre  several  other  things,  either  as  marks  of  honour  to  the 
deceased  or  to  preserve  his  memory,  as  the  badges  of  his  dignity, 
the  instruments  of  his  martyrdom,  vials  or  sponges  filled  with  his 
blood,  the  acts  of  his  martyrdom,  an  epitaph  on  him,  or  at  least 
his  name,  medals,  leaves  of  laurel  or  some  other  evergreen,  some 
crosses,  and  the  gospel.  They  used  to  lay  the  body  on  its  back, 
the  face  turned  to  the  cast.  The  heathens,  to  preserve  the  memory 
of  their  dead,  built  stately  sepulchres  over  them,  either  by  the  sides 
of  the  great  roads  or  in  the  open  fields.  The  Christians,  on  the 
contrary,  removed  their  dead  out  of  sight,  either  after  the  common 
way  of  interment  or  laying  them  in  vaults  under  ground ;  such  as 
were  the  tombs  or  catacombs  near  Rome. 

"  These  catacombs  were  places  under  ground,  cut  out  of  quarries 
of  soft  and  brittle  stone,  or  hollowed  out  of  the  beds  of  sand;  thus 
contrived  by  the  Christians  for  their  burying-places.  There  are 
winding  stairs  leading  down  to  them,  and  long  walks  or  streets 
Avhich  have  on  each  side  of  them,  cut  into  the  earth,  two  or  three 
rows  of  deep  niches,  in  which  the  bodies  are  placed  at  first ;  for 
iioio  the  greatest  part  of  them  are  taken  away.  At  certain  dis- 
tances from  each  other  are  spacious  chambers,  vaulted  over  and 
solid  as  the  rest,  having  also  niches  cut  in  them  like  those  of  the 
walks.  The  greatest  part  of  these  chambers  are  painted  with 
divers  histories  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  as  their  churches 
also  were  wont  to  be.  And  in  some  of  these  cemeteries  there  are 
subterranean  churches.  In  many  of  them  there  have  been  found 
marble  coffins,  adorned  with  figures  of  bas-relief,  representing  the 


SEC.  VIII.]       RECAPITULATION. — CEMETERIES,    CATACOMBS.  525 

same  histories  as  the  paintings  do.  These  were  the  sepulchres  of 
the  most  considerable  persons ;  every  one  of  these  cemeteries  is 
like  a  city  under  ground,  and  some  of  them  two  or  three  stories 
deep.  In  them  the  Christians  found  a  place  of  retreat  during  the 
persecutions  ;  there  they  kept  the  relics  of  the  martyrs ;  there  they 
met  and  celebrated  the  holy  offices ;  nay,  and  there  some  of  them 
constantly  resided,  as  is  written  of  many  of  the  popes.  The  book 
called  Roma  Suhterranea  is  a  description  of  these  ancient  ceme- 
teries. They  remained,  the  greatest  part  of  them,  for  a  long  time 
unknown,  the  entrance  into  them  having  been  stopped  up ;  and  it 
was  but  about  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  that  they  were  dis- 
covered. These  cemeteries  are  sometimes  called  the  councils  of 
the  martyrs,  their  bodies  being  there  assembled  together,  or  are- 
narea,  from  the  sandy  soil  where  they  were  generally  placed.  In 
Africa  they  were  also  called  arese. 

"  They  had  of  old  a  religious  ambition  of  being  buried  near  to  the 
bodies  of  the  martyrs ;  and  this  is  that  which  at  last  brought  so 
many  graves  and  tombs  into  the  churches  ;  for  it  was  of  a  long  time 
observed  not  to  bury  the  dead  but  without  the  walls  of  cities.  The 
veneration  they  had  for  relics,  and  their  distinct  belief  of  the  resur- 
rection, wore  out  that  aversion  among  the  Christians  which  the 
ancients,  even  the  Israelites  themselves,  had  for  dead  bodies  and 
graves." 

We  wait  with  great  interest  for  a  splendid  work,  already  an- 
nounced, on  these  catacombs,  in  which  is  to  be  given  a  complete 
copy  of  all  the  epitaphs  and  inscriptions,  together  with  coloured 
plates  of  the  sculpture  and  paintings  of  these  secret  chambers  of 
the  sainted  dead. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

OF  THE  FESTIVALS  OF  THE  CHURCH. 
§  1.    PRELIMINARY   REMARKS. 

Sacred  seasons  are  an  institution,  not  of  Christ  and  his  apostles, 
but  of  the  church.  No  authority  for  their  observance  is  derived 
from  the  canon  of  the  New  Testament ;  neither  do  they  belong  to 
the  apostolical  age  of  the  church.  The  churches  established  by 
the  apostles,  in  imitation  of  our  Lord  and  his  disciples,  observed 
the  times  and  seasons  of  the  Jews ;  but  it  was  particularly  the 
office  of  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles  to  admonish  the  infant  church 
that  such  observances  are  not  an  essential  part  of  religion.  He 
resisted  all  attempts  to  impose  the  yoke  of  Mosaic  ceremonies  on 
Gentile  converts.  From  Jewish  converts  he  removed  the  oppressive 
and  useless  burden  of  their  festivals,  and  discountenanced  the 
observance  of  their  sacred  days. 

But  in  common  with  the  other  apostles,  this  minister  of  the 
Gentiles  sanctioned  the  observance  of  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
instead  of  the  seventh,  as  the  Christian  Sabbath.  This,  in  obe- 
dience to  the  great  command  of  the  Decalogue,  was  consecrated  as 
holy  time  ;  and  is  in  reality  the  only  sacred  season  of  the  Christian 
church.  All  other  times  and  seasons  are  carnal  ordinances,  having 
no  Divine  authority.  The  Christian  Sabbath,  therefore,  ought  to 
have  the  first,  the  last,  the  only  place  in  the  calendar  of  the 
church.  Such  is  its  place  in  the  sacred  canon.  There  it  stands 
apart,  separate,  distinct  from  all  other  days,  as  holy  unto  the 
Lord ;  and  there  it  should  stand  fast  for  ever,  in  the  mild  majesty 
with  which  Heaven  has  invested  the  solemn  day.  It  has  no  affinity 
or  connection  with  the  innumerable  holy  days,  fasts,  and  festivals, 
movable  and  immovable,  with  which  pious  usage  and  papal  super- 
stition has  crowded  the  calendar  of  the  church,  and  by  which  this 
sacred  day  of  the  Lord  was  overlaid  and  lost  for  many  centuries, 
until  brought  forth  to  light  and  again  restored  to  its  original 
sanctity  by  the  Puritans  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
626 


SEC.  II.]  THE    CHRISTIAN    SABBATH.  527 


§  2.    OF    THE    CHRISTIAN    SABBATH. 

The  primitive  church  observed  both  the  Jewish  and  the  Christian 
Sabbath.  The  Jewish  converts  considered  the  abrogation  of  the 
ceremonial  law  to  relate  only  to  their  exemption  from  its  burden- 
some rites  ;  and  continued  religiously  to  observe  the  Sabbath  as 
holy.  Converts  from  paganism,  on  the  contrary,  contemplated 
Christianity  as  a  dispensation  altogether  new,  and  the  religion  of 
the  Jews  as  totally  abrogated.  The  resurrection  of  Christ  was  to 
them  a  fixed  point,  the  beginning  of  this  new  dispensation,  the 
new  passover  from  bondage  to  freedom,  from  death  to  life.  This 
great  event  they  refused  to  commemorate  on  the  same  day  which 
the  Jews  observed  for  another  end,  and  for  this  purpose  they 
selected  the  first  day  of  the  week.  The  import  of  the  Christian 
Sabbath  they  accounted  more  significant  and  important  than  that 
of  the  Jewish.  The  one  commemorated  the  completion  of  the 
work  of  creation ;  the  other,  the  beginning  of  a  nobler  work  by 
the  great  Creator  himself,  who  was  light  and  life  to  all. 

'Twas  great — to  speak  the  world  from  naught, 
'Twas  greater — to  redeem. 

The  early  Christian  converts,  whether  pagan  or  Jewish,  seem 
not  to  have  been  conscious  when  or  where  or  how  the  ancient 
economy  was  abrogated,  and  the  gospel  dispensation  introduced. 
But,  in  process  of  time,  the  one  was  gradually  discontinued  and 
fulfilled  in  the  other.  The  observance  of  the  Lord's  clay  as  the 
first  dag  of  the  week  was  at  first  introduced  as  a  separate  insti- 
tution. Both  this  and  the  Jewish  Sabbath  were  kept  for  some 
time  ;  then  the  Christian  began  to  take  precedence  of  the  Jewish 
Sabbath ;  finally,  the  latter  passed  wholly  over  into  the  former, 
which  now  took  the  place  of  the  ancient  Sabbath  of  the  Israelites. 
But  their  Sabbath,  the  last  day  of  the  week,  was  strictly  kept  in 
connection  with  that  of  the  first  day,  for  a  long  time  after  the 
overthrow  of  the  temple  and  its  worship.  Down  even  to  the  fifth 
century  the  observance  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath  was  continued  in 
the  Christian  church,  but  with  a  rigour  and  solemnity  gradually 
diminishing  until  it  was  wholly  discontinued. 

No  historical  record,  sacred  or  profane,  has  informed  us  of  the 
first  celebration  of  the  Lord's  day,  the  first  day  of  the  week,  as 
the  Christian  Sabbath.  It  doubtless  was  very  early ;  probably 
from  the  first  communication  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the  day  of 


528  THE   FESTIVALS    OF   THE    CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XXVI. 

Pentecost.  The  first  day  of  the  week  had  been  signalized  by  the 
resurrection  and  the  ascension  of  our  Lord ;  and  now  again  in  the 
fulfilment  of  his  promise  in  the  miraculous  shedding  forth  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  upon  his  disciples  while,  in  joyful  expectation  of  the 
event,  they  were  all  assembled  in  one  place  for  the  Avorship  of 
their  ascended  Saviour.  Prom  this  time,  it  is  to  be  presumed, 
that  they  continued  to  meet  on  this  day,  for  ever  memorable  by 
these  remarkable  events.  No  law  was  requisite  for  this  purpose. 
The  impulse  of  their  own  hearts  was  enough  to  bring  them  to- 
gether on  each  return  of  this  eventful  day. 

When  Paul  was  at  Troas,  the  disciples  came  together,  appa- 
rently according  to  established  custom,  on  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
to  break  bread ;  on  which  occasion  the  apostle  preached  to  them. 

The  apostle  also  directs  the  Corinthians,  on  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  to  lay  aside  for  charitable  purposes  a  certain  sum,  according 
as  the  Lord  had  prospered  them.  Here  we  have,  at  least,  a  distinct 
notice  of  the  reckoning  by  weeks.  What  directed  the  apostle  to 
specify  the  first  day  of  the  week  rather  than  the  seventh  ? 

John,  in  Patmos,  was  in  the  spirit  on  the  Lord's  day.  Whence 
this  early  and  familiar  use  of  the  expression  to  denote  a  specific 
day?  It  is  an  appellation,  descriptive  of  a  certain  day,  given 
without  explanation,  as  if  well  understood  and  in  common  use. 
Here  is  a  fair  presumption,  if  not  a  conclusive  inference,  that  the 
day  was  already  known  by  this  name  because  observed  as  the 
Sabbath  of  the  Christian  church. 

These  are  all  the  passages  in  the  New  Testament  upon  which 
any  reliance  can  be  placed  as  evidence  of  the  religious  observance . 
of  the  Lord's  day  by  the  apostolical  churches. 

Soon  after  the  age  of  the  apostles,  the  evidence  becomes  clear 
and  full  that  the  Sabbath  was  solemnized  in  the  Christian  church 
for  religious  worship,  and  kept  as  holy  unto  the  Lord. 

Just  after  the  conclusion  of  the  sacred  canon,  and  the  death  of 
John  the  apostle,  a  persecution  was  instituted  against  the  Chris- 
tians in  Bithynia,  in  Asia  Minor.  Pliny,  the  younger,  in  re- 
porting to  the  emperor  the  prosecutions  that  had  been  held  against 
them,  mentions,  that  they  were  accustomed  to  meet  on  a  certain 
stated  day,  stato  die,  before  it  was  light,  for  the  worship  of  Christ 
as  God.  This  statement  is  evidence  that  these  Christians  kept  a 
day  as  holy  time,  but  whether  it  was  the  last,  or  the  first  day  of 
the  week,  does  not  appear.^ 

Justin  Martyr,  who  lived  about  forty  years  later,  says  that 
ihey  (Christians)  neither  celebrated  the  Jewish  festivals,  nor  ob- 


SEC.  II.]  THE   CHRISTIAN   SABBATH.  529 

served  their  Sabbaths,  nor  practised  circumcision.^  In  another 
place  he  says  that  they,  both  those  who  lived  in  the  city  and  they 
who  lived  in  the  country,  were  all  accustomed  to  meet  on  the  day 
which  is  denominated  Sunday,  for  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures, 
prayer,  exhortation,  and  communion.  The  assembly  meet  on 
Sunday,  because  this  is  the  first  day  on  which  God,  having  changed 
the  darkness,  and  the  elements,  ro  Gxotoc,  xai  rr,v  v/^yjv  rps^ag, 
created  the  world ;  and  because  Jesus  our  Lord  on  this  day  arose 
from  the  dead. 

This  sacred  day  was  usually  denominated  y]  xvoiaxri,  dies  Domi- 
nicus,  the  Lord's  day ;  but  sometimes,  also,  Sunday,  diem  solis, 
n  Tov  n^iov  ri/uapa,  in  compliance  with  the  common  phraseology, 
and  when  it  was  necessary  to  distinguish  the  day  in  addressing 
the  heathen.  During  the  early  ages  of  the  church  it  was  never 
entitled  "the  Sabbath ;"  this  word  being  confined  to  the  seventh 
day  of  the  week,  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  which,  as  we  have  already 
said,  continued  to  be  observed  for  several  centuries  by  the  converts 
to  Christianity. 

The  author  of  the  Epistle  of  St.  Barnabas  introduces  the  Lord 
as  saying,  "  The  Sabbaths  which  you  now  keep  are  not  acceptable 
to  me ;  but  those  which  I  have  made,  when,  resting  from  all 
things,  I  shall  begin  the  eighth  day,  that  is,  the  beginning  of  the 
other  world."  "For  which  cause,"  he  adds,  "we  observe  the 
eighth  day  with  gladness,  in  which  Jesus  rose  from  the  dead,  and, 
having  manifested  himself  to  his  disciples,  ascended  into  heaven."^ 

Tertullian,  at  the  close  of  the  second  century,  says,  "  We  cele- 
brate Sunday  [diem  solis)  as  a  joyful  day."  "  On  the  Lord's  day 
(die  Dominico)  we  think  it  wrong  to  fast  or  to  kneel  in  prayer." 

"A  true  Christian,"  says  Clement  of  Alexandria,  contemporary 
with  Tertullian,  "  according  to  the  commands  of  the  gospel, 
observes  the  Lord's  day  by  casting  out  all  bad  thoughts,  and 
cherishing  all  goodness,  honouring  the  resurrection  of  the  Lord, 
which  took  place  on  that  day." 

Dionysius  of  Corinth,  of  the  same  age,  in  a  letter  to  the  church 
of  Rome,  preserved  by  Eusebius,  mentions  their  faithful  observance 
of  the  Lord's  day,  and  their  reading  of  the  Scriptures  on  the 
occasion. 

These  authorities  are  sufiicient  to  show  that  the  Lord's  day  was 
observed  by  Christians  of  the  second  century  for  religious  worship. 
The  use  of  the  term  by  those  writers  may  fairly  be  assumed  as 
explanatory  of  the  same  expression  in  Rev.  i.  10,  which,  in  con- 
nection with  1   Cor.  xvi.  2,  and  Acts  xx.  7,  and  illustrated  by 

34 


530  THE    FESTIVALS    OF    THE    CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XXVI. 


usage  of  the  church  in  the  age  following,  justifies  the  belief  that 
from  the  beginning  the  Lord's  day  has  been  observed  in  the 
Christian  church.  At  first,  and  for  several  centuries,  it  was  kept 
in  connection  with  the  Jewish  Sabbath ;  but  by  degrees  the  ob- 
servance of  the  latter  fell  into  disuse,  and  the  former  has  ever 
since  continued  to  be  the  sacred  day  of  the  Christian  church. 

No  law  or  precept  appears  to  have  been  given  by  Christ  or  the 
apostles,  either  for  the  abrogation  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath  or  the 
institution  of  the  Lord's  day,  or  the  substitution  of  the  first  for 
the  seventh  day  of  the  week.  The  reasons  for  keeping  the  first 
day  in  preference  to  the  seventh,  have  been  already  stated  from 
Justin  Martyr.  They  are  more  fully  explained  by  Leo  the  Grreat, 
of  the  fifth  century: — "  On  this  day  the  world  had  its  origin.  On 
the  same  day,  through  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  death  came  to 
an  end,  and  life  began.  It  was  upon  this  day  also  that  the  apostles 
were  commissioned  by  the  Lord  to  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature,  and  to  offer  to  all  the  world  the  blessings  of  salvation. 
On  the  same  day  came  Christ  into  the  midst  of  his  disciples  and 
breathed  upon  them,  saying,  'Receive  the  Holy  Ghost.'  And 
finally  on  this  day  the  Holy  Ghost  was  shed  forth  upon  the  apos- 
tles !  So  that  we  see  as  it  were  an  ordinance  from  Heaven  evi- 
dently set  before  us,  showing  that  on  this  day,  on  which  all  the 
gifts  of  God's  grace  have  been  vouchsafed,  we  ought  to  celebrate 
the  solemnities  of  Christian  worship." 

But  the  most  decisive  and  satisfactory  authority  on  this  subject 
is  perhaps  that  of  Eusebius,  who,  in  his  Commentary  on  the 
ninety-first  (xcii.)  Psalm,  says — 

"  The  Word  [Christ]  by  the  new  covenant  translated  and  trans- 
ferred the  feast  of  the  Sabbath  to  the  morning  light,  and  gave  us 
the  symbol  of  true  rest — the  saving  Lord's  day — the  first  [day]  of 
light  in  which  the  Saviour  obtained  the  victory  over  death,  &c. 
On  this  day,  which  is  the  first  of  the  Light  and  of  the  true  Sun, 
we  assemble  after  an  interval  of  six  days,  and  celebrate  holy  and 
spiritual  Sabbath :  even  all  nations  redeemed  by  Him  throughout 
the  world,  assemble,  and  do  those  things  according  to  the  spiritual 
law  which  w^ere  decreed  for  the  priests  to  do  on  the  Sabbath :  all 
things  which  it  was  duty  to  do  on  the  Sabbath,  \i.  e.  the  Jewish 
Sabbath,]  these  toe  have  transferred  to  the  Lord's  day,  as  more 
appropriately  belonging  to  it,  because  it  has  the  precedence,  and 
is  first  in  rank,  and  more  honorable  than  the  Jewish  Sabbath.  It 
is  delivered  to  us,  7Caoah^hoi:ai,  handed  doivn  hy  tradition,  that 


SEC.  II.]  THE    CHRISTIAN    SABBATH.  531 

we  should  meet  together  on  this  day,  and  it  is  evidence  that  we 
should  do  these  things  announced  in  this  Psalm.""  (Ps.  xcii.) 

In  process  of  time  the  Christian  Sabhath  took  the  name  of  the 
Lord's  day  to  distinguish  it  from  the  Jewish  Sabbath;  or,  as 
Chrysostom  informs  us,  because  "the  Lord  arose  from  the  dead 
on  this  day."  Ignatius  appears  to  be  the  first,  subsequent  to  the 
author  of  Revelation,  to  designate  it  by  this  appellation.* 

In  this  review  of  the  development  of  the  Christian  Sabbath,  one 
cannot  fail  to  recognise  the  Divine  guidance  of  that  good  Spirit 
which  leads  into  all  truth.  Under  this  peculiar  oversight,  the 
observance  of  the  Lord's  day  was  ordered,  while  yet  the  Sabbath 
of  the  Jews  was  continued ;  nor  was  the  latter  superseded  until 
the  former  had  acquired  the  same  solemnity  and  importance  which 
belonged,  at  first,  to  that  great  day  which  God  originally  ordained 
and  blessed.  The  design  and  end  of  both  was  indeed  the  same, 
the  extension  of  God's  grace  to  man.  The  Lord's  day  was,  in 
reality,  the  same  to  the  people  of  God  under  the  new  dispensation, 
that  the  Sabbath  was  to  the  people  of  Israel.  Each  was  the  great 
central  point  of  its  own  dispensation  respectively,  the  cardinal 
principle  in  the  system,  and  the  chief  means  of  the  spiritual  edifi- 
cation of  the  people. 

No  sooner  was  Constantine  established  upon  the  throne,  than 
he  began  to  bestow  special  care  upon  the  observance  of  the  Lord's 
day.  He  required  his  armies  to  spend  the  day  in  devotional 
exercises.  No  courts  of  judicature  were  to  be  held  on  this  day ; 
no  suits  or  trials  in  law  prosecuted ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  works 
of  mercy,  such  as  the  emancipation  of  slaves,  were  declared  lawful. 
Subsequently,  Christian  emperors  confirmed  and  extended  these 
decrees.  All  public  shows,  theatrical  exhibitions,  dancing,  and 
amusements  were  strictly  prohibited.  Similar  decrees  were  also 
passed  by  various  councils,  requiring  a  faithful  attendance  upon 
public  worship,  and  a  strict  observance  of  the  day,  by  solemn 
suspension  of  all  secular  pursuits  and  abstinence  from  amusements 
and  vain  recreations.  The  Council  of  Laodicea,  c.  29,  about  the 
same  time  forbade  the  observance  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath. 

The  historical  facts  in  regard  to  the  observance  both  of  the 
ancient  Sabbath  and  of  the  Lord's  day  as  holy  time,  may  be 
summed  up  in  the  following  particulars : — 

1.  Both  were  observed  in  the  Christian  church  down  to  the  fifth 
century,  with  this  difierence,  that  in  the  Eastern  church  both  days 
were  regarded  as  joyful  occasions,  but  in  the  Western  the  Jewish 
Sabbath  was  kept  as  a  fast. 


532  THE    FESTIVALS    OF    THE    CHURCH.         [CHAP,  XXVI. 

2.  Both  were  solemnized  by  public  religious  assemblies  for  the 
instruction  and  spiritual  edification  of  the  hearers  and  for  the 
celebration  of  the  Lord's  supper. 

3.  The  Sabbath  of  the  Jews  was  kept  chiefly  by  converts  from 
that  people  and  on  their  own  account ;  who,  though  freed  from 
the  bondage  of  the  law,  adhered  in  this  respect  to  the  custom 
of  their  fathers.  But  in  time,  after  the  Lord's  day  was  fully  esta- 
blished, the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  of  the  Jews  was  gradually 
discontinued,  and  finally  was  denounced  as  heretical.  As  the 
light  of  the  morning  star  gently  fades  before  the  rising  sun,  yet 
both  lingering  awhile  together  in  the  horizon,  each  subserving 
alike  the  will  of  Heaven,  and  conspiring  to  a  common  end ;  so  the 
Jewish  and  the  Christian  Sabbath,  these  lights  of  the  moral  world, 
in  harmonious  action  fulfilled  their  original  destiny;  the  lesser 
continually  waning  before  the  increasing  splendour  of  the  greater 
light. 

But  it  is  not  a  little  singular  that  the  church,  though  right  in 
theory,  and  to  some  extent  in  practice,  continued  through  succes- 
sive centuries  down  to  the  age  of  the  Reformation,  and  even  be- 
yond it,  wrong  in  principle,  in  that  she  disowned  the  sanctity  of 
the  law  of  the  Sabbath.  In  other  words,  the  Divine  authority  of 
the  Sabbath  neither  was  recognised  by  the  ancient  fathers,  nor  by 
Luther  or  Calvin  or  by  the  early  Reformers.  It  was  reserved  for 
the  Puritans,  to  their  immortal  honour,  first  to  expound  and  en- 
force the  law  of  the  Christian  Sabbath,  based  on  the  authority  of 
God's  word.  They  better  read  the  law  of  the  Lord  our  God  on 
this  subject,  and  bringing  it  out  from  the  enormous  mass  of  saints' 
days  and  festivals  with  Avhich  the  church  had  overlaid  it,  like  some 
priceless  gem  disinterred  from  the  rubbish  of  many  generations, 
presented  it  to  the  gaze  and  admiration  of  the  world  radiant  with 
heaven's  own  lustre.  The  influence  of  the  sun  in  the  heavens  is 
not  more  clear  or  genial  than  is  that  of  the  Christian  Sabbath 
upon  the  whole  English  race  wherever  found.  They  and  they 
alone  have  a  Sabbath,  a  Christian  Sabbath,  holy  unto  the  Lord, 
by  God's  command.  With  all  else  throughout  Christendom  the 
Sabbath  is  a  holiday,  a  festival,  observed  by  common  consent  like 
other  saints'  days  and  festivals  of  the  calendar. 

The  true  doctrine  of  the  Christian  Sabbath  was  first  promul- 
gated by  an  English  dissenter,  the  Rev.  Nicholas  Bound,  D.  D., 
of  Norton,  in  the  county  of  Suffolk.  About  the  year  1595,  he 
published  a  famous  book,  entitled  "  Sabbathum  Veteris  et  Novi 
Tcstamenti,  or  The  True  Doctrine  of  the  Sabbath."     In  this  book 


SEC.  II.]  THE    CHRISTIAN    SABBATH.  533 


he  maintained  "that  the  seventh  part  of  our  time  ought  to  be  de- 
voted to  God — that  Christians  are  bound  to  rest  on  the  Lord's 
day  as  much  as  the  Jews  were  on  the  Mosaic  Sabbath,  the  com- 
mandment about  rest  being  moral  and  perpetual ;  and  that  it  was 
not  lawful  for  persons  to  follow  their  studies  or  worldly  business 
on  that  day,  nor  to  use  such  pleasures  and  recreations  as  are  per- 
mitted on  other  days."  This  book  spread  with  wonderful  rapidity. 
The  doctrines  which  it  propounded  called  forth  from  many  hearts 
a  ready  response,  and  the  result  was  a  most  pleasing  reformation 
in  many  parts  of  the  kingdom.  "It  is  almost  incredible,"  says 
Fuller,  "  how  taking  this  doctrine  was,  partly  because  of  its  own 
purity,  and  partly  for  the  eminent  piety  of  such  persons  as  main- 
tained it ;  so  that  the  Lord's  day,  especially  in  corporations,  began 
to  be  precisely  kept ;  people  becoming  a  law  unto  themselves,  for- 
bearing such  sports  as  yet  by  statute  permitted ;  yea,  many 
rejoicing  at  their  own  restraint  herein."  The  law  of  the  Sabbath 
was  indeed  a  religious  principle,  after  which  the  Christian  church 
had,  for  centuries,  been  darkly  groping.  Pious  men,  of  every  age, 
had  felt  the  necessity  of  Divine  authority  for  sanctifying  the  day. 
Their  conscience  had  been  in  advance  of  their  reason.  Practi- 
cally they  had  kept  the  Sabbath  better  than  their  principles 
required. 

Public  sentiment,  however,  Avas  still  unsettled  in  regard  to  this 
new  doctrine  respecting  the  Sabbath,  though  few  at  first  violently 
opposed  it.  "Learned  men  were  much  divided  in  their  judgments 
about  these  Sabbatarian  doctrines ;  some  embraced  them  as  an- 
cient truths  consonant  to  Scripture,  long  disused  and  neglected, 
now  seasonably  revived  for  the  increase  of  piety.  Others  con- 
ceived them  grounded  on  a  wrong  bottom ;  but  because  they 
tended  to  the  manifest  advance  of  religion,  it  was  a  pity  to  oppose 
them  ;  seeing  none  have  just  reason  to  complain,  being  deceived 
into  their  own  good.  But  a  third  sort  flatly  fell  out  with  these 
propositions,  as  galling  men's  necks  with  a  Jewish  yoke,  against 
the  liberty  of  Christians ;  that  Christ,  as  Lord  of  the  Sabbath, 
had  removed  the  rigour  thereof,  and  allowed  men  lawful  recrea- 
tions ;  that  this  doctrine  put  an  unequal  lustre  on  the  Sunday,  on 
set  purpose  to  eclipse  all  other  holy  days,  to  the  derogation  of  the 
authority  of  the  church  ;  that  this  strict  observance  was  set  up 
out  of  faction,  to  be  a  character  of  difference  to  brand  all  for  liber- 
tines who  did  not  entertain  it." 

No  open  opposition,  however,  was  at  first  manifested  against 
the  sentiments  of  Dr.  Bound.     No  reply  was  attempted  for  several 


53-4:  THE    FESTIVALS    OF    THE    CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XXVI. 

years ;  and  "  not  so  much  as  a  feather  of  a  quill  in  print  did  wag 
against  him."  His  work  was  soon  followed  by  several  other  trea- 
tises in  defence  of  the  same  sentiments.  '<  All  the  Puritans  fell 
in  with  this  doctrine  and  distinguished  themselves  by  spending 
that  part  of  sacred  time  in  public,  family,  and  private  devotion." 
Even  Dr.  Heylin  certified  the  triumphant  spread  of  those  puri- 
tanical sentiments  respecting  the  Sabbath,  while  he  disclosed  his 
inveterate  hatred  of  them  in  the  following  terms  : — "  This  doctrine, 
carrying  such  a  fair  show  of  piety,  at  least  in  the  opinion  of  the 
common  people,  and  such  as  did  not  examine  the  true  grounds 
of  it,  induced  many  to  embrace  and  defend  it ;  and  in  a  very 
little  time  it  became  the  most  bewitching  error  and  the  most 
popular  infatuation  that  ever  was  embraced  by  the  people  of 
England." 

Such  hostility  to  the  doctrine  soon  became  general  on  the  part 
of  the  established  clergy.  Without  attempting  a  refutation  of  the 
doctrine,  "  they  exclaimed  against  it  as  putting  a  restraint  upon 
Christian  liberty  ;  as  putting  too  great  a  lustre  upon  the  Lord's 
day  ;  and  as  tending  to  eclipse  the  authority  of  the  church  in  at- 
tending festivals." 

Mr.  Thomas  Rogers,  author  of  a  commentary  on  the  Thirty-nine 
Articles,  was  the  first  to  attempt  a  public  refutation  of  these  puri- 
tanical notions  respecting  the  Sabbath.  The  doctrine  of  the  Pu- 
ritans he  characterizes  as  an  "odde  and  new  device  of  theirs," 
and  he  charges  them  with  setting  forth  "from  an  odde  corner 
and  after  a  new  fashion,  which  we  little  thought  of,  their  Sabbath 
speculations.  Such  was  their  cunning  set  upon  us  afresh  again, 
by  dispersing  them  in  printed  books,  which  for  ten  years'  space 
before,  they  had  been  in  hammering  among  themselves  to  make 
them  compleat."  In  conclusion,  the  worthy  churchman  proposes 
to  himself  the  rare  consolations  of  his  death-bed,  derived  from  the 
vain  hope  with  which  he  flattered  himself  that  he  had  utterly  sup- 
pressed this  dangerous  tenet.  "  It  is  a  comfort  to  my  soul,  and 
will  be  to  my  dying  hour,  that  I  have  been  the  man  and  the  means 
that  the  Sabbatarian  errors  and  impieties  are  brought  into  the 
knowledge  of  the  state."  Archbishop  Whitgift,  in  1599,  sup- 
pressed Dr.  Bound's  book,  and  ordered  that  it  should  not  be  re- 
printed. And  Popham,  lord  chief  justice,  did  the  same  the  year 
following.  "These,  indeed,"  says  Dr.  Heylin,  "were  good  re- 
medies, had  they  been  soon  enough  applied ;  yet  not  so  good  as 
those  which  were  formerly  applied  to  Coppin  and  Thacker,  who 
were  hanged  at  Bury  for  spreading  Brown's  books  against  the 


SEC.  II.]  THE    CHRISTIAN    SABBATH.  535 

church."  Such  vras  the  amiable  spirit  of  these  Christian  men 
toward  those  who  plead  for  a  religious  observance  of  the  Christian 
Sabbath. 

But  these  efforts  at  extermination  only  propagated  more  exten- 
sively the  scriptural  doctrine  of  the  Sabbath.  Though  condemned 
by  the  chief  justice,  says  Fuller,  "  these  Sabbatarian  doctrines 
took  the  privilege  to  pardon  themselves,  and  were  published  more 
generally  than  before.  The  price  of  the  doctor's  book  began  to 
be  doubled,  as  commonly  books  are  then  most  called  on  when 
called  in ;  and  many  who  hear  not  of  them  when  printed,  inquire 
after  them  when  prohibited;  and  though  the  book's  wings  were 
dipt  from  flying  abroad  in  print,  it  ran  the  faster  from  friend  to 
friend  in  transcribed  copies ;  and  the  Lord's  day  in  most  places 
was  most  strictly  observed."  AYhitgift  died  soon  after  the  sup- 
pression of  the  book,  and,  in  1606,  Dr.  Bound  published  a  second 
edition  of  his  book  with  large  additions.  "  And,  indeed,  such  was 
its  reputation  that  scarcely  any  catechism  or  comment  was  pub- 
lished by  the  stricter  divines  for  many  years,  in  which  the  morality 
of  the  Sabbath  was  not  strongly  recommended  and  enforced." 
The  subject,  indeed,  became  the  principal  controversy  of  the  age. 
It  changed  to  a  great  extent  the  topics  of  discussion  in  the  church. 
Hitherto  the  dispute  of  contending  parties  had  been  about  the 
cereynonials  of  religion;  now  it  was  directed  to  the  doctrines  of  the 
Scriptures.  Among  these  that  of  the  Christian  Sabbath  was  first 
in  order  and  importance. 

The  subject  continued  to  be  discussed  for  many  years.  Public 
enactments  were  made  to  contravene  these  puritanical  notions  of 
the  sanctity  of  the  Lord's  day.  For  this  intent,  in  the  famous 
Declaration  of  Sports,  May  24,  1618,  James  I.  signified  his  royal 
pleasure  "that  after  the  end  of  divine  service  his  good  people 
should  not  be  disturbed,  letted,  or  discouraged  from  any  lawful 
recreations  ;  such  as  dancing  either  of  men  or  women,  archerie 
for  men,  leaping  or  vaulting,  or  any  such  harmless  recreations  ; 
nor  from  having  May-games,  Whitsun-ales,  or  morris-dances,  and 
setting  up  of  May-poles,  or  other  sports  therewith  used,  so  as  the 
same  be  had  in  due  and  convenient  times  without  impediment  or 
let  of  divine  service." 

This  declaration  opened  a  flood  of  immorality  upon  the  countrjr, 
and  brought  into  great  trials  such  as  opposed  this  public  desecra- 
tion of  the  Lord's  day.  Archbishop  Laud,  ever  memorable  for  his 
vindictive  hatred  of  the  Puritans,  distinguished  himself  by  his 
zeal  against-  th^  new  doctrine  of  the  sanctity  of  the  day.     At  the 


536  THE   FESTIVALS    OF   THE    CHURCH.         [CHAP.  XXVI. 

request  of  the  people  the  lord  chief  justice  Richardson  had  or- 
dered the  suppression  of  "  Sunday  revels."  But  Laud  had  the 
address  to  call  in  the  aid  of  the  clergy  to  cause  the  order  of  the 
chief  justice  to  be  revoked  which  suppressed  the  revels,  against 
which  the  people  complained,  as  not  only  introducing  "a  great 
profanation  of  the  Lord's  day,  but  riotous  tippling,  contempt  of 
authority,  quarrels,  murders,"  etc.  A  spectacle  most  extraordi- 
nary, the  laity  petitioning  for  the  religious  observance  of  the 
Lord's  day,  and  the  hisTiop  of  Protestant  England  and  his  clergy 
pleading  for  the  authorized  profanation  of  it !  Laud  and  his  party 
prevailed ;  the  order  was  revoked,  and  the  Declaration  of  Sports 
renewed,  '<  out  of  a  pious  care  for  the  service  of  Grod  and  for  sup- 
pressing those  humours  that  oppose  truth,  and  for  the  ease,  com- 
fort, and  recreation  of  his  majesty's  tvell-deserving  people." 

Many  of  the  stern  defenders  of  the  sanctity  of  the  Sabbath  re- 
fused to  publish  the  king's  declaration,  and  were  ejected  from  their 
livings :  others  were  prosecuted,  imprisoned,  and  suflfered  the  loss 
of  all  things,  just  for  conscientiously  remembering  the  Sabbath 
day.  Mr.  Prynne,  the  chronologist  of  these  troublous  times,  dis- 
misses this  subject  by  saying,  "  It  were  endless  to  go  into  more 
particulars ;  how  many  hundred  ministers,  in  this  and  other  dioceses, 
have  been  suspended  from  their  ministry,  sequestered,  driven  from 
their  livings,  excommunicated,  persecuted  in  the  high  commission, 
and  forced  to  leave  the  kingdom,  for  not  publishing  this  declara- 
tion, is  experimentally  known  to  all  men." 

Opposition,  however,  gradually  ceased ;  better  sentiments  pre- 
vailed, and  the  church  of  England  was  at  length  constrained  to 
receive  the  scriptural  doctrine  of  the  sanctity  of  the  Lord's  day 
at  the  hands  of  the  persecuted  Puritans.  Accordingly,  England, 
Scotland,  and  America,  and  they  only,  of  all  the  nations  of  Chris- 
tendom, enjoy  a  Christian  Sabbath. 

§3.  OF  THE  SACRED  SEASONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH. 

The  ancient  church  Avere  not  careful  to  prescribe  a  specific  time 
or  place  for  the  celebration  of  their  religious  festivals.  These 
seasons  were  regarded  as  sacred,  not  for  any  peculiar  sanctity  be- 
longing to  the  day,  or  hour,  in  which  they  were  solemnized,  in 
itself  considered,  but  merely  as  being  set  apart  from  a  common  to 
a  religious  use.^ 

All  the  early  religious  festivals  of  the  church  were  at  first 
(bserved  as  a  voluntary,  not  as  an  imperative  duty^    The  views  of 


SEC.  III.]       SACRED    SEASONS   OF   THE   ANCIENT   CHURCH.  537 

the  ancient  church  on  this  subject  are  expressed  by  the  historian 
Socrates,  in  his  remarks  on  the  celebration  of  Easter : — 

"  It  appears  to  me  that  neither  the  ancients  nor  moderns  who 
have  affected  to  follow  the  Jews,  have  any  rational  foundation  for 
contending  so  obstinately  about  it.  For  they  have  altogether  lost 
sight  of  the  fact,  that  when  our  religion  superseded  the  Jewish 
economy,  the  obligation  to  observe  the  Mosaic  law  and  the  ceremonial 
types  ceased.  That  it  is  incompatible  with  Christian  faith  to  practise 
Jewish  rites  is  manifest  from  the  apostles  expressly  forbidding  it, 
and  not  only  rejecting  circumcision,  but  deprecating  contention 
about  festival  days.  In  his  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  he  writes, 
<  Tell  me,  ye  that  desire  to  be  under  the  law,  do  ye  not  hear  the 
law?'  And  continuing  his  strain  of  argument,  he  demonstrates 
that  the  Jews  were  in  bondage  as  servants,  but  that  the  Christians 
were  called  into  the  liberty  of  sons.  Moreover,  he  exhorts  them  to 
disregard  days,  months,  and  years.  Again,  in  his  Epistle  to  the 
Colossians,  he  distinctly  declares  that  such  observances  are  mere 
shadows,  wherefore  '  Let  no  man  judge  you  in  meat,  or  in  drink, 
or  in  respect  of  any  holy  day,  or  of  the  new  moon,  or  of  the  sab- 
bath days,  which  are  a  shadow  of  things  to  come.'  The  same 
truths  are  also  confirmed  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews :  '  For  the 
priesthood  being  changed,  there  is  made  of  necessity  a  change  of 
the  law.'  Neither  the  apostle,  therefore,  nor  the  evangelists,  have 
anywhere  imposed  the  yoke  of  servitude  on  those  who  have  em- 
braced the  gospel ;  but  have  left  Easter,  and  every  other  feast,  to 
be  honoured  by  the  gratitude  of  the  recipients  of  grace. 

"Men  love  festivals  because  they  afford  them  cessation  from 
labour ;  and  therefore  it  is  that  each  individual,  in  every  place, 
according  to  his  own  pleasure,  has,  by  a  prevalent  custom,  cele- 
brated the  memory  of  the  saving  Passion.  The  Saviour  and  his 
apostles  have  enjoined  us  by  no  law  to  keep  this  feast ;  nor  in  the 
New  Testament  are  we  threatened  with  any  penalty,  punishment, 
or  curse  for  the  neglect  of  it,  as  the  Mosaic  law  does  the  Jews. 
It  is  merely  for  the  sake  of  historical  accuracy,  and  for  the  re- 
proach of  the  Jews,  because  they  polluted  themselves  with  blood  on 
their  very  feasts,  that  it  is  narrated  in  the  gospels  that  Jesus  suf- 
fered <in  the  days  of  unleavened  bread.'  The  apostles  had  no 
thought  of  appointing  festival-days,  but  of  promoting  a  life  of 
blamelessness  and  piety.  And  it  seems  to  me  that  the  feast  of 
Easter  has  been  introduced  into  the  church  from  some  old  usage, 
just  as  many  other  customs  have  been  established."^ 

The  number  of  religious  festivals  was  at  first  small.     The  most 


638  THE   FESTIVALS   OF   THE    CHURCH.         [CHAP.  XXVI. 


ancient  rubrics  mention  only  those  of  the  Passion,  of  Easter,  and 
of  Whitsunday,  commemorative  of  the  death  and  resurrection  of 
Christ,  and  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Christmas  was  not 
observed  as  a  sacred  religious  festival  until  the  fourth  century, 
■when  it  became  customary  to  observe  saints'  days ;  among  which, 
this  was  the  most  sacred.  The  earliest  authorities  on  this  point, 
are  Clemens  of  Alexandria,  Origen,  and  Jerome,  as  quoted  above. 
Chemnitz,  on  the  Council  of  Trent,  affirms  that,  for  four  hundred 
years,  the  festivals  of  the  church  were,  1.  The  Lord's  day ; 
2.  That  of  the  Passion ;  3.  Of  the  Resurrection ;  4.  The  Ascen- 
sion ;  5.  Pentecost ;  6.  The  Nativity  and  Baptism  of  Christ.*  For 
later  acts  of  councils,  see  references.^ 

The  festivals  of  the  Christian  church  resolve  themselves  into 
three  grand  divisions,  in  each  of  which  there  is  one  great  festival 
bearing  a  peculiar  relation  to  the  others  of  the  same  class,  as  their 
common  centre.  These  great  festivals  are  Christmas,  Easter,  and 
Whitsunday.  Of  these  the  first  two  relate  to  the  scenes  of  Christ's 
humiliation  on  earth ;  the  last  to  his  gloinous  exaltation  and  power 
as  displayed  in  the  shedding  forth  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Each  of 
these  feasts  is  preceded  by  preparatory  rites,  and  followed  by 
corresponding  festivities.  So  that  from  the  first  of  December  to 
the  Sunday  of  Whitsuntide  these  successive  solemnities  form  a  con- 
nected representation  of  the  leading  events  in  the  life  of  our  Lord, 
from  his  incarnation  to  his  triumphant  ascension.  He  became  flesh 
and  dwelt  among  us,  subject  to  all  the  infirmities  of  our  nature ; 
he  suffered  and  died ;  and  arose  in  glorious  power,  whereby  he  is 
able  to  provide  for  all  his  followers  to  the  end  of  the  world.  These 
are  the  great  truths  in  our  Lord's  history  which  this  series  of  festi- 
vals commemorates. 

Christmas  commemorates  the  birth  of  Christ ;  God  himself  be- 
coming man.  This  great  event  indeed  is  represented  by  two  so- 
lemnities ;  the  hirtli  of  Jesus  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  December,  when 
this  Divine  Being  entered  on  his  earthly  existence,  and  became 
subject  to  all  the  infii-mities  of  human  nature ;  and  the  day  of  his 
baptism  on  the  sixth  of  January,  when  he  first  manifested  himself 
as  Christ,  the  promised  Messiah.  On  this  occasion  his  Divine  power 
and  glory  were  publicly  revealed ;  and,  for  this  reason,  the  day  is 
styled  Epiphany,  the  manifestation. 

*  Primitivo  igitur  et  veteris  ecclesise  festa  per  annos  quodringentos,  hsec 
fuerunt;  primo,  dies  Dominica ;  secundo,  festum  passionis  Christi  (Parascave) ; 
tcrtio,  resurrectionis ;  quarto,  ascensionis ;  quinto,  pentecostes  ;  sexto,  nativi- 
tatis  et  baptismi  Cliristi. 


SEC.  III.]       SACRED    SEASONS   OF   THE   ANCIENT   CHURCH.  539 

The  observance  of  the  birth  of  Christ  as  a  religious  festival  be- 
gan in  the  fourth  century  in  the  church  of  Rome,  and  subsequently 
in  the  Eastern  church,  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  December.  By  this 
solemnity  it  was  proclaimed  how  the  eternal  Word  became  flesh  ; 
and  how,  by  becoming  man,  he  made  it  possible  for  man  himself  to 
become  like  God  himself.  But  in  addition  to  this  union  between 
God  and  man,  Jesus,  by  being  born  of  a  woman,  exhibited  also  the 
tenderest  of  all  human  relations,  that  of  parent  and  child.  Christ- 
mas therefore  is  a  festive  celebration  expressive  of  the  happiness 
of  the  human  family,  and  of  the  purest  relations  of  domestic  life. 

Since  the  fourth  century  it  has  been  customary  to  celebrate,  on 
the  twenty-sixth  of  December,  the  death  of  Stephen  the  first 
martyr,  as  standing  nearest  the  manger  of  the  infant  Saviour. 
The  death  of  the  martyr  was,  according  to  the  phraseology  of  the 
ancient  church,  his  birthday.  Hence  the  familiar  saying  of  the 
fathers:  "Heri  natus  est  Christus  in  terris,  ut  bodies  Stephanus 
nasceretur  in  coelis." 

Next  followed  the  memorial  of  John,  the  beloved  disciple,  which 
naturally  connected  itself  with  that  of  the  birth  of  Christ.  He 
especially  taught  us  that  the  Word  became  flesh  and  dwelt  among 
us.  He  was  also  a  martyr ;  not  indeed  like  Stephen,  but  in  a 
spiritual  sense.  For  it  was  the  custom  of  the  church  to  reckon  all 
as  martyrs  who  fearlessly  stood  up  as  witnesses  for  the  truth,  not 
counting  their  own  lives  dear  unto  them,  though  they  may  at 
length  have  died  a  natural  death. 

As  these  days  commemorate  those  who  testified  their  love  for 
Christ,  the  one  by  a  long  life  of  undeviating  fidelity,  and  the  other 
by  an  heroic  death,  so  another  commemorates  those  who,  in  tender, 
unconscious  childhood,  yielded  up  their  lives  for  the  preservation 
of  the  infant  Saviour.  The  twenty-eighth  of  December,  Inno- 
cents' day,  was  set  apart  in  memory  of  the  innocent  children  who 
suffered  death  by  the  jealous  cruelty  of  Herod.  Thus  these  mar- 
tyr-feasts are  connected  with  that  of  the  birth  of  Christ.  This 
connection  illustrates  the  deep  earnestness  with  which  the  ancient 
church  regarded  the  death  of  Christ. 

Between  the  day  of  the  birth  of  Christ  and  of  his  manifestation, 
there  is  another  which  commemorates  an  important  event  of  his 
life, — his  circumcision.  Festum  circumcisionis  et  nominis  Jesu. 
The  later  fathers  of  the  church  connected  with  the  observance  of 
this  day  the  festivities  of  the  new-year's  day,  by  which  means  it 
was  dishonoured  by  many  wanton  and  extravagant  rites  adopted 
from  heathen  nations. 


540  THE   FESTIVALS   OF   THE    CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XXVI. 

The  feast  of  Epiphany  concluded  the  solemnities  connected  "syith 
that  of  the  birth  of  Christ.  This  is  an  ancient  oriental  festival ; 
and  may  have  been  established,  through  the  influence  of  the  Gnos- 
tics, as  early  as  the  second  century. 

In  the  sixth  century,  the  feast  of  purification,  or  of  the  presenta- 
tion of  Christ  in  the  temple,  was  added  to  those  which  are  connected 
with  Christmas.  The  time  of  holding  this  feast,  styled  Candlemas, 
from  the  number  of  lights  which  were  borne  in  procession  on  the 
occasion,  was  necessarily  determined  by  that  of  Christmas  on  the 
twenty-fifth  of  December. 

The  solemnities  of  Easter  stand  in  close  connection  with  those 
of  Christmas.  Of  the  historical  origin  of  this  feast  there  can  be 
no  doubt.  AVith  essential  variations,  it  sprang  from  the  Passover, 
the  great  festival  of  the  Jews,  to  which  it  retains  many  striking 
analogies.  It  is  the  most  ancient  and  the  most  significant  of  all 
the  festivals  of  the  Christian  church.  It  commemorates  the  re- 
surrection of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead.  This  momentous  event, 
so  important  in  the  scheme  of  grace,  is  signalized,  both  by  this 
great  annual  festival,  and  by  the  weekly  observance  of  the  Lord's 
day. 

This  great  festive  season  is  preceded  by  a  preparatory  fast  of 
forty  days,  the  carnival,  caro  vale  ! 

The  solemnities  immediately  connected  with  Easter  begin  with 
Palm  Sunday ;  commemorative  of  our  Lord's  triumphant  entry  into 
Jerusalem,  when  the  enthusiastic  multitude  strewed  palms  in  the 
way  before  him.  The  tragedy  begins  with  a  triumphal  procession ; 
unnatural,  indeed,  and  inconsistent,  because  merely  an  earthly 
triumph  ;  and  oh  !  how  unlike  that  of  the  Eternal  King  on  his  en- 
try into  the  city  of  the  New  Jerusalem  above.  The  shouts  of  the 
tumultuous  assembly  and  their  loud  hosannas  are  soon  to  be  ex- 
changed, by  the  malice  of  the  priests,  for  their  maledictions  and 
phrenzied  exclamations  of  rage.  And  yet  the  blessed  Saviour, 
meekly  submissive  to  his  Father's  will,  calmly  proceeds,  in  full 
consciousness  of  all  this,  to  meet  his  certain  death. 

First  of  all  he  institutes  the  Lord's  supper,  expressive  of  the 
grace  of  God,  and  the  fellowship  of  saints.  The  memory  of  this 
transaction  is  perpetuated  by  Maunday  Thursday,  dies  7nysterio- 
rum,  dies  natalis — calieis,  dies  viridium,  etc. 

Then  follows  that  day  of  awful  suffering,  and  of  amazing  grace, 
when  Jesus  died  upon  the  cross  for  the  sins  of  the  world, —  Good 
Friday.  It  is  expressive  of  the  surpassing  love  of  Christ  in  dying 
for  the  salvation  of  man.     But  the  benevolent  ends  of  this  sacrifice 


SEC.  HI.]   SACRED  SEASONS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  CHURCH.       541 

were  accomplished  by  mysterious  sufferings.  All  was  darkness  and 
gloom.  The  sun  itself  was  shi'ouded  in  darkness.  All  nature,  in 
sympathy  with  the  sufferings  of  the  great  Deliverer,  gave  signs  of 
wo.  How  much  deeper  then  the  sorrow  with  which  the  heart  of 
man  should  be  touched  on  this  occasion.  Hence  the  expressive 
silence  and  sadness  with  which  the  day  is  solemnized. 

Saturday  following  was  named  the  Great,  or  Holy  Sabbath.  On 
this  day  the  Lord  lay  in  his  grave,  and  rested  from  the  great  work 
of  redemption,  as  also  on  the  night  following.  This  night  was  also 
observed  with  peculiar  solemnity,  that  sacred  night  of  all  nights. 
The  church  assembled  in  silent  sadness,  and  passed  its  mournful 
vigils  in  watching,  in  prayer,  and  in  torch-light  processions.  In 
connection  with  this  solemnity  the  ancient  church  was  accustomed 
to  foreshadow,  by  peculiar  rites,  the  second  coming  of  the  Son 
of  man. 

But  when  the  morning  dawned,  oh,  what  a  morning !  It  was 
announced  with  the  triumphant  exclamation.  The  Lord  is  risen ! 
yes,  verily  the  Lord  is  risen  indeed,  was  the  universal  response. 
Easter  now  is  fully  come.  Easter,  that  day  of  joy,  of  salvation, 
that  royal,  triumphant  day;  that  day  of  light,  of  life,  and  of  sal- 
vation, that  feast  of  feasts.  Old  things  are  passed  away ;  behold, 
all  things  are  become  new.  The  ancient  dispensation  has  passed 
away ;  and  the  new  now  begins.  For  this  reason  the  ancient 
church  began  the  new  year  with  this  day.  In  like  manner,  the 
Christian  sabbath,  the  resurrection  day,  is  not,  like  the  Jewish,  the 
conclusion  of  the  seven  days,  but  the  beginning  of  a  new  week. 

The  conclusion  of  Easter  was  Whitsunday,  Dominica  in  albis, 
dies  neopJit/torum,  etc.  On  this  day  the  neophytes,  candidates  for 
church-membership,  were  received  into  full  communion  by  appro- 
priate solemnities,  after  which  they  laid  aside  the  white  garments 
with  which  they  had  been  clad,  and  in  which  they  appeared  in 
public  on  this  occasion. 

The  cycle  of  Whitsunday  commemorates  the  complete  manifest- 
ation and  exaltation  of  Jesus  Christ.  His  earthly  course  is  com- 
pleted ;  he  lives  indeed  still,  but  only  as  our  risen  Lord.  As  with 
the  Jews  the  interval  between  the  Passover  and  Pentecost  was  holy 
time,  so  also  with  Christians,  the  seven  weeks  between  Easter  and 
Whitsunday  were  religiously  observed.  It  was  the  favourite  time 
for  solemnizing  the  right  of  baptism.  As  a  symbolical  representa- 
tion of  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  all  were  accustomed,  during  this 
interval,  to  stand  in  prayer.  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles  were  read 
and  expounded,  because  this  book  particularly  treats  of  his  resur 


542  THE   FESTIVALS   OF   THE   CHURCH.         [CHAP.  XXVI. 

rection.  None  fasted  during  this  season.  Business  -was,  as  much 
as  possible,  suspended,  and  the  time  devoted  to  festivity  as  a  pro- 
longed thanksgiving.  In  a  word,  the  whole  was  a  joyous  Sunday, 
a  religious  holiday,  a  prolonged  echo  of  the  acclamation  of  the  re- 
surrection morning. 

The  last  of  all  these  days  relating  to  our  Lord's  mission  on  earth 
was  the  Ascension,  when  the  life  of  Jesus,  which  began  in  the 
manger,  ended  in  the  glories  of  heaven. 

§  4.  OF   THE   CORKUPT   ORIGIN   AND   INFLUENCE    OF   THE   FESTIVALS 
OF   THE   CHURCH. 

In  the  institution  of  these  festivals  reference  was  had  sometimes 
to  the  seasons  of  the  year,  sometimes  to  the  festivals  of  the  Jews, 
and  at  other  times  to  the  festivals  of  pagan  nations.^  These  festi- 
vals of  the  church  accordingly  became  an  incongruous  mixture  of 
Judaism,  paganism,  and  Christianity.  As  men  are  known  by  their 
gods,  so  the  character  of  their  religion  is  manifested  by  their  fes- 
tivals. The  degenerate  character  of  the  church  is  partially  indi- 
cated in  this  blending  of  heathen  festivals  and  Jewish  observances 
with  religious  festivals.  These  festivals  had  their  origin  in  a  cor- 
rupt age  of  the  church,  and  are  a  manifest  token  of  degeneracy. 

As  early  as  the  third  and  fourth  centuries,  the  church  began  to 
manifest  an  attachment  both  to  Jewish  and  to  pagan  forms  and 
ceremonies.  The  original  simplicity  of  Christian  worship,  adapted 
to  a  spiritual  religion,  became  unsatisfactory.  The  multitude 
craved  an  outward  religion,  that  should  address  itself  to  the  senses 
rather  than  to  the  heart ;  something  that  should  amuse  and  divert, 
and  appease  the  religious  propensities  of  men  without  disturbing 
them  in  their  sins.  Such  external  attractions  the  church  sought 
to  give  to  her  religion  by  the  establishment  of  new  festivals,  and 
by  converting  Jewish  and  heathen  ceremonies  into  Christian  so- 
lemnities. Accordingly,  many  such  observances  were  adopted  into 
Christian  worship  in  the  sixth  century,  under  Gregory  the  Great, 
from  the  Jewish  and  heathen  ritual.^ 

This  propensity  discovered  itself  at  an  earlier  period,  and  was  often 
censured,  but  it  only  increased  with  the  progress  of  degeneracy. 

The  commemoration  of  martyrs  and  confessors  led  to  the  esta- 
blishment of  numerous  festivals  in  honour  of  saints,  and  many  other 
superstitions  connected  with  sacred  relics,  invocations,  and  pil- 
grimages. 

The  introduction  of  the  observance  of  Christmas  in  the  fourth 
century,  led  the  way  to  many  other  festivals,  as  has  been  already 


SEC.  v.]  CHRONOLOGY   OF   THE    CALENDAR.  543 


intimated.  These  and  kindred  causes  sufficiently  account  for  the 
continuous  and  enormous  multiplication  of  fasts  and  festivals  under 
the  papacy.  "  Within  two  hundred  years  from  the  death  of  Chry- 
sostom,  Mahomet  broke  upon  the  world,  and  the  tempest  which  he 
raised  came  as  a  blast  of  health  upon  the  nations.  What  Mahomet 
and  his  caliphs  found  in  all  directions  where  their  scimetars  cut  a 
path  for  them,  was  a  superstition  so  abject,  an  idolatry  so  gross 
and  shameless,  church  doctrines  so  arrogant,  church  practices  so 
dissolute  and  puerile,  that  the  strong-minded  Arabians  felt  them- 
selves inspired  anew  as  God's  messengers,  to  reprove  the  error  of 
the  world,  and  authorized  as  God's  avengers  to  punish  apostate 
Christendom."^  This  was  the  age  of  festivals  and  fasts,  with  which 
the  calendar  became  so  crowded,  that  the  cycle  of  the  entire  year 
presents  scarcely  a  single  day  which  was  not  commemorated  by  some 
of  those  solemn  puerilities  of  papal  superstition. 


§5.  OF  THE  CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  CALENDAR. 

The  reckoning  of  chronology  by  the  Christian  era  was  intro- 
duced in  the  sixth  century  by  Dionysius,  a  Roman  abbot,  and  in 
the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries  was  denominated  the  Dyonisianera. 
Previous  to  the  introduction  of  this  system  of  chronology,  time  was 
reckoned  by  the  Jews  from  the  creation  of  the  world,  by  the  Romans 
from  the  founding  of  Rome,  or  by  consulships,  or  by  the  reign  of 
their  emperors.  The  calendar  was  revised  by  Julius  Caesar,  forty- 
five  years  before  Christ,  and  the  year  made  to  begin  on  the  first  of 
January  instead  of  the  fii'st  of  March,  The  Dionysian  era  began 
A.  D.  531,  but  it  has  been  subject  to  certain  modifications,  of  which 
the  most  important  are  the  correction  of  the  epact,  and  the  reduc- 
tion from  the  25th  of  March  to  the  25th  of  December. 

It  is  not  distinctly  known  when  the  reckoning  of  time  by  an  ec- 
clesiastical year  began  in  the  church.  The  Jews  had  a  civil  year, 
which  dated  from  the  creation  of  the  world,  and  began  on  the  first 
day  of  the  month  Tisri,  corresponding  to  the  first  half  of  Septem- 
ber, and  styled  n,3u'n  C^'XI.  Their  ecclesiastic  or  religious  year, 
having  the  same  name,  began  the  first  of  the  month  Nisan,  corre- 
sponding with  the  latter  part  of  March.  The  Passover  followed  im- 
mediately, and  all  their  festivals  were  reckoned  from  this  date. 
From  the  authorities  quoted  in  the  above  reference,  it  is  probable 
that  the  ecclesiastical  year  in  the  Christian  church  was  adopted  from 
the  Jewish,  and  corresponded  with  it.     In  the  fifth  century  the 


644  THE    FESTIVALS    OF    THE    CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XXVI. 

feast  of  the  Annunciation,  March  25th,  which  also  has  an  intimate 
relation  to  the  25th  of  December,  was  accounted  the  beginning  of 
the  ecclesiastical  year,  corresponding  very  nearly  with  the  religious 
reckoning  of  the  Jews.  This  became  a  fixed  point  for  the  church 
from  which  to  date  all  their  festivals,  or  as  Chrysostom  expresses 
it,  it  was  7tpa)TJ7  xai  pi^a  rcov  eoprajv  roi)  Xptcnroi).  This  feast, 
according  to  the  Council  of  Toletum,  x.  c.  1,  was  to  be  held  on  the 
13th  of  December,  on  the  last  Sabbath  of  Christmas,  as. in  Milan  ; 
or  on  the  5th  or  6th  of  January,  as  in  the  Ethiopian  and  Armenian 
churches  respectively.  In  France  it  was  observed  on  the  25th  of 
March  as  late  as  the  sixteenth  century,  and  in  England  even  down 
to  the  eighteenth  century. 

The  Western  church  generally  may  very  naturally  be  supposed  to 
date  their  ecclesiastical  year  from  the  advent  of  Christ,  in  imita- 
tion of  the  church  at  Rome.  Between  the  seventh  and  ninth  cen- 
turies this  festival  was  extended  to  include  six  sabbath  days.  This 
number  was  afterward  reduced. 

The  Eastern  church,  like  the  Western,  celebrated  the  advent  for 
a  series  of  days,  but  differed  entirely  from  that  church  in  the  reck- 
oning of  their  religious  year.  This  they  began  from  the  feast  on 
the  erection  of  the  cross,  crouch-mas-day,  September  14th. 

This  mode  of  reckoning  time,  by  ecclesiastical  and  civil  years, 
must  have  caused  much  confusion  and  inconvenience.  And  some 
important  reasons  must  have  led  to  the  adoption  of  a  system  of 
chronology  so  complicated  and  inconvenient.  The  primitive  church 
were  probably  influenced  in  their  adherence  to  this  arrangement 
by  their  desire  to  embrace  in  their  sacred  seasons  all  the  leading 
incidents  of  our  Saviour's  life.  The  Julian  reckoning  of  time  from 
the  first  of  January  they  rejected,  because  of  its  relation  to  pagan 
chronology.  For  many  centuries  this  day  was  stigmatized  by  them 
as  a  day  for  fasting  and  penance,  or  as  a  day  fit  only  to  be  ob- 
served by  fools  and  hypochondriacs,  the  observance  of  which  was 
forbidden  by  various  ecclesiastical  councils  in  the  sixth  and  seventh 
centuries.^ 

The  names  of  months  and  weeks,  and  the  consequent  division  of 
time  by  them,  the  church  in  general  derived  from  the  Roman  ca- 
lendar. But  they  rejected  the  names  of  January  and  February  as 
being  associated  with  paganism.  For  the  same  reason  they  re- 
jected the  reckoning  by  calends,  nones,  and  ides.  They  divided 
the  year  into  fifty-two  weeks,  and  gave  to  each  a  specific  nr  me,  as 
hehdomas  onagna,  hehdomas  authentica,  mttta,  poenosa,  lurtuosa^ 
cruets,  indulgentice,  paschalis,  pentecostalis,  trinitatis,  etc.     They 


SEC.  VI.]  SPECIFIC    SOLEMNITIES   AND   FEASTS.  545 


uniformly  began  the  week  on  Sunday,  which  they  styled  the  Lord's 
day,  xiftax'h  7\uipa,  and  the  weeks  which  followed  were  denomi- 
nated, Advent,  Epiphany,  etc.  They  manifested  the  same  zealous 
opposition  to  paganism  by  rejecting  the  Roman  names  of  the  days 
of  the  week,  Monday,  Tuesday,  dies  lunce,  martis,  etc.,  each 
being  named  after  some  pagan  god.  Some  ascetics  retained  Sun- 
day, dies  soils,  but  only  in  a  mystical  sense,  relating  to  the  Sun  of 
righteousness.  But  the  names  of  the  others  they  uniformly  re- 
fused and  substituted  in  their  place  the  appellations /ma  jsrma, 
secunda,  etc.,  for  Monday,  Tuesday,  etc.* 

The  festivals  of  the  church  are  divided  into  the  following  classes : 
weekly  and  annual ;  movable,  and  immovable,  i.  e.  fixed  to  a  cer- 
tain day  of  the  month  on  which  they  always  occur  ;  higher,  middle, 
and  lower ;  universal  and  -particular ;  ancient  and  modern ;  civil 
and  ecclesiastical ;  secular  and  religious. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  by  the  nativity,  ra  yerfS'/Lia,  the 
church  generally  denoted  not  the  natural  birth,  but  the  death  of  the 
person  commemorated  by  the  festival,  the  deceased  being  supposed 
at  death  to  be  born  to  a  new  and  nobler  state  of  being.  The  na- 
tivity however  of  our  Lord,  of  John  the  Baptist,  and  of  the  Virgin 
Mary,  is  to  be  understood  in  its  appropriate  and  obvious  signifi- 
cation. 

§  6.    OF    THE    SPECIFIC    SOLEMNITIES  AND   FEASTS    OF    THE    CHURCH. 

1.  Easter,  commemoration  both  of  the  death  and  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ.  This  was  the  most  ancient  of  all  the  festivals  of 
the  church.  Unlike  the  Christmas  festival,  it  was  a  movable 
feast,  restricted  to  no  prescribed  day.  The  Jewish  Christians  re- 
garded it  as  their  passover,  and  connected  with  it  another  ob- 
servance commemorative  of  the  resurrection.  Gentile  Christians 
observed  the  weekly  Sabbath  in  commemoration  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ,  and  Friday  preceding  as  a  memorial  of  his  death, 
setting  aside  the  Jewish  idea  of  the  passover.  The  Jewish  idea 
of  the  passover  prevailed  in  the  East,  the  Gentile  view  in  Rome  and 
generally  in  the  Western  churches.     These  conflicting  views  gave 

*  It  is  a  little  singular  that  our  names  of  the  days  of  the  week  had  an  origin 
similar  to  that  which  was  so  obnoxious  to  the  primitive  church,  as  may  be  seen  by 
observing  their  Saxon  origin.  Sunnadaeg,  Sun's  day;  Monandaeg,  Moon's  day; 
Tuesdaeg,  day  of  Tuscio,  i.  e.  Mars ;  Wodensdaeg,  day  of  Woden,  or  Odin,  a  northern 
deity ,  Torsdaeg,  day  of  Thor,  a  deity  answering  to  Jupiter ;  Frydaeg,  day  of  Frig- 
ga,  the  Venus  of  the  North ;  Saeterdaeg,  day  of  Sacter,  i.  e.  Saturn. 

35 


546  THE   FESTIVALS   OF   THE   CHURCH.         [CHAP.  XXVI. 

rise  in  the  second  century  to  a  formal  and  protracted  controversy 
between  the  Eastern  and  the  Western  church,  and  became  the  occa- 
sion of  bitter  hostility  between  them.  The  details  of  this  contro- 
versy the  reader  will  find  in  the  histories  of  this  period  of  the 
church. 

The  feast  of  Easter  was  introduced  by  a  season  of  fasting^ 
sometimes  of  forty  days,  like  our  Lord's  fast  in  the  wilderness, 
Matt.  iv.  2,  or  of  Moses,  Ex.  xxxiv.  28.  This  was  styled  the 
quadrigesima.  Sometimes  the  fast  continued  one  or  more  days, 
ox  forty  hours,  and  then  again  expanded  to  three,  to  six,  and  even 
to  seven  weeks.  It  was  finally  settled  at  forty  days,  commencing 
on  Wednesday  of  the  seventh  week  before  Easter,  and  excluding 
the  intermediate  Sundays,  called  Sundays  in  Lent,  not  of  Lent. 
This  fast,  styled  the  Carnival,  from  caro  vale,  began  with  Ash 
Wednesday  and  ended  with  the  Saturday  before  Easter.  The 
carnival  of  the  Italians  is  a  festival  which  precedes  the  fast  of 
Lent,  but  that  fast  is  itself  the  carnival  of  church  history. 

The  entire  week  before  Easter,  beginning  with  Palm  Sunday, 
was  kept  as  holy  time ;  but  the  fifth,  sixth,  and  seventh  were  re- 
garded as  peculiarly  sacred  above  the  other  days  of  this  week. 
The  week  was  denominated  the  great  iveek  and  passion  week. 

The  name  of  Ash  Wednesday  is  derived  from  a  superstitious 
custom  of  the  Romish  church.  A  quantity  of  ashes  is  consecrated 
and  then  sprinkled  over  the  heads  of  the  congregation,  while  the 
admonition  is  given  in  Latin,  Remember — ^^Dust  thou  art,  and 
unto  dust  shalt  thou  return." 

Maunday  Thursday. — This  was  the  fifth  day  of  passion  week, 
called  also  dies  mandati,  dies  mysteriorum,  eucharistice,  paniSj 
indulgenti(e,  etc.  It  was  observed  by  the  celebration  of  the 
Lord's  supper,  and  for  a  long  time  after  the  ancient  love-feasts 
were  discontinued,  this  day  was  observed  as  a  feast  of  love.  A\  ith 
these  ceremonies  was  also  joined  that  of  washing  the  feet  by  cate- 
chumens and  candidates  for  baptism.  The  creed  was  also  publicly 
rehearsed  by  them  on  this  day,  and  pardon  was  extended  to  the 
penitent,  hence  called  dies  indulgentice. 

Good  Friday. — This  was  the  sixth  day  of  passion  week,  so 
called  from  the  good  derived  from  the  death  of  Christ.  The  day 
was  observed  as  a  strict  fast.  The  customary  acclamations  and 
doxologies  were  omitted,  and  nothing  but  the  most  plaintive  strains 
of  music,  such  as  xvpie  8?^E7}Gov,  etc.,  were  allowed.  No  bell  was 
rung  on  this  occasion.     None  bowed  the  knee  in  prayer,  becausi; 


SEC.  YI.]  SPECIFIC   SOLEMNITIES   AND   FEASTS.  547 

thus  tlie  Jews  reviled  Jesus.  Matt,  xxvii.  29.  Neither  did  any 
present  the  kiss  of  charity,  for  Judas  betrayed  his  Lord  "with  a 
kiss.  The  sacramental  elements  were  not  consecrated,  the  altars 
were  divested  of  their  ornaments,  and  the  gospel  of  John  was 
read,  because  he  was  a  faithful  and  true  witness  of  our  Lord's 
passion. 

The  seventh  day  of  this  week,  the  Great  Sabbath,  as  it  was 
called,  was  observed  with  rigorous  precision  as  a  day  of  fasting. 
Religious  worship  was  celebrated  hy  night,  and  the  vigils  of  'the 
night  were  continued  until  cock-crowing,  the  hour  when  the  Lord 
was  supposed  to  have  arisen.  At  this  instant  the  stillness  of  these 
midnight  vigils  was  suddenly  interrupted  by  the  joyful  acclama- 
tion. The  Lord  is  risen,  the  Lord  is  risen !  the  Lord  is  risen 
indeed ! 

This  day  was  particularly  set  apart  for  administering  the  ordi- 
nance of  baptism,  with  a  reference  to  the  baptism  wherewith  Christ 
was  at  this  time  baptized,  and  for  the  consecration  of  the  holy 
water.  The  Scripture  lessons  for  this  day  were  various  selections 
from  the  prophets. 

The  day  of  Easter  was  celebrated  with  every  demonstration  of 
joy  as  a  second  jubilee.  In  connection  with  appropriate  devo- 
tional exercises,  it  was  customary  to  celebrate  the  day  by  deeds 
of  charity  and  mercy — by  granting  liberty  to  the  captive,  freedom 
to  the  slave,  and  pardon  to  the  criminals.  Charities  were  dis- 
pensed to  the  needy.  Courts  of  justice  were  suspended.  Each 
participated  in  the  general  joy  and  felt  his  bosom  swell  with  the 
"wide  wish  of  benevolence." 

The  week  following  Easter,  Octave  of  Easter,  was  observed  as  a 
continuation  of  the  festival.  The  time  was  spent  in  reading  the 
Scriptures,  celebrating  the  mysteries,  and  other  appropriate  ex- 
ercises. During  this  time,  they  who  had  been  baptized  at  Easter 
appeared  arrayed  iyi  white,  in  token  of  that  purity  of  life  to  which 
they  were  bound  by  their  baptismal  vows.  On  the  Sabbath  fol- 
lowing, Dominica  in  albis,  they  laid  aside  their  garments  of  white, 
and  after  this  became  integral  members  of  the  church.  The  day 
was  called  White  Sunday  from  their  appearing  in  white  for  the 
last  time. 

Ascension  day  occurs  first  in  the  Apostolical  Constitutions,  viii. 
c.  33,  as  one  of  the  solemnities  connected  with  Easter. 

Trinity  Sunday  is  of  late  and  uncertain  origin.  To  this  cycle 
belong  then  Palm  Sunday,  Holy  Thursday,  Good  Friday,  Easter 
Eve,  and  the  Octave  of  Easter. 


548  THE   FESTIVALS   OF   THE    CHURCH.         [CHAP.  XXVI. 

2.  Whitsuntide,  Whit  Sunday,  Pentecost,  C0TixmQmQva.i\\Q0^i]xe 
outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  an  early  festival  of  the  church,  mentioned 
by  Irenseus^  and  Tertullian,^  of  the  second  century.  It  continued 
fifty  days,  covering  the  time  between  Easter  and  Whitsuntide  ;  and 
then  again  its  application  is  restricted  to  that  particular  time 
which  perpetuated  the  memory  of  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
It  is  in  reality  a  continuation  of  the  great  feast  of  Easter,  just  as 
the  resurrection  and  ascension,  and  descent  of  the  Spirit  are  con- 
nected in  the  economy  of  grace.  This  cycle  begins  with  the  feast 
of  the  Ascension  and  ends  with  the  Octave  of  Easter. 

3.  Christmas. — This  is  generally  agreed  to  have  had  its  origin 
in  the  fourth  century.  The  festival  begins  with  the  Advent  on  the 
last  of  November,  and  continues  until  Epiphany,  January  6th. 
But  both  the  Latin  and  Greek  church,  since  the  latter  end  of  the 
fourth  century,  have  agreed  in  observing  the  25th  of  December 
more  particularly.  The  Advent  is  preliminary  and  preparatory  to 
this,  and  the  Epiphany  closes  this  sacred  festival  in  honour  of  the 
incarnate  Saviour.  Many,  misled  by  the  term  d^i^ig,  advent,  as 
it  occurs  in  the  earliest  of  the  fathers,  have  supposed  that  the 
Advent,  as  a  festival,  was  of  apostolic  origin ;  whereas  the  first 
authentic  mention  of  it  as  such  is  in  the  Council  of  Mascon,  c.  3, 
A.  D.  582. 

In  regard  to  the  Nativity,  it  appears,  from  an  oration  of  Chry- 
sostom  on  this  occasion  in  the  year  386,  that  this  festival  had  been 
introduced  ten  years  before,  for  the  first  time,  into  Antioch  and 
Syria,  and  that  others  claimed  for  it  a  high  antiquity,  asserting 
that  it  was  known  from  Thrace  even  unto  Spain.^  Epiphany  was 
observed  at  an  early  period ;  Christ's  entrance  upon  his  public 
ministry  being  an  event  of  greater  interest  than  that  of  his  birth, 
Clemens  Alexandrinus  censures  those  who  seek  too  anxiously  the 
Saviour's  birth.'*  He  is  the  first  who  makes  mention  of  the  feast 
of  Epiphany. 

Auo-ustin  recommends  a  suitable  remembrance  of  Christmas, 
but  does  not  honour  it  as  a  solemn  festival.  He  expressly  asserts 
that  the  church,  by  common  consent,  held  it  on  the  25th  of  De- 
cember.^ Indeed,  it  may  be  confidently  afiirmed  that  in  the  third 
century,  and  the  first  half  of  the  fourth,  the  church  was  not 
agreed  either  in  regard  to  the  time  or  reasons  for  observing  this 
festival ;  and  that  the  Eastern  and  Western  churches  differed 
totally  in  their  manner  of  celebrating  it.  About  the  end  of  the 
fourth  century  it  was  finally  agreed  that  Christmas  and  Epiphany 
should  be  observed  as  two  distinct  festivals,  the  one  on  the  25th 


SEC.  VI.]  SPECIFIC    SOLEMNITIES   AND   FEASTS.  549 

of  December,  the  otlier  on  the  6th  of  January.^  From  that  time 
this  arrangement  has  been  very  generally  observed. 

The  festivals  connected  with  the  cycle  of  the  Nativity  are  St. 
Stephen's  day,  St.  John  the  Baptist's  day,  the  Innocents'  day, 
the  Circumcision,  the  Epiphany,  and  the  Purification. 

4.  Festivals  in  honour  of  the  Virgin  Mary. — No  instance  of 
divine  honour  paid  to  Mary  is  recorded  of  an  earlier  date  than 
the  fifth  century.  Cyril  of  Alexandria  and  Proklus  of  Constanti- 
nople were  the  first  to  pay  these  honours  to  her.  Festivals  to  her 
memory  began  to  be  held  about  the  year  431,^  but  were  not  gene- 
rally observed  until  the  sixth  century.  From  this  time  until  the 
sixteenth  century  they  were  general  in  all  the  Western  churches, 
though  differing  in  number  and  in  rank  in  the  several  countries 
of  Europe.*  The  Greek  church  observes  only  three  great  festivals 
of  this  description. 

The  following  is  a  brief  enumeration  of  the  principal  festivals  in 
question : — 

1.  The  festival  of  the  Purification.  Candlemas,  Feb.  2,  insti- 
tuted in  the  sixth  century.® 

2.  Of  the  Annunciation,  popularly  styled  Lady  Day,  March 
25,  an  eai-ly  festival,  styled  by  St.  Bernard  radix  omnium  fes- 
torum?^     It  dates  back  only  to  the  seventh  century. 

3.  Of  the  Visitation  of  Mai-y  to  Elizabeth,  instituted  by  Urban 
VL,  1389." 

4.  Of  the  Assumption  of  Mary  into  heaven,  August  15,  early 
instituted. ^^  Mary  was  the  tutelary  divinity  of  France ;  and  for 
this  reason  this  day  was  observed  with  peculiar  care.  It  was  also 
the  birthday  of  Napoleon,  and  accordingly  was  observed  under 
his  dynasty  as  the  great  festival  of  the  nation. 

5.  Of  the  Nativity  of  Mary,  September  8,  instituted  in  the 
Eastern  church  in  the  seventh  century ;  in  the  Western,  in  the 
eleventh  or  twelfth.^ 

6.  Of  the  naming  of  Mary,  A.  D.  1513. 

7.  Of  Conception.  This  feast,  according  to  Bellarmin,  was 
not  necessarily  dependant  upon  the  question  so  fiercely  discussed 
in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries  respecting  the  immaculate 
conception." 

5.  Festivals  in  memory  of  the  Apostles^  Saints,  and  Martyrs. — 
These  festive  occasions  in  memory  of  the  martyrs  are  often  styled 
their  biy'th  days,  fiaprvpcdv  yeve^T.ia,  natilitia.  They  never  re  • 
late,  however,  to  their  natural  birth,  but  to  their  death,  at  which 
they  are  born  to  a  new  and  nobler  life  above.     Nemo,  ante  ohitum, 


550  THE  FESTIVALS   OF  THE   CHURCH.         [CHAP.  XXVI. 


beatus,  was  an  established  maxim  of  tlie  churcli.  "When  you 
hear  of  the  birthday  of  a  saint,"  says  Peter  Chrysologus,  "think 
not  that  it  relates  to  his  carnal  birth  on  earth,  but  to  the  day 
when  he  was  born  from  earth  to  heaven,  from  toil  to  rest,  from 
labour  to  repose,  from  trials  to  joys  unfading  and  eternal ;  from 
earthly  vanities  to  a  crown  of  glory."  ^^ 

The  earliest  festival  of  this  kind  was  that  of  Poly  carp.  Another, 
which  was  observed  with  great  solemnity,  was  the  feast  of  the 
Maccabees,  founded  on  the  heroic  death  of  the  mother  and  her 
seven  sons.^^  These  festivals  were  preceded  by  vigils,  and  cele- 
brated around  the  graves  of  the  martyrs,  where  their  lives  were 
read,  and  eulogies  pronounced,  the  sacrament  administered,  and 
public  entertainments  given  gratuitously  by  the  rich.  But  these 
entertainments  became,  in  time,  the  occasion  of  shameful  excesses, 
and  were  suppressed.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  fathers  in- 
dignantly repel  the  charge  of  paying  religious  honours  to  the  mar- 
tyrs, and  assert  that  they  only  celebrate  these  festivals  to  provoke 
the  livinjr  to  emulate  the  deeds  of  the  sainted  dead,  and  to  follow  af- 
ter  those  who,  through  faith  and  patience,  inherited  the  promises. ^^ 

Of  the  Apostles'  Days. — The  reasons  for  observing  these  were 
the  same  as  for  observing  the  martyr  feasts ;  nor  is  there  any  in- 
stance of  the  appointment  of  such  a  day  for  any  apostle  or  evan- 
gelist who  was  known  not  to  have  suffered  martyrdom.  The  Apos- 
tolical Constitutions^^  make  mention  of  the  apostles'  feast,  and 
direct  that  slaves  shall  be  exempt  from  labour  on  that  day,  which 
intimates  that  it  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  great  feasts.  But 
none  of  the  apostles  is  specified,  neither  is  the  time  of  observing  it 
mentioned.  The  idea  of  a  general  feast  of  this  character  was  often 
entertained,  though  the  festival  was  but  inconstantly  observed. 
The  oriental  church  celebrated  it  immediately  after  Whitsunday, 
and  in  connection  with  it ;  but  the  churches  generally  were  not 
agreed  either  in  regard  to  the  day,  or  the  persons  who  should  be 
honoured  by  it.  At  one  time,  Peter's  and  Paul's  day  is  mentioned ;'' 
at  another,  that  of  Philip  and  James  f°  then  the  twelve  collectively.^^ 
But  separate  festivals  were,  in  time,  prescribed  for  all,  together 
with  the  evangelists  Mark  and  Luke. 

Festivals  were,  in  process  of  time,  established  also  in  great  num- 
bers for  the  saints  of  distinction,  though  they  died  not  as  martyrs. 
The  Eastern  church  was  the  first  to  appoint  such  festivals.  In  the 
Western  church  they  were  regarded  most  from  the  time  of  Charle- 
magne to  Gregory  VIII.^^ 

The  right  of  canonizing  saints  originally  belonged  to  the  bishops, 


SEC.  VI.]  SPECIFIC    SOLEMNITIES   AND   FEASTS.  551 

but  the  privilege  was  restricted  by  councils,^^  The  first  instance 
of  canonization  by  the  pope  occurred  A.  d.  995.  The  privilege 
continued  to  be  exercised  occasionally  until  the  twelfth  century, 
when  it  began  to  be  boldly  asserted  and  defended. 

The  feasts  of  All  Saints,  November  1,  and  of  All  Souls,  Novem- 
ber 2,  were  instituted,  the  former  in  the  seventh,  and  the  latter  in 
the  tenth  century. 

We  shall  dismiss  this  subject  with  a  brief  notice  of  some  of  those 
days. 

St.  Matthias's  Dai/,  February  24,  began  to  be  observed  perhaps 
in  the  eighth  century. 

St.  3Iarlcs  Bay,  Afril  25,  eighth  century. 

St.  Philip  and  St.  James's  Day,  May  1,  date  of  the  institution 
unknown. 

St.  Johns  Day,  June  2-i.  This  commemorates  the  birth  of  the 
Baptist,  as  Christmas  does  that  of  Christ.  Both  are  vailed  in  equal 
uncertainty,  but  the  former  is  known  to  have  preceded  the  latter 
by  six  months,  and  is  accordingly  held  June  24.  Thus  the  sun  of 
the  Old  Testament  is  made  to  set  at  the  summer  solstice,  and  that 
of  the  New  Testament  to  rise  in  the  winter  solstice.^  In  the  year 
506,  it  was  received  among  the  great  feasts,  like  Easter,  Christmas, 
and  other  festivals ;  and  was  celebrated  with  equal  solemnity,  and 
in  much  the  same  manner.^* 

St.  Peter  and  St.  PauVs  Day,  June  29,  date  unknown. 

St.  James  the  Apostle,  July  25,  began  to  be  generally  observed 
in  the  eleventh  century. 

St.  Bartholomew,  August  24,  St.  Matthew  the  Apostle,  Septem- 
ber 21,  both  of  uncertain  date. 

St.  Michael  and  All  Angels,  September  29,  not  generally  ob- 
served before  the  eighth  century. 

St.  Luke  the  Evangelist,  October  18,  *S'^.  Simon  and  St.  Jude, 
October  28.    The  origin  of  both  is  unknown. 

All  Saints  Day,  November  1;  All  Souls'  Day,  November  2. 
The  former  was  instituted  in  the  seventh,  the  latter  in  the  tenth 
century. 

St.  Andrew's  Day,  November  30.  The  origin  of  this  solemnity 
is  ascribed  to  the  fourth  century. 

St.  Thomas  the  Apostle,  December  21. 

A  further  sketch  of  the  endless  festivals  of  the  Catholics  would 
be  inconsistent  with  the  design  of  this  work.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that 
thej  fill  up  the  entire  year  in  the  Roman  calendar,  so  that  there 


552  THE   FESTIVALS    OF   THE   CHURCH.         [CHAP.  XXVI. 

is  not  a  day  which  is  not  dedicated  to  the  memory  of  one  or  more 
of  their  saints. 

Of  the  Fasts. — Practice  of  the  Early  Christians. — The  doctrine 
and  practice  of  our  Lord  and  his  apostles  respecting  fasting  may 
be  thus  described : — Our  Saviour  neglected  the  observance  of  those 
stated  Jewish  fasts  which  had  been  superadded  to  the  Mosaic  law, 
and  introduced  especially  after  the  captivity,  to  which  the  Pharisees 
paid  scrupulous  attention,  Matt.  xi.  18,  19;  and  he  represented 
such  observances  as  inconsistent  with  the  genius  of  his  religion. 
Matt.  ix.  14-18,  and  parallel  passages,  Mark  ii.  15-22,  Luke 
V.  33-39.  The  practice  of  voluntary  and  occasional  fasting  he 
neither  prohibited  nor  enjoined  ;  he  spoke  of  it,  however,  as  being 
not  unsuitable  on  certain  occasions,  nor  without  its  use  in  cer- 
tain cases.  Matt.  ix.  15 ;  xvii.  21 ;  he  fasted  himself  on  a  great 
and  solemn  occasion.  Matt.  iv.  2 ;  and  he  warned  his  disciples 
against  all  ostentatious  and  hypocritical  observances  of  this  kind, 
Matt.  vi.  16-18.  The  doctrine  of  the  apostles  on  this  subject  was 
to  the  same  purport,  neither  commanding  the  practice  of  fasting, 
nor  denouncing  it  as  unlawful,  unless  either  the  observance  or 
omission  should  involve  a  breach  of  some  moral  and  Christian  duty, 
Rom.  xiv.  14-22;  Col.  ii.  16-23;  1  Tim.  iv.  3-5.  In  practice, 
the  apostles  joined  fasting  with  prayer,  on  solemn  occasions.  Acts 
xiii.  2,  3 ;  xiv.  23. 

The  observance  of  fasts  was  introduced  into  the  church  slowly 
and  by  degrees.  We  learn  from  Justin  Martyr  that  fasting  was 
joined  with  prayer,  at  Ephesus,  in  the  administration  of  baptism ; 
which  is  worthy  of  being  remarked  as  an  early  addition  to  the 
original  institution.  In  the  second  century,  in  the  time  of  Victor 
and  Irenreus,  it  had  become  usual  to  fast  before  Easter ;  and  Cle- 
ment of  Alexandria  speaks  of  weekly  fasts.  Tertullian,  a  Monta- 
nist,  in  his  treatise,  De  Jejnnio,  complains  heavily  of  the  little  at- 
tention paid  by  the  Catholic  church  to  the  practice  of  fasting  ;  and 
hereby  gives  us  to  "Understand  that,  in  his  days,  a  large  portion  of 
orthodox  Christians  exercised  that  liberty  of  judgment  which  had 
been  sanctioned  by  the  apostles.  Origen,  in  his  voluminous  writ- 
ings, adverts  to  the  subject  only  once,  namely,  in  his  tenth  homily 
on  Leviticus.  And  here  he  speaks  in  accordance  with  the  aposto- 
lical doctrine.  It  appears,  however,  from  his  observations,  that 
at  Alexandria,  Wednesdays  and  Fridays  were  then  observed  as  fast- 
days,  on  the  ground  that  our  Lord  was  betrayed  on  a  Wednesday, 
and  crucified  on  a  Friday.  The  custom  of  the  church  at  the  end 
of  the  fourth  century  may  be  collected  from  the  following  passage 


SEC.  VI.]  SPECIFIC    SOLEMNITIES   AND   FEASTS.  553 


of  Epiphanius  : — "In  the  whole  Christian  church  the  following  fast- 
days,  throughout  the  year,  are  regularly  observed.  On  Wednes- 
days and  Fridays  we  fast  until  the  ninth  hour  {i.  e.  three  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  ;)  except  during  the  interval  of  fifty  days  between 
Easter  and  Whitsuntide,  in  which  it  is  usual  neither  to  kneel  nor 
fast  at  all.  Besides  this,  there  is  no  fasting  on  the  Epiphany  or 
Nativity,  if  those  days  should  fall  on  a  Wednesday  or  Friday.  But 
those  persons  who  especially  devote  themselves  to  religious  exer- 
cises (the  monks,)  fast  also  at  other  times  when  they  please,  except 
on  Sundays  and  during  the  fifty  days  between  Easter  and  Whit- 
suntide. It  is  also  the  practice  of  the  church  to  observe  the  forty 
days  before  the  sacred  week.  But  on  Sundays  there  is  no  fasting, 
even  during  the  last-mentioned  period. "^^ 

To  this  summary  we  subjoin  the  remarks  of  Socrates  respecting 
the  observance  of  the  fasts  before  Easter,  in  the  fifth  century, 
from  which  it  appears  that,  at  this  late  period,  both  the  time  and 
manner  of  keeping  this  fast  was  unsettled,  and  that  each  church 
was  left  very  much  to  their  voluntary  action  in  the  observance 
of  it. 

"The  fasts  before  Easter  are  differently  observed.  Those  at 
Rome  fast  three  successive  weeks  before  Easter,  excepting  Satur- 
days and  Sundays.  The  Illyrians,  Athenians,  and  Alexandrians 
observe  a  fast  of  six  weeks,  which  they  term  the  forty  days'  fast, 
(Lent.)  Others  commencing  their  fast  from  the  seventh  week  be- 
fore Easter,  and  fasting  fifteen  days  only,  and  that  at  intervals, 
call  that  time  'the  forty  days'  fast.'  It  is  indeed  surprising  that 
thus  difi'ering  in  the  number  of  days,  they  should  both  give  it  one 
common  appellation,  but  some  assigning  one  reason  for  it,  and 
others  another,  according  to  their  several  fancies.  There  is  also 
a  disagreement  about  abstinence  from  food  as  well  as  the  number 
of  days.  Some  wholly  abstain  from  things  that  have  life  ;  others 
feed  upon  fish  only  of  all  living  creatures ;  many,  together  with  fish, 
eat  fowl  also,  saying  that  according  to  Moses,  these  were  likewise 
made  out  of  the  waters ;  some  abstain  from  eggs,  and  all  kinds  of 
fruits  ;  others  feed  on  dry  bread  only ;  others  eat  not  even  this ; 
while  others,  having  fasted  until  the  ninth  hour,  afterward  feed  on 
any  sort  of  food  without  distinction."^^ 

Practice  of  Later  Times. — Fasting,  after  a  time,  ceased  to  be  a 
voluntary  exercise.  By  the  second  canon  of  the  Council  of  Or- 
leans, A.  D.  541,  it  was  decreed  that  any  one  who  should  neglect  to 
observe  the  stated  times  of  abstinence  should  be  treated  as  an  of- 
fender against  the  laws  of  the  church.     The  eighth  Council  of  To- 


554  THE    FESTIVALS    OF    THE    CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XXVI. 


ledo,  in  the  seventh  century, ^^  condemns  any  who  should  eat  flesh 
during  the  fast  before  Easter,  and  says  that  such  offenders  deserve 
to  be  forbidden  the  use  of  it  throughout  the  year.  In  the  eighth 
century,  fasting  began  to  be  regarded  as  a  meritorious  work ;  and 
the  breach  of  the  observance,  at  the  stated  seasons,  subjected  the 
offender  to  excommunication.  In  later  times,  some  persons  who 
ate  flesh  during  the  appointed  seasons  of  abstinence  were  punished 
with  the  loss  of  their  teeth. ^^ 

Afterward,  however,  these  severities  were,  to  a  certain  extent, 
relaxed.  Instead  of  the  former  limitation  of  diet  on  fast-days  to 
bread,  salt,  and  water,  permission  was  given  for  the  use  of  all  kinds 
of  food,  except  flesh,  eggs,  cheese,  and  wine.  Then  eggs,  cheese, 
and  wine  were  allowed,  flesh  only  being  prohibited  ;  an  indulgence 
which  was  censured  by  the  Greek  church,  and  led  to  a  quarrel  be- 
tween it  and  the  Western.  In  the  thirteenth  century,  a  cold  colla- 
tion in  the  evening  of  fast-days  Avas  permitted. 

To  detail  at  length  the  futile  superstitions  and  frightful  austeri- 
ties of  ancient  ascetics  would  itself  require  a  volume.  The  narra- 
tive seems  to  transcend  our  belief,  as  the  sufferings  inflicted  exceed 
apparently  human  nature's  powers  of  endurance ;  and  yet  the  facts 
are  as  fully  attested  as  any  portion  of  ancient  history  can  be. 
These  mortifications  are  only  an  exemplification  of  a  vain  effort  to 
raise  high  the  inward  graces  of  the  Christian  life  by  pressing  the 
natural  powers  of  abstinence  up  to  the  highest  stretch  of  which 
they  are  capable.  '<  With  the  ancient  church,  the  degree  of  absti- 
nence was  the  measure  of  sanctity.  If  a  man  was  holy  who  never 
tasted  food  until  sunset,  he  who  ate  only  once  in  two  days  was 
holier  ;  and  holier  still  the  eminent  man  who  absolutely  fasted  five 
days  in  every  week.  If  he  who  ate  flesh  sparingly  might  pretend 
to  a  little  sanctity,  he  who  never  touched  animal  food  might  pre- 
tend to  more ;  and  as  to  the  prodigy  of  Christian  perfection  who 
denied  himself  whatever  had  been  prepared  by  fire,  the  totaller  of 
that  day,  the  pity  was  that  such  a  hero  of  the  stomach  should  have 
been  detained  on  earth  at  all.  If  to  drink  water  only  was  a  merit, 
great  was  the  merit  of  drinking  fetid  water !  Ask  the  writers  of 
antiquity  to  show  you  in  their  opinion  <the  highest  style  of  man' — 
there  he  stands,  and  he  has  supped  on  raw  herbs  and  ditch- 
water!" 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

OF  THE  ARMENIAN  CHURCH. 

The  history  of  the  ancient  religious  sects  of  the  East  opens  an 
interesting  and  important  field  of  inquiry  in  investigating  the  rites 
and  customs  and  discipline  of  the  primitive  church.  These  reli- 
gious sects,  severally,  separated  themselves  at  a  very  early  period 
from  the  established  church ;  and,  in  the  deep  seclusion  and  sleep- 
less jealousy  of  Eastern  bigotry,  they  have  preserved  their  ancient 
religious  rites  unchanged  through  the  lapse  of  ages.  These  their 
religious  rites,  therefore,  carry  us  back  to  a  high  antiquity,  and, 
with  some  circumstantial  variations,  disclose  to  us  the  usages  and 
customs  of  the  ancient  church. 

It  would  be  interesting  and  instructive,  for  this  reason,  to  com- 
pare the  antiquities  of  some  of  the  most  ancient  of  these  religious 
sects,  such  as  the  Armenians,  the  Nestorians,  the  Jacobites,  the 
Copts,  etc.  The  author  has  taken  measures  to  obtain  from  our 
missionaries  a  brief  statement  of  the  religious  rites  of  several  of 
these  sects,  and  has  the  pleasure  of  laying  before  the  reader  one 
such  abstract  respecting  the  Armenian  church,  from  the  Rev.  H. 
G.  0.  Dwight,  missionary  at  Constantinople.  This  communication 
from  him  cannot  fail  to  be  alike  interesting  both  to  the  antiquarian 
and  the  Christian. 

§  1.  ORIGIN    AND    PROGRESS    OF    THE   ARMENIAN    CHURCH. 

Among  the  sovereigns  of  the  East,  at  the  time  of  Christ,  was 
one  by  the  name  of  Abgar,  or  Abgarus,  the  seat  of  whose  govern- 
ment was  at  Edessa  in  Mesopotamiah.  He  is  called  by  Tacitus 
(An.  1.  12,  c.  12)  King  of  the  Arabs,  though  in  the  Armenian 
Chronicles  he  is  placed  among  the  Armenian  kings,  of  the  dynasty 
of  the  Arsacidge.  It  is  said  that  this  king  was  converted  to  Chris- 
tianity merely  by  hearing  of  the  wonderful  works  of  Christ,  and 
that  he  sent  a  special  messenger  with  a  letter  to  invite  Christ  to 

555 


556  THE   ARMENIAN   CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XXVII. 

come  to  his  court,  where  he  promised  him  rest  and  protection  from 
his  enemies.  To  this  request  Christ  replied  that  it  was  impossible 
for  him  to  come  in  person,  but  that  after  his  ascension,  he  would 
send  one  of  his  disciples,  in  his  place.  Eusebius  and  others  relate 
that  our  Saviour  took  a  handkerchief,  and,  pressing  it  upon  his 
face,  an  exact  likeness  of  himself  was  miraculously  impressed  upon 
it,  which  he  sent  to  Abgar  as  a  mark  of  favour. 

Moses  Chorenensis,  the  Armenian  historian,  states  that  our  Sa- 
viour sent  to  King  Abgar  his  own  likeness,  but  makes  no  allusion 
to  the  manner  in  which  it  was  procured. 

This  last  writer  also  declares,  that  after  the  death  of  Christ,  the 
apostle  Thomas,  in  obedience  to  the  command  of  the  Saviour,  and 
agreeably  to  his  promise,  sent  Thaddeus,  one  of  the  seventy,  to 
Edessa,  who  healed  the  king  of  an  incurable  disease  under  which 
he  had  been  suffering  for  seven  years,  and  afterward  baptized 
■him  in  the  name  of  Christ.  Many  other  miracles  are  said  to  have 
been  performed  by  Thaddeus,  and  "the  whole  city,"  says  Moses, 
"was  baptized." 

This  is  the  Armenian  account  of  the  beginning  of  their  church, 
and  Eusebius  bears  his  testimony  to  the  same  facts  in  every  im- 
portant particular. 

The  immediate  successors  of  Abgar,  however,  apostatized  from 
the  Christian  faith,  and  by  their  persecutions  Christianity  was  al- 
most exterminated  from  the  country.  It  would  appear,  however, 
that  individual  Christians,  and  perhaps  small  bodies  of  them,  were 
found  in  the  Armenian  territories  up  to  the  time  of  Dertad  (Diri- 
dates)  II.,  A.  D.  259,  during  whose  reign  Christianity  was  revived, 
through  the  instrumentality  of  Gregory,  and  it  has  ever  since  been 
the  religion  of  the  Armenian  people. 

Gregory,  called  also  Loosavorich,  the  Enliglitener,  was  an  Ar- 
menian of  royal  descent,  who  having  been  brought  up  in  Csesarea, 
was  there  educated  in  the  Christian  religion. 

Having  become  connected  with  the  king's  suite,  and  refusing  to 
unite  in  his  idolatrous  worship,  he  was  grievously  tortured,  and 
kept,  in  close  confinement  in  a  cave  for  many  years.  Being  at 
length  delivered,  he  was  instrumental  in  the  conversion  of  the 
king,  and  many  of  the  nobles.  He  afterward  repaired  to  Csesarea, 
where  he  was  ordained  bishop,  by  Leonties,  bishop  of  Coesarea, 
and  returning  to  Armenia  Proper,  he  baptized  the  king  and  multi- 
tudes of  the  people.  In  short,  the  nation  now  became  Christian, 
though  some  of  its  chiefs  soon  afterward  apostatized ;  and  through 
their  means  the  king  of  Persia  was  enabled,  for  a  while,  to  carry 


SEC.  II.]  CHURCH    OFFICERS   AND   GOVERNMENT.  557 

on  a  persecution  against  the  religion  of  the  cross.  At  subsequent 
periods  in  the  Armenian  annals,  we  read  of  the  most  violent  and 
dreadful  persecutions  of  the  Armenian  Christians,  by  the  pagan 
and  INIohammedan  kings  of  Persia,  as  political  changes  placed  the 
former  under  the  power  of  the  latter. 

In  the  year  406,  the  Armenian  alphabet  was  invented,  and  in 
411,  the  Bible  was  translated  into  the  Armenian  language  from 
the  Septuagint. 

In  the  year  491,  a  synod  of  Armenian  bishops  rejected  the  de- 
cisions of  the  Council  of  Chalcedon,  by  which  act  they  cut  them- 
selves off  from  the  charity  and  communion  of  the  other  branches 
of  the  Christian  church,  and  they  are  to  this  day  denominated 
schismatics  and  heretics  by  both  the  Greeks  and  the  Papists. 

As  to  the  progress  of  the  Armenian  church  in  after  ages,  little 
indeed  can  be  said,  unless  we  follow  the  examples  of  their  own 
historians,  and  quote  as  evidences  of  her  prosperity  the  number 
of  churches  and  convents  erected,  the  great  in':^rease  of  religious 
feast  and  fast  days,  and  of  ceremonies  in  general,  and  the  asto- 
nishing miracles  performed  by  worldly  and  graceless  monks.  The 
people  were  left  in  almost  total  ignorance,  while  the  ecclesiastics 
were  continually  embroiled  in  disputes  with  the  Greeks  on  points 
of  little  importance,  or  waging  intestine  wars  of  ambition  with 
each  other,  each  striving  for  the  highest  place.  As  might  be  ex- 
pected, every  species  of  irreligion  was  rife  under  such  influences. 

The  only  redeeming  trait  was  the  unflinching  resoluteness  with 
which  property,  liberty,  and  life  were  frequently  sacrificed  to  the 
Magian  and  Mohammedan  persecutors  of  the  Armenian  church. 

§  2.    CHURCH    OFFICERS   AND   GOVERNMENT. 

The  Armenians  are  at  present  scattered  among  different  nations, 
and  subject  to  different  political  governments,  by  which  their  eccle- 
siastical polity  is  somewhat  modified.  Originally  the  church  was 
placed  under  one  head,  styled  catholicos,  who  usually  held  his  seat 
at  the  imperial  residence.  Subsequently,  several  different  catho- 
licoses  were  created  by  parties  rising  up  in  different  parts  of  the 
country,  and  taking  advantage  of  the  disturbed  state  of  public 
affairs.  At  present  there  are  three  catholicoses,  one  at  Ech- 
miadzin, (which  is  the  greatest,)  one  at  Aghtamar,  in  the  Lake 
Van,  and  one  at  Sis,  in  the  ancient  province  of  Cilicia. 

The  catholicos  is  the  spiritual  head  of  the  church,  or  of  that 
particular  portion  of  it  over  which  his  jurisdiction  extends.     He 


558  THE    ARMENIAN    CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XXVII. 

only  can  ordain  bishops  and  consecrate  the  sacred  oil  which  is 
used  in  various  ceremonies  of  the  church. 

The  Armenians  at  ConstantinoiDle,  with  all  those  in  Turkey  in 
Europe,  and  in  Asia  Minor,  and  Armenia  Proper,  were  formerly 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  catholicos  of  Echmiadzin ;  but  since 
that  see  has  fallen  within  the  possessions  of  Russia,  the  Armenians 
in  those  parts  of  Turkey  mentioned,  have  been  ostensibly  without 
any  spiritual  head  ;  although  there  is  still  a  secret  connection  be- 
tween, them  and  Echmiadzin,  and  several  vartaheds  have  lately 
gone  to  the  latter  place  to  be  ordained  bishops. 

There  are  two  patriarchs,  it  is  true,  one  at  Constantinople  and 
the  other  at  Jerusalem ;  but  both  these  offices  were  established  by 
Mohammedan  authorities  for  their  own  convenience ;  and  as  neither 
of  them  has  the  power  of  ordaining  bishops,  they  may  be  consider- 
ed as  only  themselves  holding  the  rank  of  bishops,  ecclesiastically, 
though  clothed  with  high  political  authority  by  the  Turks. 

The  Armenian  patriarch  at  Constantinople  has  the  power  of 
imprisoning  and  scourging,  at  pleasure,  members  of  his  own  flock, 
and  until  recently  he  could  easily  procure  their  banishment  from 
the  Turkish  authorities,  whenever  he  pleased.  The  late  charter 
given  by  the  sultan  to  his  subjects  will,  however,  if  carried  into 
effect,  prevent  him  from  doing  this  except  on  a  regular  trial  before 
the  Turkish  courts. 

It  will  be  understood  from  what  has  been  said  that  the  form  of 
government  of  the  Armenian  church  is  episcopal.  There  are  nine 
diflerent  grades  of  the  Armenian  clergy,  all  of  which  are  set  apart 
to  their  respective  offices  by  the  laying  on  of  hands.  Four  of  these 
are  below  the  order  of  deacon,  and  are  called  porters,  readers,  ex- 
orcists, and  canclle-lighters.  After  these  come  the  subdeacons,  the 
deacons,  then  the  priests,  then  the  bishops,  and  last  of  all  the  ca- 
tholicos. All  below  the  bishop  are  ordained  by  the  bishop,  and  he 
by  the  catholicos  only.  The  catholicos  is  ordained  by  a  council  of 
bishops. 

There  is  a  class  of  ecclesiastics,  called  vartaheds,  which  may  be 
considered  as  collateral  with  the  order  of  priests.  The  difference 
betAveen  them  is  simply  this :  the  priests  are  married,  and  in  fact 
no  man  can  be  ordained  priest,  unless,  at  the  time  of  ordination,  he 
has  a  wife.  The  vartaheds  never  marry,  and  have  taken  upon  them 
the  vow  of  perpetual  celibacy.  The  priests  always  remain  priests, 
and  can  never  rise  to  the  rank  of  bishop.  The  vartaheds  may  be- 
come bishops,  and,  in  fact,  all  the  bishops  are  taken  from  that  order, 
and  are   bound  to  celibacy.      The  vartaheds  are  the  preachers, 


SEC.  III.]  DOCTRINES.  559 

(strictly  speaking,)  but  tlie  priests  never  preach.  The  vartabeds 
live  not  among  the  people,  but  in  convents,  where  there  are  con- 
vents, or  if  not,  they  live  by  themselves  within  the  church  en- 
closures. The  priests  live  in  the  midst  of  their  flocks,  and  go  in 
and  out  among  them  freely.  In  case  the  wife  of  a  priest  dies,  he 
is  not  permitted  to  marry  again,  and  he  may  then  if  he  chooses  be- 
come a  vartabed. 

There  are  also  several  subdivisions  of  grade  among  the  varta- 
beds, each  of  which  has  its  particular  ordination  service.  The 
supreme  order  of  vartabed,  is  now  practically  unknown ;  though 
according  to  the  rules  of  the  church  it  should  exist.  The  indivi- 
dual who  fills  this  office  may  be  either  a  vartabed  or  a  bishop.  If 
the  former,  he  may  be  ordained  to  it  by  a  bishop ;  but  if  the  latter, 
he  must  be  set  apart  to  this  high  dignity  by  the  catholicos  himself. 
He  is  considered  by  way  of  eminence  as  an  apostolical  preacher ; 
and  his  labours  are  to  be  among  the  heathen  alone.  The  spirit  of 
missions  is  dead  in  the  Armenian  church ;  and  therefore  they  have 
no  further  employment  for  such  a  class  of  men. 

§  3.    DOCTRINES. 

The  chief  point  of  separation  between  the  Armenians  on  the  one 
side,  and  the  Greeks  and  Papists  on  the  other,  is,  that  while  the 
latter  believe  in  two  natures  and  one  person  of  Christ,  the  former 
believe  that  the  humanity  and  divinity  of  Christ  were  so  united  as 
to  form  but  one  nature  ;  and  hence  they  are  called  monophy sites. 

Another  point  on  which  they  are  charged  with  heresy  by  the 
Papists  is,  that  they  adhere  to  the  notion  that  the  Spirit  proceeds 
from  the  Father  only;  and  in  this  the  Greeks  join  them,  though 
the  Papists  say  that  he  proceeds  from  the  Father  and  the  Son. 
In  other  respects,  the  Greeks  and  Armenians  have  very  nearly  the 
same  religious  opinions  ;  though  they  differ  somewhat  in  their 
forms  and  modes  of  worship.  For  instance,  the  Greeks  make  the 
sign  of  the  cross  with  three  fingers,  in  token  of  their  belief  in  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity — while  the  Armenians  use  two  fingers, 
and  the  Jacobites  one. 

The  Armenians  hold  to  seven  sacraments  like  the  Latins,  although 
baptism,  confirmation,  and  extreme  unction  are  all  performed  at 
the  same  time — and  the  forms  of  prayer  for  confirmation  and  ex- 
treme unction  are  perfectly  intermingled ;  which  leads  one  to  sup- 
pose that,  in  fact,  the  latter  sacrament  does  not  exist  among  them, 
except  in  name  ;  and  that  this  they  have  borrowed  from  the  Papists. 


560  THE   ARMENIAN    CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XXVII. 

Infants  are  baptized  both  by  triple  immersion  and  pouring 
water  three  times  upon  the  head, — the  former  being  done,  as  their 
books  assert,  in  reference  to  Christ's  having  been  three  days  in  the 
grave, — and  probably  suggested  by  the  phrase,  buried  with  him  in 
baptism. 

The  latter  ceremony  they  derive  from  the  tradition  that  when 
Christ  was  baptized,  he  stood  in  the  midst  of  Jordan,  and  John 
poured  water  from  his  hand  three  times  upon  his  head.  In  all 
their  pictures  of  this  scene,  such  is  the  representation  of  the  mode 
of  our  Saviour's  baptism.  Converted  Jews,  or  Mohammedans, 
though  adults,  are  baptized  in  the  same  manner. 

The  Armenians  acknowledge  sprinkling  as  a  lawful  mode  of  bap- 
tism, for  they  receive  from  other  churches  those  that  have  merely 
been  sprinkled,  without  rebaptizing  them. 

They  believe  firmly  in  transubstantiation,  and  worship  the  con- 
secrated elements  as  God. 

Unleavened  bread  is  used  in  the  sacrament,  and  the  broken 
pieces  of  bread  are  dipped  in  undiluted  wine,  and  thus  given  to 
the  people. 

The  latter,  however,  do  not  handle  it,  but  receive  it  into  their 
mouths  from  the  hands  of  the  priest.  They  suppose  it  has  in  itself 
a  sanctifying  and  saving  power.  The  Greeks  in  this  sacrament 
use  leavened  bread,  and  wine  mixed  with  water. 

The  Armenians  discard  the  popish  doctrine  of  purgatory,  but 
yet  most  inconsistently  they  pray  for  the  dead. 

They  hold  the  confession  of  sins  to  the  priests,  who  impose  pe- 
nances and  grant  absolution,  though  without  money,  and  they  give 
no  indulgences. 

They  pray  through  the  mediation  of  the  Virgin  Mary  and  other 
saints.  The  belief  that  Mary  was  always  a  virgin  is  a  point  of 
very  high  importance  with  them ;  and  they  consider  the  thought  of 
her  having  given  birth  to  children  after  the  birth  of  Christ,  as  in 
the  highest  degree  derogatory  to  her  character,  and  impious. 

They  regard  baptism  and  regeneration  as  the  same  thing,  and 
have  no  conception  of  any  spiritual  change ;  and  they  know  little 
of  any  other  terms  of  salvation  than  penance,  the  Lord's  supper, 
fasting,  and  good  works  in  general. 

The  Armenians  are  strictly  Trinitarians  in  their  views,  holding 
firmly  to  the  supreme  divinity  of  Christ,  and  the  doctrine  of  atone- 
ment for  sin ;  though  their  views  on  the  latter  subject,  as  well  as 
in  regard  to  faith  and  repentance,  are  somewhat  obscure.  They 
8ay  that  Christ  died  to  atone  for  original  sin,  and  that  actual  sin 


SEC.  IV.]  FORMS    OF   WORSHIP,    FESTIVALS,    ETC.  561 


is  to  be  washed  away  by  penances, — which  in  their  view  is  re- 
pentance. Penances  are  prescribed  by  the  priests,  and  sometimes 
consist  in  an  offering  of  money  to  the  church,  a  pilgrimage,  or  more 
commonly  in  repeating  certain  prayers,  or  reading  the  whole  book 
of  Psalms  a  specified  number  of  times.  Faith  in  Christ  seems  to. 
mean  but  little  more  than  believing  in  the  mystery  of  transubstan-. 
tiation. 

§  4.    FORMS    OF  WORSHIP,    FESTIVALS,  ETC. 

The  Armenian  churches  are  opened  regularly  twice  every  day^ 
morning  and  evening,  for  prayers,  and  mass  is  performed  every  day 
in  all  the  city  churches,  though  in  the  country  less  frequently,  ac- 
cording to  the  size  of  the  church  and  the  number  of  priests.  It  oc- 
cupies sometimes  six  hours  and  more  for  its  completion..  It  consists 
in  chanting  and  reading  prayers  and  portions  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
responses  by  the  people.  The  officiating  priest  or  bishop  is  richly 
dressed,  as  are  the  deacons  and  singers.  Small  bells  are  rung  and 
incense  is  burned,  and  various  other  ceremonies  are  performed  which 
contribute  to  please  and  awe  the  people.  At  the  ordinary  morning 
and  evening  prayers  the  people  kneel  and  cross  themselves  in  rapid 
succession  a  number  of  times  while  the  priests  are  chanting  the 
prayers.  These  prostrations  are  made  frequently  before  a  picture 
of  the  Virgin  or  other  saint.  In  the  more  recently  constructed 
Armenian  churches,  however,  pictures  are  almost  wholly  excluded. 
In  some  parts  of  the  country,  also,  instead  of  repeating  the  cere- 
mony of  prostrating  themselves  as  above  described,  they  simply 
kneel,  and  thus  remain  quietly  until  the  prayer  is  finished.  This 
seems  to  have  been  the  ancient  custom  of  the  Armenian  church, 
and  a  change  has  taken  place  in  the  churches  around  the  Levant, 
probably  through  the  influence  of  the  Greeks. 

The  Scriptures  and  prayers  are  read  in  the  ancient  Armenian 
tongue,  which  is  understood  but  by  very  few  among  the  people — ■ 
and  if  understood,  would  hardly  be  intelligible,  the  tones  of  voice 
are  so  drawling  and  unnatural.  Preaching  is  rare  among  the 
Armenians,  and  is  only  performed  by  the  bishops  and  vartabcds,. 
and  generally  only  on  particular  feast-days.  The  priests  are  never 
expected  to  preach,  their  business  being  to  read  prayers  and  say 
mass.  Though  the  apocryphal  books  are  bound  up  with  the  others 
in  the  Armenian  Bible,  yet  they  are  considered  as  uncanonical,  and 
are  never  read  in  the  churches. 

There  are  at  least  fourteen  great  feast-days  in  the  course  of  the 

36 


562  THE   ARMENIAN   CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XXVII. 

year  on  which  all  ordinary  labour  is  suspended,  and  the  day  is  ob- 
served more  strictly  than  the  Sabbath.  Besides  these  there  are  nu- 
merous other  feasts  and  fasts,  more  numerous  even  than  the  days  of 
the  year ;  so  that,  in  some  instances,  several  are  appointed  to  the 
same  day.  Besides  the  occasional  fasts,  such  as  a  fast  of  forty 
days  before  Easter,  and  another  of  six  days  before  Christmas, 
etc.,  they  have  two  weekly  fasts,  the  one  on  Wednesday  and  the 
other  on  Friday.  The  Armenians  have  165  days  in  the  year  ap- 
pointed for  fasting.  They  do  not  properly  fast,  however,  since 
they  are  permitted  to  eat  plentifully  of  all  kinds  of  vegetable  food, 
except  the  vegetable  oils — and  a  fast  with  them  is  merely  abstain- 
ing from  animal  food.  4 

Among  the  Armenians,  girls  are  often  married  at  the  age  of 
twelve  or  thirteen,  the  other  sex  rarely  until  they  are  from  twenty- 
five  to  thirty.  The  marriage  contract  is  made  by  the  parents  or 
guardians,  and  the  parties  are  not  expected  to  see  one  another  until 
after  they  are  husband  and  wife.  The  ceremonies  of  marriage  occu- 
py three  days — during  which  time  there  are  constant  festivities, 
either  at  the  house  of  the  bridegroom  or  bride,  or  both.  The  bride 
is  at  last  carried  to  the  house  of  the  bridegroom  in  procession  of 
carriages,  or  carts  drawn  by  oxen,  the  ceremony  of  marriage  being 
performed  sometimes  at  the  house  and  sometimes  at  church.  The 
expenses  of  the  dowry  and  the  marriage  festivities  come  upon  the 
bridegroom,  and  they  are  usually  quite  large.  Marriage  is  con- 
sidered as  one  of  the  sacraments,  and  there  is  properly  no  divorce 
after  the  tie  is  once  made.  The  laws  of  the  Armenians  are  more 
strict  than  those  of  Moses  in  regard  to  the  degrees  of  consangui- 
nity within  which  persons  may  marry. 

When  a  person  dies,  several  of  the  female  friends  of  the  family 
are  usually  present,  who  make  a  loud  outcry,  so  as  to  be  heard 
at  some  distance  from  the  house.  The  funeral  takes  place  on 
the  same  day.  The  body  is  dressed  as  when  alive,  and  placed 
in  an  open  bier,  which  is  ornamented  with  flowers,  natural  or  arti- 
ficial, and  thus  carried  to  the  graveyard.  An  irregular  proces- 
sion of  the  friends  is  formed,  headed  by  priests  and  singers,  with 
lighted  candles,  if  the  wind  will  permit,  and  a  plaintive  funeral- 
dirge  is  chanted  as  they  pass  along  the  streets.  Candles  are  always 
carried,  even  although  the  funeral  should  be  at  midday,  though 
sometimes  they  cannot  be  lighted.  Female  friends  never  accom- 
pany the  procession  to  the  grave.  At  the  grave,  prayers  are  read, 
jind  the  body,  without  coffin,  is  committed  to  the  earth.  Tbe  or- 
dinary garments  arc  first  removed,  and  the  body  closely  wound  up 


SEC.  IV.]  FORMS   OF   WORSHIP,    FESTIVALS,    ETC.  563 

by  a  long  piece  of  cloth,  and  thus  placed  in  the  grave  and  covered 
with  earth.  If  he  be  an  ecclesiastic,  a  stone  is  placed  on  each  side 
of  the  head,  and  another  over  the  top,  to  prevent  the  earth  from 
coming  in  immediate  contact  with  the  head,  which  has  been 
anointed  with  holy  oil.  After  the  grave  of  an  ecclesiastic  has  been 
filled  up,  another  hillock  of  the  same  dimensions  and  appearance 
is  raised  by  its  side  in  order  to  prevent  the  body  from  being  stolen. 
The  temptation  to  this  crime  in  the  case  of  an  ecclesiastic  is,  that 
as  it  is  a  sacred  body,  having  been  anointed,  it  may  be  in  demand 
for  relics.  Mourning  garments  are  never  worn  by  the  males  among 
the  Armenians ;  but  the  females  at  Constantinople  dress  in  black. 
In  the  case  of  an  ecclesiastic,  prayers  are  read  at  the  house 
every  evening  after  the  burial  until  Saturday.  If  the  death  takes 
place  on  Saturday,  they  are  read  only  on  that  evening.  If  it  be 
a  layman,  they  are  read  only  once  on  the  evening  of  the  burial, 
and  once  on  the  following  Saturday  evening.  The  friends  also  oc- 
casionally call  for  the  priest  to  say  prayers  over  the  grave ;  but 
this  in  Constantinople  is  without  rule,  and  they  do  it  whenever  they 
please.  In  some  parts  of  Armenia  proper  they  have  the  following 
customs  on  the  subject : — After  the  burial,  the  officiating  priest  reads 
prayers  over  the  grave  once  a  day  for  eight  days,  if  the  deceased 
is  an  ecclesiastic,  and  for  three  days  if  a  layman,  and  also  on 
the  8th,  15th,  and  40th  days  after  the  decease,  and  at  the  end 
of  one  year. 

The  present  state  of  the  Armenian  church  is  one  of  deep  inte- 
rest. Enlightened  views  in  regard  to  the  truths  of  the  Scriptures 
are  extensively  spread  among  them,  particularly  in  Constantinople 
and  in  some  of  the  adjacent  cities,  and  it  is  evident  that  at  least 
a  portion  of  the  church  is  on  the  eve  of  a  reform.  They  are  an 
enterprising  and  talented  people,  and  evidently  possess  the  elements 
of  a  solid  and  noble  character.  With  a  truly  regenerated  nature, 
they  promise  to  be  most  important  instruments  in  the  hands  of 
God  in  spreading  the  light  of  true  Christianity  over  the  East. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

OF  THE  NESTORIAN  CHURCH. 
§  1.    OP   THE   HISTORY  OF   THE   NESTORIAN   CHURCH. 

The  Nestorian  Christians  are  the  small,  but  venerable  remnant 
of  a  once  great  and  influential  Christian  church.  They  are  the 
oldest  of  Christian  sects  ;  and,  in  their  better  days,  were  numerous 
through  all  the  vast  regions  from  Palestine  to  China ;  and  they 
carried  the  gospel  into  China  itself.  Their  history  is  a  checkered 
one.  Sometimes,  as  under  the  tolerant  policy  of  the  mighty 
Jhengis  Khan,  they  were  raised  to  high  places  in  the  camp  and  at 
the  court ;  while  at  other  times,  as  by  the  crushing  arm  of  the 
bloody  Timourldne,  they  were  cut  down  and  swept  away,  till 
scarce  a  vestige  remained,  save  in  the  fastnesses  of  inaccessible 
mountains.  But  in  both  prosperity  and  adversity,  during  more 
than  a  thousand  years  of  their  history,  are  furnished  the  brightest 
examples  of  persevering  toil  and  self-denial,  and  often  of  heroic 
martyrdom,  cheerfully  encountered  in  the  profession  and  zealous 
promulgation  of  the  gospel,  that  are  to  be  found  on  the  records 
of  Christianity  since  the  days  of  the  apostles. 

pineal  Origin. — Common  tradition  among  them,  claims  the 
Jews  as  their  ancestors.  As  evidence  of  this  descent,  they  urge 
the  resemblance  which  exists  between  the  Hebrew  and  their  own 
language.  They  also  adduce  their  deep  abhorrence  of  the  use  of 
images  and  pictures  as  another  proof  of  their  Jewish  origin. 

Some  Europeans,  who  have  resided  in  Persia,  conjecture,  that 

the  mass  of  the  Persian  Mohammedans  have  a  mixture  of  Jewish 

blood,  drawing  this  inference  from  the  general  similarity  of  their 

.  customs  to  those  of  the  Jews — the  resemblance  being  very  great — 

,  find  from  the  known  fact,  that  many  Jews  have,  at  different  periods, 

-  been  transferred  from  the  land  of  their  fathers  into  Persia.    How- 

.  ever  the  case  may  be,  I  know  of  no  claim  to  relationship  to  the 

Jews,  possessed  by  the  Nestorians,  which  does  not  equally  belong 

to  the  Persian  Mohammedans  among  whom  they  dwell,  with  the 

single  exception  ol'  the  tradition  I  have  mentioned.     That  either 

564 


SEC.  I.]  HISTORY   OF   THE   CHURCH.  565 

class,  or  any  portion  of  them,  are  the  unmixed  descendants  of  the 
"ten  tribes,"  I  see  no  good  reason  to  suppose,  even  on  the  suppo- 
sition of  their  having  a  Jewish,  or  a  partially  Jewish  origin,  which 
is  also  quite  a  doubtful  matter.  The  fact  that  manners  and  cus- 
toms are  oriental  rather  than  national,  in  all  these  Eastern  coun- 
tries, greatly  embarrasses  the  subject  of  their  ethnology. 

Conversion  to  Qhristianity . — The  Nestorians  refer  to  Thomas, 
one  of  the  twelve  apostles,  with  whom  Adai,  (Thaddeus,)  and 
Mari,  of  the  number  of  the  seventy,  are  said  to  have  been  asso- 
ciated. Oral  tradition  and  the  ancient  writings  of  the  Nestorians 
are  united  in  support  of  this  opinion.  And  as  several  of  the 
Christian  fathers  inform  us,  that  Thomas  travelled  eastward,  even 
to  India,  preaching  the  gospel,  as  he  advanced,  through  the 
countries  intervening,  we  may  regard  the  claims  of  the  Nestorians, 
on  this  subject,  as  at  least  probable.  This  opinion  is  also  con- 
firmed by  the  fact,  that  their  ritual,  composed  by  ancient  eccle- 
siastics, contains  commemorations  of  Thomas,  in  the  form  of 
thanksgivings  to  God,  for  his  zealous  labours  among  their  ancestors 
and  other  Eastern  nations.  And  an  additional  confirmation  is  the 
fact  that,  at  this  day,  the  Nestorians  are  particularly  fond  of 
naming  their  churches  in  honour  of  that  apostle,  Mar  Thoma,  i.  e. 
Saint  Thomas. 

Origin  as  a  Christian  Sect. — The  origin  of  the  Nestorians  as  a 
Christian  sect  is  matter  of  authentic  church  history.  Nestorius, 
from  whom  the  sect  derives  its  name,  born  and  educated  in  Syria, 
was  a  presbyter  at  Antioch,  and  was  made  bishop  of  Constanti- 
nople, A.  D.  428.  The  conspicuousness  of  his  station — that  city 
being  the  seat  of  empire — his  boldness  in  attempting  to  correct 
some  popular  superstitions,  and  perhaps  his  rashness  in  theological 
speculation,  drew  upon  him  the  envy  and  hostility  of  contemporary 
bishops,  particularly  of  the  ambitious  Cyril,  then  bishop  of  Alex- 
andria. Arraigned  for  alleged  heresy,  Nestorius  was  excommuni- 
cated, at  Ephesus,  by  the  third  general  council,  in  A.  D.  431,  only 
about  three  years  after  his  elevation  to  the  see  of  the  renowned 
capital.  First  banished  for  a  time  to  Arabia  Petrsea,  and  subse- 
quently transported  to  one  of  the  oases  of  Libya,  he  finally  died 
in  Upper  Egypt.  One  charge  on  which  the  august  council  decreed 
his  excommunication,  by  ex  parte  management,  was,  that  he  re- 
fused to  apply  to  the  Virgin  Mary  the  epithet  Mother  of  God, 
{SEOtoxoc,.)  This  charge  he  evaded,  though  Protestant  Christians 
would  certainly  have  thought  never  the  worse  of  him  had  he 
frankly  pleaded  guilty.     Another  principal  charge,  in  his  excom- 


566  THE   NESTORIAN    CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XXVIII. 

munication,  was,  that  in  his  theological  belief,  he  invested  Christ 
with  two  persons  as  well  as  with  two  natures.  This  charge  he 
perseveringly  denied.  His  motives  in  attempting  to  check  the 
prevalent  superstition  of  paying  idolatrous  homage  to  a  departed 
mortal,  by  applying  to  Mary  the  blasphemous  epithet,  Mother  of 
Cfod,  were  undoubtedly  honest;  and  whatever  novelties  his  specu- 
lating genius  may  have  led  him  to  broach,  on  the  mysterious 
subject  of  the  incarnation,  his  ^^ews,  for  aught  that  appears,  were 
orthodox  in  the  main.  Indeed,  it  is  worthy  of  inquiry,  whether 
Nestorius  may  not  have  been  far  more  evangelical  than  his  oppo- 
nents, and  whether  his  comparative  purity,  in  the  general  cor- 
ruption of  the  church  which  prevailed  at  that  period,  may  not 
have  been  the  principal  cause  of  the  rigour  with  which  he  was 
treated. 

§  2.    LOCATION  AND   CLIMATE. 

The  Nestorians  of  Koordistan  inhabit  the  wildest  and  most 
inaccessible  parts  of  the  Koordish  mountains.  Some  of  the  dis- 
tricts occupied  by  them  are  so  rough  that  no  beast  of  burden  can 
travel  over  them,  and  even  men  find  it  difficult  to  climb  about 
from  cliff  to  cliff. 

The  Nestorians  of  the  mountains,  like  their  Koordish  neighbours, 
obtain  their  subsistence,  to  a  great  extent,  from  the  pastui'age  of 
flocks.  In  their  rugged  country,  the  principal  part  of  their  arable 
soil  consists  of  small  terraced  patches  on  the  steep  declivities  of 
the  mountains.  And  so  rough  and  barren  is  much  of  their  ter- 
ritory, that  the  people  find  it  almost  impossible  to  obtain  a  sub- 
sistence in  theii'  own  country.  Many  of  them  are  miserably  poor. 
Some  travel  abroad  and  beg  as  a  profession.  Considerable  numbers 
come  down  to  the  plain  of  Oroomiah,  in  summer,  to  find  employ- 
ment ;  and  still  more  are  driven  down  there,  by  hunger  and  cold, 
in  the  winter,  to  seek  a  subsistence  on  charity. 

The  climate  of  Oroomiah  is  naturally/  one  of  the  finest  in  the 
world.  It  resembles,  in  its  temperature,  the  climate  of  our  Middle 
States.  Unhappily,  however,  artificial  causes  are  at  work  which 
render  it  decidedly  unhealthy,  particularly  to  foreigners.  A 
country  so  charming,  so  bright  under  the  effulgence  of  its  clear 
heavens,  and  grateful  with  the  thrifty  growth  of  its  abundant 
crops,  presents  to  the  ei/e  so  much  of  the  aspect  of  an  Eden  as 
almost  to  forbid  the  idea  of  the  approach  of  sickness  and  pain. 
But  the  foreigner,  who  resides  there,  is  soon  forced  to  feel  that 


SEC.  III.]  NUMBER    OF   THE   NESTORIANS.  561 


its  brilliant  skies  and  balmy  breezes,  beautiful  and  grateful  as 
they  are,  are  still  surcharged  with  the  elements  of  disease  and 
death.  The  causes  of  its  unhealthiness  are  the  constant  irriga- 
tion,* in  summer,  of  the  almost  numberless  fields  and  gardens  on 
the  plain,  with  the  consequent  great  amount  of  evaporation — the 
rapid  and  almost  boundless  growth  and  decay  of  its  annual  vege- 
tation— and  a  more  prolific  cause  still,  the  numerous  pooh  of  stag- 
nant loater  that  remain  much  or  all  of  the  time  in  different  places, 
particularly  in  the  fosse  which  surrounds  the  city,  and  cannot  fail 
to  generate  a  vast  amount  of  miasma. f  The  reforming  hand  of  a 
good  government,  controlled  by  the  redeeming  spirit  of  Chris- 
tianity, is  all  that  is  needed  to  drain  and  dry  up  those  stagnant 
pools,  and  remove  many  other  nuisances,  and  soon  restore  this 
climate,  in  a  great  measure,  to  its  native  salubrity. 

§  3.    NUMBER   OF   THE   NESTORIANS. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  arrive  at  even  tolerable  accuracy  in  esti- 
mating the  number  of  the  Nestorians.  The  methods  of  obtaining 
statistics  on  this  subject,  among  orientals  generally,  are  very  in- 
definite and  unsatisfactory.  The  population  of  a  town,  village,  or 
district  is  usually  estimated  by  the  number  of  families,  a  given 
number  of  individuals  being  assumed  as  the  average  in  each  family. 
But  in  the  primitive,  patriarchal  style  of  living  which  obtains  in 
these  countries,  where  three,  four,  or  even  five  generations,  as  the 
case  may  be,  dwell  together  in  the  same  household,  the  number  of 
persons  in  a  family  varying  from  five  up  to  fifteen,  twenty,  twenty- 
five,  thirty,  and  even  more,  it  is  impossible  to  fix  accurately  on  an 
average  number.  Ten  is  the  number  often  assumed  for  this  purpose. 
In  the  Koordish  mountains  the  population  is  often  estimated  by 
the  number  of  soldiers  that  can  be  rallied  on  an  emergency, 
every  male  adult  being  reckoned  as  a  soldier.  But  this  method 
is  even  more  indefinite  than  the  other  ;  for  in  those  wild,  inacces- 
sible regions  there  is  the  additional  difficulty,  that  the  number  of 

*  Showers  are  very  rare  in  Persia  during  the  warm  part  of  the  year.  The 
gardens  and  fields  are  therefore  necessarily  irrigated  by  means  of  small  canals 
which  conduct  the  water  from  the  streams. 

f  Prof.  Hitchcock,  of  Amherst  College,  has  analyzed  specimens  of  the  water  of 
the  lake,  and  while  the  principal  ingredient  is  muriate  of  soda,  or  common  salt, 
lie  finds  it  capable  of  discharging  large  quantities  of  sulphuretted  hydrogen  ;  and 
suggests  that  this  may  also  be  a  fruitful  cause  of  the  unhealthiness  of  the  climate 
of  that  province. 


568  THE   NESTORIAN   CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XXVIII. 


either  houses  or  soldiers  is  very  imperfectly  known.  The  probable 
number  of  the  Nestorian  Christians,  as  nearly  as  I  can  ascertain 
it,  with  such  diflficulties  encumbering  the  subject,  is  about  one 
hundred  and  forty  thousand. 

§  4.    LANGUAGE   AND   LITERATURE. 

Ancient  Language. — To  the  Christian  scholar  the  language  and 
literature  of  the  Nestorian  Christians  are  objects  of  much  interest. 
Their  ancient  language  is  the  Syriac — by  some  supposed  to  have 
been  the  common  language  in  Palestine  in  the  days  of  Christ,  and 
the  same  in  which  the  Saviour  himself  conversed  and  preached, 
and  probably  not  differing  much  from  it.*  This  language  is  still 
the  literary  language  of  the  Nestorians.  Their  books  are  nearly 
all  written  in  it.  They  conduct  their  epistolary  correspondence 
in  it ;  and  though  a  dead  language,  the  best  educated  of  their 
clergy  become  able  to  com^erse  in  it  with  fluency.  Their  written 
character  differs  considerably  from  that  of  the  Western,  or  Jacobite 
Syrians,  which  is  the  character  best  known  to  European  scholars. 
The  former  was  never,  to  my  knowledge,  in  type  until  A.  D.  1829, 
when  an  edition  of  the  Gospels  was  printed  in  it  by  the  British 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society.  It  much  resembles  the  Estrangelo,t 
but  has  a  more  round  and  easy  form.  The  Nestorians  have  some 
old  books  written  in  the  Estrangelo,  and  they  still  use  that  ancient 
character  for  capital  letters.  The  common  Nestorian  character  is 
a  very  clear  and  beautiful  one,  so  agreeable  to  the  eye  that  mem- 
bers of  our  mission,  when  incapacitated  by  ophthalmy  to  read  Eng- 
lish without  pain,  are  able  to  read  the  Syriac  in  this  character  with 
little  inconvenience. 

*  See  an  able  and  interesting  article  in  relation  to  this  language  in  the  Biblical 

Repository  for  April,  1831,  vol.  i.  p.  358. 

•)■  "Estrangelo  is  the  most  ancient  among  the  kinds  of  writing  -which  are  found 
in  Syriac  books.  To  this  name,  indeed,  Asseman  gives  the  signification  of  round, 
deriving  it  from  the  Greek  o-fpoyvXcj.  But  since  this  form  of  the  letter  is  by  no 
means  round,  (a  point  correctly  observed  by  J.  D.  Michaelis  and  Adlerus,)  we  con- 
clude, along  with  these  men,  that  the  name  is  of  Arabic  origin.  The  Syrians  first 
employed  it  Carschunice,  i.  e.  in  writing  Syriac  letters ;  then  adopted  it,  being  de- 
derived  from  j^-o***  scriptura,  and  (^.^-^tX'  evangelium;  so  that  it  may  signify 

fcriptura  evangelii.  This  is  the  large  hand  which  they  employed  in  writing 
copies  of  the  gospel,  opposed  to  the  smaller  and  more  rapidly  written  letters 
which  Adlerus  informs  us  were  used  for  common  purposes  at  that  time." — Hoff- 
man's Syr.  Grain,  p.  67.     See  also  notes  following  on  the  same  page. 


SEC.  v.]  VERSIONS    OF  THE   SCRIPTURES.  569 


§  5.   VERSIONS   OF   THE    SCRIPTURES    USED    BY   THE   NESTORIANS. 

Of  the  venerable  ancient  Syriac,  once  so  highly  and  extensively 
cultivated,  and  so  rich  in  its  literary  treasures,  we  now  find,  as  of 
the  unfortunate  people  who  use  it,  little  more  than  its  ashes.  The 
number  of  works  at  present  extant  among  the  Nestorians  is  very 
limited,  and  copies  of  these  are  extremely  rare.  The  library  of 
the  patriarch,  which  had  often  been  represented  to  us  as  absolutely 
prodigious,  and  might  appear  so  to  these  simple-hearted  people,  who 
were  acquainted  with  no  method  of  making  books,  except  the  slow 
motion  of  the  pen,  was  found  by  Dr.  Grant  to  consist  of  not  more 
than  sixty  volumes,  and  a  part  of  these  are  duplicates.  And  no 
other  collection,  to  be  compared  with  this,  exists  among  the  Nesto- 
rians. Three,  five,  or  ten  books  have  been  regarded  as  a  liberal 
supply  for  a  large  village  or  district  even. 

The  few  books  which  the  Nestorians  possess,  however,  are  ob- 
jects of  deep  interest.  Among  them  are  found  the  whole  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  with  the  following  exceptions,  viz.  the  epistle  of 
Jude,  the  second  and  third  epistles  of  John,  the  second  of  Peter, 
and  the  Revelation ;  also  the  account  of  the  woman  taken  in 
adultery  in  John  viii.,  and  the  much  discussed  passage  in  1  John 
V.  7,  none  of  which  are  found  in  any  of  their  MS.  copies,  or  seem 
to  have  been  known  to  them  until  introduced  by  us  in  the  printed 
editions  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society;  i.  e.i\i^Pes- 
chito*  is  the  only  version  of  the  New  Testament  with  which  they 
seem  ever  to  have  been  acquainted.  They  make  no  objection  to 
these  portions  of  the  Scriptures  as  introduced  by  us,  but  readily 
recognise  and  acknowledge  them  as  canonical. 

The  Peschito,  the  version  of  the  New  Testament  used  by  the 
Nestorians,  is  an  excellent  one,  being  a  translation  probably  from 
the  Greek.  Their  ecclesiastics  regard  it  as  all  made  directly  from 
the  Greek,  with  the  exception  of  the  Gospel  of  Matthew,  which 
they  say  was  translated  from  the  supposed  early  Hebrew  version. 
The  version  of  the  Old  Testament  most  used  by  them  much  re- 
sembles the  Septuagint. 

Ancient  3Ianuscripts. — Among  the  books  of  the  Nestorians  are 
some  very  ancient  manuscripts.  There  are  copies  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament, for  instance,  written,  some  on.  parchment  and  some  on 
paper,  which  date  back  about  six  hundred  years.     Some  of  these 

*  Peschito  is  a  Syriac  word,  meaning  pure,  simple,  or  literal.  This  version  of 
the  New  Testament  is  supposed  to  have  been  early  made  from  the  Greek. 


570  THE   NESTORIAN    CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XXVIII. 


are  written  in  tlie  Estrangelo,  and  some  in  the  common  Nestoriaa 
character.  The  very  ancient  copies  of  the  Scriptures  are  regarded 
bj  the  Nestorians  with  much  veneration,  and  are  used  with  great 
care.  Thej  are  kept  wrapped  in  successive  envelopes,  and  when 
taken  into  the  hands  are  reverently  kissed,  as  very  hallowed  trea- 
sures. In  the  village  of  Kowsee  is  a  copy  of  the  New  Testament 
which  purports  to  be  fifteen  hundred  years  old.  A  few  of  the  first 
parchment  leaves  are  gone  and  their  place  is  supplied  by  paper, 
on  which  that  early  date  is  recorded,  with  how  much  authority  is 
uncertain.  The  rubrics,  in  most  ancient  copies,  moreover,  betray 
a  later  origin  than  tradition  or  their  dates  would  claim  for  them. 
I  tried  to  borrow  the  revered  copy  here  mentioned,  to  bring  with 
me  to  America  as  an  object  of  interest,  but  the  Mohammedan 
master  of  the  village  interposed  and  forbade  its  being  taken  away, 
apprehending  that  some  dire  calamity  would  befall  the  inhabitants 
should  so  sacred  a  deposite  be  removed  from  among  them.  And 
such  is  the  reputation  of  its  antiquity  and  sanctity  that  Moham- 
medans, as  well  as  Nestorians,  are  sometimes  sworn  upon  that 
New  Testament. 

The  beauty  of  Persian  manuscripts  has  long  been  celebrated. 
Sir  William  Jones  was  so  enraptured  with  them  that  he  almost 
wished  the  art  of  printing  had  never  been  invented.  And  few  can 
inspect  them  and  compare  them  with  printed  copies,  without  par- 
ticipating in  a  measure  of  the  same  feeling,  at  least  till  they  re- 
member the  inestimable  blessings,  so  much  richer  and  higher  than 
all  the  elegance  of  caligraphy,  which  the  press  is  beginning  to  pour 
upon  Eastern  nations.  The  Persians  are  able  to  write  with  a  fine- 
ness and  distinction  that  utterly  defy  imitation  with  type.  I  have 
seen  the  whole  of  the  Koran  written  on  two  strips  of  fine  Chinese 
paper,  three  inches  wide  and  perhaps  ten  feet  long — written,  not 
''within  and  without,"  but  only  on  one  side — which,  when  rolled 
up,  made  a  roll  a  little  larger  than  the  finger ;  and  still  every 
letter  was  fully  formed  and  perfectly  legible. 

§  6.    ECCLESIASTICAL    ORGANIZATION. 

There  are  properly  nine  ecclesiastical  orders  among  the  Nes- 
torian  clergy,  though  two  or  three  of  them  are  at  present  little 
more  than  nominal.  Beginning  with  the  lowest,  they  are  as  fol- 
lows, viz.  1.  Hupo  Deedcon,  (sub-deacon,)  who  properly  sweeps 
and  lights  the  church,  as  well  as  takes  some  part  in  their  devo- 
tions.    2.  Kardoya,  (reader,)  a  kind  of  novice,  who  regularly  joins 


Sec.  VII.  ]  DOCTRiisrAL  belief.  571 

•with  the  higher  ecclesiastics  in  reciting^the  liturgy,  and  sometimes 
assists  in  the  menial  services  of  the  church.  3.  Shamdsha,  or 
Deed^con,  (deacon.)  4.  Kdsha,  Kashsdesha,  or  Kaua,  (priest.) 
5.  Arka  Deeacon,  (archdeacon.)  6.  Aboona,  Episcopa,  or  Khala- 
phd,  (bishop.)  7.  Metran,  or  Metropol^eta,  (metropolitan.)  8. 
Katoleeka,  (catholokos,)  not  a  distinct  individual,  but  an  order 
united  with  that  of  the  patriarch,  and  one  through  which  he  must 
first  pass  in  ordination.  9.  The  patriarch.  All  the  orders  of  the 
clergy  are  ordained  by  the  imposition  of  hands,  from  the  deacon 
up  to  the  metropolitan  inclusive.  The  patriarch  does  not  receive 
the  imposition  of  hands  at  his  consecration,  as  it  cannot  properly  be 
performed  by  inferiors.  And  the  subdeacon  and  reader  are  not 
thus  set  apart,  unless  they  are  expected  to  rise  to  higher  orders. 
No  ecclesiastic  of  a  grade  below  bishops  has  power  to  ordain. 

Celibacy  of  the  Episcopal  Orders. — The  titles  for  bishop  do  not 
occur  in  the  Syriac  Scriptures,  Kashdesha,  priest  (elder,  pres- 
byter) being  always  used  where  the  term  bishop  occurs  in  the 
English  New  Testament. 

The  canons  of  the  Nestorian  church  require  celibacy  in  all  the 
episcopal  orders  of  the  clergy ;  i.  e.  in  all  from  the  bishops  up- 
ward. They  also  require  that  from  childhood  they  abstain  from 
the  use  of  all  animal  food,  except  fish,  eggs,  and  the  productions 
of  the  dairy,  the  latter  requisition  probably  resulting  from  the 
former. 

Unlike  the  requisition  in  the  Greek  and  Armenian  churches,  all 
the  Nestorian  priests  are  allowed  to  marry  a  second  time  or  more, 
in  case  of  the  decease  of  their  wives. 

§  7.    DOCTRINAL   BELIEF. 

In  general,  it  may  be  said  that  the  religious  belief  of  the  Nesto- 
rians  is  far  more  simple  and  scriptural  than  that  of  other  oriental 
Christians.  They  have  the  deepest  abhorrence  of  all  image  wor- 
ship, auricular  confession,  the  doctrine  of  purgatory,  and  many 
other  corrupt  dogmas  and  practices  of  the  Papal,  Greek,  and  Ar- 
menian churches ;  while  they  cherish  the  highest  reverence  for  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  and,  in  theory  at  least,  exalt  them  far  above  all 
human  traditions.  Their  doctrinal  tenets,  so  far  as  I  have  learned 
them,  are,  in  general  quite  clearly  expressed  and  correct.  On 
the  momentous  subject  of  the  divinity  of  Christ,  in  relation  to 
which  the  charge  of  heresy  is  so  violently  thro'wn  upon  them  by 
the  Papal  and  other  oriental  sects,  their  belief  is  orthodox  and 


572  THE   NESTORIAN   CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XXVIII. 

scriptural.     They^re,  I  believe,  orthodox  on  the  subject  of  the 
Trinity. 

They  agree  with  the  Greeks  and  Armenians  in  relation  to  the 
procession  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  they  believe  to  be  from  the 
Father  only,  in  opposition  to  the  Papists,  who  hold  that  the  opera- 
tion proceeds  both  from  the  Father  and  the  Son.  The  Nestorians 
hold  to  the  perpetual  virginity  of  Mary,  though  they  attach  far 
less  importance  to  that  point  than  other  oriental  Christians. 

§  8.    RELIGIOUS   OBSERVANCES. 

Fasts. — The  following  catalogue  of  the  Nestorian  fasts  is  given 
by  Messrs.  Smith  and  Dwight,  with  their  usual  accuracy,  as  it  was 
furnished  them  by  Mar  Yohannan's  father : — "  It  being  Friday, 
we  first  questioned  the  priest  respecting  the  fasts  of  his  church. 
In  conjunction  with  the  others  who  were  present,  he  informed  us 
that  they  fast  every  Wednesday  and  Friday  ;  twenty-five  days  be- 
fore Christmas ;  fifteen  days  before  the  feast  of  St.  Mary ;  three 
days  before  the  feast  of  the  cross,  which  occurs  twelve  days  after 
Christmas ;  three  days  before  the  feast  of  St.  John ;  three  days 
before  the  feast  of  Khod^era  N^bhee  ;*  fifty  days  before  Easter, 
including  Easter  Sunday,  when  they  eat  meat ;  and  fifty  days  be- 
fore Pentecost,  the  observance  of  which  is  optional  and  not  regarded 
by  all.  We  asked,  as  he  finished  the  list,  if  there  are  no  more, 
and  he  jocosely  replied,  '  Why,  are  not  these  enough  ?  What  of 
the  year  remains  for  us  to  eat?'  In  none  of  their  fasts  do  they 
eat  any  animal  substance  whatever;  and  in  Lent,  with  the  exception 
of  Sundays  and  festivals,  they  eat  but  twice,  once  after  midday,  and 
once  after  evening  prayers,  and  some  eat  only  the  latter  meal."t 

Festivals. — The  following  statement  is  from  Mar  Yohannan : 
"  AVe  keep  fifty  days  as  the  fast  of  our  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ ;  and 
on  the  fiftieth  day  we  hold  a  festival.  Further,  there  is  another 
festival,  which  we  call  the  festival  of  Christ's  ascension  to  heaven. 
And  again,  the  feast  of  Pentecost.  Fifty  days,  commencing  with 
Pentecost,  is  the  fast  of  the  apostles ;  and  at  the  close  of  this  fast 
we  keep  the  feast  of  the  apostles.  Again,  we  keep  a  fast  of  fifteen 
days  in  the  month  of  August,  called  the  fast  of  St.  Mary.  Again, 
there  are  the  seven  weeks'  fast  of  Elias,  and  the  seven  weeks'  fast 
of  Moses,  which   some  men  observe,  and  some  do  not  observe. 

*  An  epithet  applied  to  Jonah. 

t  Researches  in  Armenia,  vol.  ii.  p.  208.  Parts  only  of  the  paragraph  on  this 
Bubject  are  here  quoted. 


SEC.  VIII.]  RELIGIOUS    OBSERVANCES.  573 


There  is  the  feast  of  the  transfiguration  of  Christ ;  the  feast  of  the 
cross  and  the  feast  of  the  birth  of  Christ,  and  the  feast  of  the  bap- 
tism of  Christ. 

"  These  eight  festivals  of  our  Lord  we  observe,  and  we  have 
many  holy  days  and  the  Sabbath  day,  on  which  we  do  not  labour. 
And  on  Wednesday  and  Friday  we  eat  no  flesh.  The  Sabbath 
day  we  reckon  far — far  above  the  others.  The  sacrament  of  the 
body  and  blood  of  Christ  we  celebrate  with  the  leaven,  the  olive- 
oil,  and  pure  meal,  and  with  wine." 

Sacrifices. — The  Nestorians  resort  to  the  church  to  ofi'er  sacri- 
fices ;  i.  e.  they  carry  gifts  in  memory  of  the  saint  whose  name  it 
bears,  and  present  them  to  the  priest  or  the  poor  people  of  the  vil- 
lage. They  do  the  same  on  other  saints'  days,  at  other  churches, 
bearing  their  respective  names.  Often,  also,  individuals  make  spe- 
cial ofi"erings  to  avert  evils,  or  thankfully  to  recognise  mercies.  In 
such  cases  they  usually  slay  an  animal,  large  or  small,  according  to 
their  ability,  a  portion  of  which  they  give  to  their  pastor,  and  distri- 
bute the  rest  among  their  poor  neighbours.  The  animal  is  not  neces- 
sarily slain  at  a  church,  nor  by  a  priest ;  nor  is  there  so  much 
that  is  religious  in  the  practice  as  the  term  sacrifice  might  seem 
to  imply,  though  in  English  we  use  that  term  in  the  same  way,  in 
a  figurative  and  very  general  manner. 

Worship. — Prayers  are  read  daily  in  the  churches  of  the  Nes- 
torians very  early  in  the  morning  and  about  sunset  at  evening. 
Their  services  are  not  usually  more  than  an  hour  in  length,  except 
on  occasions  when  the  Lord's  supper  is  celebrated :  then  they  are 
nearly  three  hours  in  length.  The  worship  of  the  Sabbath  does 
not  differ  materially  from  that  of  other  days,  except  that  an  extra 
service  for  preaching  the  gospel  is  now  extensively  introduced  un- 
der the  influence  of  the  missionaries.  The  liturgy  is  chanted  in 
an  obsolete  language,  without  interest  or  edification  on  the  part  of 
the  audience.  Incense  is  burned  in  the  churches  of  the  Nestorians 
on  the  Sabbath  and  on  feast-days. 

Standing  is  their  common  attitude  in  worship,  with  occasional 
bowing  and  kneeling.  They  always  direct  their  faces  toward  the 
East  in  worship,  and  construct  their  churches  accordingly. 

A  cross  always  lies  upon  the  New  Testament  on  the  altar,  which 
all  approach  silently  and  kiss  on  entering  the  church.  They  also 
reverently  kiss  the  hand  of  the  officiating  ecclesiastic,  both  on  en- 
tering and  leaving  the  church. 

They  have  a  great  abhorrence  of  images  and  pictures,  of  which 
none  are  permitted  in  their  churches. 


574  THE   NESTORIAN   CHURCH.  [cHAP.  XXVIII. 


§  9.    THE    SACRAMENTS. 

The  Nestorians  reckon  their  sacraments  at  seven — the  favourite 
number  on  this  subject  in  all  the  Eastern  churches.  All  the 
Nestorians  are  not  agreed,  however,  in  relation  to  what  constitutes 
their  sacraments.  The  following  is  a  list  which  I  have  often  heard 
mentioned  :—T- 

1.  Ordination. 

2.  Baptism. 

3.  The  Lord's  supper. 

4.  Marriage. 

5.  Dedication  of  churches. 

6.  Burials. 

7.  Confirmation. 

Ordination. — The  Nestorians  assert  that  their  canons  require 
that  a  bishop  be  more  than  forty  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his 
consecration ;  but  so  far  from  adhering  to  this  rule,  boys,  at  the 
age  of  twelve  or  fifteen,  are  sometimes  made  bishops ;  and  those 
still  younger  are  often  ordained  as  priests  and  deacons. 

Most  of  the  Nestorian  ecclesiastics  are  ordained  while  mere 
boys.  Their  readers  being  few,  they  often  need  their  services 
before  they  arrive  at  adult  years ;  and  as  they  attach  very  little 
sacredness  to  their  religious  forms,  destitute  as  they  are  of  spiritual 
views  and  feelings,  they  conceive  no  impropriety  in  committing 
those  forms  to  the  hands  of  children. 


§  10.    BAPTISM   AND    CONFIRMATION. 

The  ceremony  of  baptism  (Umada)  among  the  Nestorians,  like 
most  of  their  religious  rites,  is  simple,  compared  with  the  forms 
of  other  oriental  sects.  They  have  a  room  in  the  church  which  is 
devoted  to  baptism,  (KunJcee — place  of  consecration ;  or  mdmo- 
dSeta,  or  Baet  mdmodeeta,  place,  or  house  of  baptism.)  The  chil- 
dren are  divested  of  their  clothing  and  anointed  on  the  head  and  the 
breast,  in  the  form  of  the  cross,  with  consecrated  oil,  {kerne,  horn, 
i.  e.  horn  of  oil,  from  which  the  ancient  kings  and  prophets  were 
wont  to  be  anointed — fully  written,  Kerna  d'mishkha.)  They  are 
then  set  into  a  vessel  of  tepid  water,  which  extends  up  to  the  neck, 
and  held  there  by  a  deacon,  while  the  priest  takes  up  water  with 
both  hands  three  times  and  suffuses  it  over  the  head,  repeating  one 


SEC.  XI.]  THE    lord's   SUPPER.  575 

person  of  the  Ti-inity  each  time.  There  is  nothing  exceptionable 
in  their  manner  of  performing  this  ordinance,  except  the  oiling 
and  crossing  of  the  child,  and  the  same  heartlessness  and  want  of 
solemnity  in  the  officiators  which  marked  their  services  at  the  cele- 
bration of  the  Lord's  supper.  The  Nestorians  observe  no  rule 
in  relation  to  the  age  at  which  infants  shall  be  presented  for 
for  baptism.  For  the  mutual  convenience  of  the  parents  and  the 
clergy,  some  festival  occasions  are  usually  embraced  for  the  pur- 
pose ;  particularly  the  day  which  they  regard  as  commemorating 
Christ's  baptism  by  John  in  Jordan ;  also  the  day  of  his  cruci- 
fixion, taking  the  idea  perhaps  from  the  apostle's  figure  of  being 
''baptized  into  his  death." 

If  the  rite  of  confirmation  exists  in  the  Nestorian  canons,  nothing 
of  it  appears  in  their  practice,  so  far  as  I  have  observed.  Children, 
from  the  age  of  three  years,  or  younger,  are  allowed  and  encour- 
aged to  partake  of  the  elements,  which  all  seem  to  regard  as  pos- 
sessing a  magic  charm,  that  will  somehow  tend  to  prepare  them 
for  heaven,  or  rather  entitle  them  to  it,  without  reference  to  any 
influence  exerted  on  their  characters. 

The  ideas  of  the  Nestorians  respecting  regeneration,  as  dis- 
tinct from  baptism,  were  very  obscure  when  we  commenced  our 
missionary  labours  among  them.  Their  ancient  canons  seem 
only  to  inculcate  "baptismal  regeneration,"  As,  however,  the 
people  become  enlightened,  not  merely  the  pious  among  them,  but 
all  make  this  important  distinction, 

§  11.    THE    lord's    SUPPER, 

A  BISHOP  and  priest,  garbed  in  white  cotton  robes,  chants  the 
service  in  the  sanctum  sanctorum,  which  laymen  are  not  allowed 
to  enter.  This  service  is  usually  performed  by  a  priest  and  a 
deacon,  provided  a  deacon  happens  to  be  present.  The  bread, 
at  the  close,  is  received  from  the  hand  of  the  superior  officiator  at 
the  altar,  and  the  wine  from  the  inferior  one,  in  a  lower  position, 
by  the  side  of  the  altar.  The  wine  at  their  communion  is  diluted 
with  water,  not  on  temperance  grounds,  but  because  water  as  well 
as  blood  flowed  from  the  side  of  the  Saviour,  Both  elements  are 
extended  to  all  the  communicants.  Though  the  whole  service  is 
far  more  simple  than  the  disgusting  routine  of  ceremonies  which 
attend  it  in  the  other  oriental  churches,  still  it  is  but  too  evi 
dently  a  heartless  form. 

Korbdna,   (gift   or   offering,  ohlatio,)  is   the  term  which  they 


676  THE   NESTORIAN   CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XXVIII. 


apply  to  tlie  elements.  They  do  not  worship  them  in  the  super- 
stitious manner  of  the  Papists,  nor  hold  to  real  presence  in  the 
Papal  sense  of  that  term.  They,  however,  appear  to  cherish  a 
kind  of  homage  for  the  bread  and  wine  which  is  not  very  intelli- 
gent and  scriptural,  and  great  particularity  is  observed  in  the  pre- 
paration of  these  elements.  The  bread  must  be  baked  in  an  apart- 
ment of  the  church ;  and  among  the  most  scrupulous,  the  wheat 
must  be  ground  in  a  consecrated  mill,  [hand-mill,]  separated  from 
the  rest  in  the  field,  and  shelled  by  hand,  instead  of  being  trodden 
out  by  cattle.  Alas,  in  how  many  things  do  these  fallen  Chris- 
tians strain  at  the  gnat  and  swallow  the  camel !  As  nearly  as  I 
have  been  able  to  ascertain,  in  the  general  vagueness  of  their 
views  on  spiritual  subjects,  the  consubstantiation  of  the  Lutherans 
would  vei-y  well  define  the  Nestorian  belief  in  relation  to  this  or- 
dinance, if,  indeed,  that  term  be  itself  well  defined  or  understood 
by  those  who  adopt  it. 

This  sacrament  is  celebrated  by  the  Nestorians,  not  periodically, 
but  on  some  of  the  more  important  festival  occasions,  to  the  num- 
ber of  eight  or  ten  times  in  the  course  of  a  year.  Entire  uni- 
formity in  relation  to  its  frequency  is  not  observed.  Bread  for 
the  communion-service  is  composed  of  flour,  water,  olive-oil,  salt, 
and  consecrated  oil.  It  is  also  leavened.  A  small  quantity  of 
this  composition,  prepared  by  the  higher  ecclesiastics  on  the  day 
of  Christ's  betrayal,  is  kept  in  the  churches,  from  which  a  mite  is 
taken  and  mixed  with  the  bread,  to  hallow  the  mass  on  each  sacra- 
mental occasion.  This  sacred  "mite"  is  regarded  as  essential  to 
the  celebration  of  the  ordinance. 

The  wine  used  at  communion  by  the  Nestorians  is  fermented. 
Indeed,  they  know  of  no  other  wine.  The  term  which  they  use  to 
designate  the  article  {khumra)  itself  means  fermented. 

§  12.    MARRIAGE. 

It  is  the  practice  of  the  Nestorians  to  have  the  marriage  cere- 
mony performed  in  their  churches,  and  very  early — commencing 
at  least  an  hour  before  day — because  the  services  are  long,  and 
the  nuptial  parties,  and  all  the  ecclesiastics  who  participate  in  the 
performance,  are  obliged  to  abstain  from  food  on  the  wedding-day 
until  after  the  ceremony.  But  in  our  instance,  to  gratify  us,  they 
had  deferred  the  marriage  till  our  arrival — 10  o'clock,  a.  m. — and 
instead  of  assembling  in  the  church,  they  had,  for  our  better  con- 
venience, prepared  to  perform  the  service  at  home. 


EEC.  XII.]  MARBIAGE.  577 


Priest  Abraham  was  the  principal  officiator,  but  was  assisted  bj 
two  other  priests  and  several  deacons  of  the  village,  who  joined 
with  him  in  reading  the  prayers  and  select  portions  of  Scripture, 
such  as  the  account  of  Abraham's  sending  after  Rebekah  for  his 
son,  Jacob's  serving  for  Rachel,  and  all  the  other  venerable  Scrip- 
ture authorities  that  enter  into  their  marriage-service ;  the  whole 
of  which  would  doubtless  be  more  interesting,  if  not  more  instruc- 
tive, were  it  not  read  in  an  unknown  tongue.  The  bride  retained 
her  place  vailed  in  the  farther  corner  of  the  room  about  an  hour, 
the  bridegroom  meanwhile  standing  near  the  officiating  ecclesiastics. 
They  then  arrived  at  a  point  where  hands  were  to  be  joined,  this  being 
made  known  by  the  ecclesiastics,  who  alone  understood  the  service. 
Several  women  instantly  caught  hold  of  the  still  vailed  bride  and 
pulled  her  by  main  strength  half  across  the  room  toward  her  in- 
tended husband ;  and  several  men  at  the  same  time  seized  the 
bridegroom,  who  was  at  first  equally  resolute  in  his  modest  re- 
sistance, but  finally  yielded  and  advanced  toward  the  bride.  A 
smart  struggle  ensued  in  his  efforts  to  secure  her  hand;  but  he  at 
at  length  succeeded,  and  both,  with  great  apparent  submission,  then 
took  a  standing  attitude  near  the  officiating  clergy.  The  regular 
routine  of  reading  occupied  another  hour  or  more,  when,  first  the 
bishops,  and  after  them  the  multitude — we  of  course  among  the 
rest — advanced  and  kissed  the  married  pair. 

After  the  services  were  closed,  the  married  pair  and  the  officiat- 
ing ecclesiastics,  who  had  till  then — near  1  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon— eaten  nothing  that  day,  retired  to  take  some  refreshment. 
A  table  was  also  spread  before  us,  and  wine  was  passed  among  the 
multitude. 

Betrothals  are  customary  among  the  Nestorians,  which  are 
negotiated  by  the  parents  or  other  friends  of  the  parties,  but  not 
without  their  own  knowledge,  and  usually  their  mutual  choice,  and 
at  least  a  sight  acquaintance.  These  are  made  months,  and  often 
years  before  the  marriage,  at  which  time  tokens  or  pledges,  in  the 
form  of  presents,  are  given  by  the  would-be  lover  or  his  friends  to 
the  girl.  A  kind  of  semi-wedding  is  held  at  the  homes  of  both 
parties  at  the  time  of  betrothal,  which  is  regarded  as  in  a  measure 
a  sacred  contract,  though  instances  are  not  rare  in  which  it  is 
violated.  Wives  are  purchased  among  the  Nestorians  as  they  were 
in  the  days  of  Jacob — the  price  varying  from  five  to  fifty,  or  one 
hundred  dollars,  according  to  the  standing  and  charms  of  the  per- 
son. It  is  not  considered  proper  for  the  father  of  the  bride,  who 
receives  the  purchase-money,  to  appropriate  it  to  his  private  pur- 

37 


578  THE   NESTORIAN    CHURCH.  [CHAP.  XXVIII. 

poses,  but  expend  it  in  furnishing  her  with  "wedding  garments." 
The  wedding  commences  and  continues  two  or  three  days  at  the 
homes  of  both  parties.  The  bride  is  then  sent  for  and  conducted 
to  the  house  of  the  bridegroom,  who,  amid  music  and  dancing, 
gallantly  welcomes  her  arrival,  by  throwing  at  her,  as  she  ap- 
proaches and  alights,  a  few  apples,  or  painted  boiled  eggs,  from 
the  roof  of  the  dwelling,  as  loving  tokens.  The  marriage-service 
is  performed  immediately  after  her  arrival,  and  the  festivities  are 
continued  several  days,  during  which  she  is  present  among  the 
guests,  but  is  kept  closely  vailed. 

That  the  burden  of  these  long  weddings  may  not  be  onerous  on 
the  parties,  it  is  considered  proper  for  the  numerous  guests,  at  the 
close,  to  make  a  liberal  contribution,  commonly  enough  to  meet 
the  expenses  of  the  wedding,  and  sometimes  much  more.  This 
equalizing  system  is  perhaps  a  good  one,  as  weddings  thus  bear 
heavily  upon  nobody  at  a  given  time,  and  the  poor  can  as  easily 
marry  as  their  more  wealthy  neighbours.  The  common  age  at 
which  the  Nestorians  marry,  is  from  thirteen  to  fifteen  of  the 
female,  and  from  fifteen  to  seventeen  of  the  male.  The  bride,  on 
her  marriage,  becomes  it  member  of  the  bridegroom's  father's 
family,  subject  like  her  husband  and  their  children,  when  blest 
with  them,  to  that  father's  patriarchal  supervision  and  control. 

§  13.    DEDICATION    OF    CHURCHES. 

This  ordinance  consists  of  reading  prayers,  and  crossing  with 
consecrated  oil  four  stones,  one  in  each  corner  of  the  church,  and 
a  fifth,  which  is  placed  beneath  the  altar. 

The  Nestorian  churches  are  plain,  oblong  structures  ;  in  Oroo- 
miah  they  are  built  usually  of  mud,  but  in  the  Koordish  moun- 
tains of  stone.  They  are  divided  into  three  apartments,  viz.  1. 
The  main  body,  or  place  of  assembly,  called  "the  temple."  2.  A 
small  room  at  one  end,  called  "the  altar,"  a  kind  of  sanctum 
sanctorum,  which  none  but  ecclesiastics  enter,  and  they  only  for 
the  purpose  of  consecrating  the  elements  for  the  celebration  of  the 
Lord's  supper.  3.  The  baptistry,  where  the  bread  for  communion 
is  also  made.  The  doors  of  the  churches  are  very  small,  and  they 
can  hardly  be  said  to  be  "lighted."  A  lamp  is  almost  always  em- 
ployed at  their  worship,  their  churches  being  dark,  or  nearly  so, 
oven  at  midday.  The  people  are  summoned  to  worship  by  the 
sound  of  the  sexton's  mallet,  struck  upon  a  board. 

The  Nestorians  consider  it  important  to  have  some  sacred  relic 


SEC,  XIII.]  DEDICATION   OP   CHURCHES.  579 


to  deposit  under  the  altar  of  a  new  church  at  the  time  of  its  erec- 
tion. A  bone,  reported  to  be  from  the  hand  or  arm  of  some  an- 
cient saint  or  martyr,  preserved  in  all  the  freshness  of  life,  is  a 
favourite  relic  for  this  purpose ;  but  in  the  lack  of  such  they  take 
a  stone  from  some  other  church,  which  they  place  as  a  foundation- 
stone  under  the  eastern  end  of  the  structure. 

While  the  Nestorians  thoroughly  reject  the  doctrine  of  purga- 
torial fire,  they  still  say  prayers  over  the  dead,  three  days  after 
interment,  which  they  call  "the  resurrection  service,"  in  memory 
of  the  resurrection  of  Christ  on  the  third  day. 

Is  not  the  almost  miraculous  preservation  of  the  ISTestorian 
church  from  being  crushed  by  the  heavy  arm  of  Mohammedan  op- 
pression on  the  one  hand,  and  decoyed  and  annihilated  by  the 
wiles  of  papal  emissaries  on  the  other,  an  animating  pledge  that 
the  Lord  of  the  church  will  continue  to  preserve  this  venerable 
remnant  ?  That  He  will  even  revive  and  build  it  up  for  the  glory 
of  his  name  and  the  advancement  of  his  kingdom  ?  May  he  not 
have  important  purposes  for  this  church  to  accomplish — a  con- 
spicuous part  for  it  to  act — in  ushering  in  the  millennial  glory  of 
Zion?  What  position  could  be  more  important  and  advantageous 
in  its  bearing  on  the  conversion  of  the  world  for  a  Christian 
church  to  hold  than  that  occupied  by  the  Nestorians,  situated  as 
they  are  in  the  centre  of  Mohammedan  dominion,  and  far  toward 
the  centre  of  benighted  Asia !  And  is  it  too  much  to  believe  that 
this  ancient  church,  once  so  renowned  for  its  missionary  eiForts, 
and  still  possessing  such  native  capabilities,  as  well  as  such  felicity 
of  location,  for  the  renewal  of  like  missionary  labours,  will  again 
awake  from  the  slumber  of  ages,  and  become  clear  as  the  sun,  fair 
as  the  moon,  and  terrible  as  an  army  with  banners,  to  achieve  vic- 
tories for  Zion  !  That  it  will  again  diffuse  such  floods  of  the  light 
of  truth  as  shall  put  for  ever  to  shame  the  corrupt  abominations 
of  Mohammedanism,  roll  back  the  tide  of  Papal  influence  that  is 
now  threatening  to  overwhelm  it,  and  send  forth  faithful  mis- 
sionaries of  the  cross  in  such  numbers  and  with  such  holy  zeal  as 
shall  bear  the  tidings  of  salvation  to  every  corner  of  benighted 
Asia! 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

OF  THE  gACRED  SEASONS  OF  THE  PURITANS. 

The  subject  of  the  Fasts  and  Thanksgivings  of  New  England  is 
an  interesting  and  neglected  portion  of  the  history  of  our  Puritan 
forefathers,  which  the  author  has  great  pleasure  in  presenting  to 
the  reader,  from  the  hand  of  a  distinguished  antiquary  and  histo- 
rian, the  Rev.  Joseph  B.  Felt,  of  Boston ;  who,  with  his  accus- 
tomed diligence  and  patient  research  has  investigated  this  portion 
of  our  ecclesiastical  history,  and  has  very  kindly  embodied  the  re- 
sult of  his  inquiries,  in  the  following  treatise,  for  this  work. 

§  1.    FASTS  AND    THANKSGIVINGS    OF    NEW  ENGLAND. 

1.  Preliminary  Remarhs. — Natural  religion,  as  enlightened  by 
original  revelation  hoAvever  deteriorated,  has  long  instructed  man 
that  he  has  sins  enough  for  humility  and  mercies  enough  for  grati- 
tude. Hence  it  is,  that  ancient  as  well  as  modern  nations,  the 
history  of  whose  worship  has  come  down  to  our  day,  have  had  their 
seasons  for  giving  expression  to  such  affections  of  the  soul. 
Hence,  also,  the  wisdom  of  God  in  requiring  this  service  from  his 
once  favoured  people.  In  accordance  with  such  example,  the  pri- 
mitive Christians  adopted  days  commemorative  of  events  as  full 
of  interest  to  them  as  others  had  been  to  the  Jews.  These  days 
were  so  far  increased  by  the  Catholic  church  and  so  far  observed 
by  the  Episcopal  church  of  England,  as  to  meet,  for  the  most 
part,  with  the  disapprobation  of  Dissenters.  Among  the  last  de- 
nomination, who  sought  for  greater  simplicity  in  the  forms  of  wor- 
ship, was  the  celebrated  John  Robinson.  His  church  in  Leyden 
believed  with  him,  that  no  other  holy  days  should  be  observed,  ex- 
cept Sabbaths  and  occasional  fasts  and  thanksgivings.  The  portion 
of  his  flock,  who  resolved  to  forsake  Europe  and  make  their  home 
in  America,  for  the  sake  of  purer  society  and  the  spread  of  the 
680 


SEC.  I.]  FASTS   AND   THANKSGIVINGS.  581 


gospel,  had  several  seasons  of  fasting  and  prayer,  as  preparatory 
to  so  important  an  enterprise,  within  a  few  months  before  they 
sailed  for  South  Hampton.^  So  disposed,  they  would  sooner  have 
thought  of  parting  with  all  their  w^orldly  substance,  than  of  omit- 
ting duties  of  public  thanks  and  humiliation  before  their  Maker. 
The  same  times,  which  they  hallowed  in  their  European  pilgrimage, 
were  engraved  too  deeply  on  the  calendar  of  their  sacred  occasions, 
to  be  thus  forgotten  in  their  more  perilous,  needy,  and  changeful 
pilgrimage  in  this  country.  Hence,  with  their  hopes  and  fears, 
their  purposes  and  piety,  they  brought  hither  the  observance  of 
fasts  and  thansgivingrs. 

2.  Reasons  for  such  days. — As  well  known  to  those  who  have 
investigated  the  histo^'y  of  the  planters  at  Plymouth,  they  had 
reasons  for  preferring  these  days  to  similar  ones  of  the  Episcopal 
order.  They  discountenanced  the  rubric,  clerical  robes  and  bands, 
marriage  with  a  ring,  baptism  by  the  sign  of  a  cross,  and  such 
particulars — enjoined  by  canonical  rules  of  England — because 
adopted  from  the  Papal  forms,  and  fitted  to  turn  back  the  liberty 
of  Protestantism  to  the  bondage  of  Romish  hierarchy.  So,  for  a 
like  cause,  they  cast  off  the  confinement  of  holy  seasons,  except 
the  Sabbath,  to  particular  days  and  months  of  each  successive  year. 
Their  arguments  for  such  an  alteration  had  much  force  to  their 
perception,  when  they  saw  how  much  the  high  church  party,  in 
their  native  land,  leaned  toward  Papacy,  and  how  bitter  were  their 
prejudices  against  those  who  were  nonconformists,  but  who  earn- 
estly sought  for  greater  purity  in  doctrine  and  more  simplicity  in 
ceremonies.  As  an  additional  weight  in  the  scale  of  their  judg- 
ment, they  had  not  forgotten  that  adherence  to  Romish  rules  was 
one  of  the  chief  means,  under  the  reign  of  Mary,  which  contri- 
buted to  the  relapse  of  Protestantism  to  Papacy.  They  were  not 
so  far  unacquainted  with  human  nature  as  to  be  ignorant  that  it 
possessed  a  principle  which  is  wrought  on  by  the  association  of  ap- 
pearances, and  which,  wdien  having  repudiated  error,  and  still  re- 
taining its  forms,  is  far  more  likely  to  fall  back  upon  it,  than  if 
having  altogether  renounced  both  one  and  the  other.  Their  rea- 
son for  deviation  from  established  custom,  as  now  in  view,  was 
much  stronger  in  their  time  than  it  was  subsequently,  when  Con- 
gregationalism had  risen  from  its  infancy  and  numerous  depres 
sions  to  the  stature  and  energy  of  manhood,  so  as  to  have  little 
fear  of  an  inroad  upon  its  privileges.  They  well  knew,  that  the 
fasts  and  thanksgivings  of  the  conformists  were  designed,  like  their 
own,  to  improve  the  moral  affections  and  keep  man  within  the  salu- 


582  SACRED    SEASONS    OF   THE    PURITANS.        [CHAP.  XXIX. 


tary  restraints  of  duty;  and  that  the  effects  of  these  seasons,  when 
properly  observed  by  any  sect,  were  of  so  desirable  a  kind.  Hence 
it  was  that  serious  Episcopalians  consider  the  distinction  which  the 
Puritans  made,  relative  to  this  subject,  as  more  the  result  of  need- 
less fear  than  of  real  cause. 

Thomas  Lechford,  a  respectable  lawyer,  who  resided  several 
years  in  Massachusetts  and  returned  to  England  in  1641, — made 
the  subsequent  remark  on  our  ecclesiastical  usages.^  "  There  are 
dayes  of  fasting,  thanksgiving,  and  prayers  upon  occasions,  but  no 
holy  dayes,*  except  Sunday.  And  why  not  set  fasting  dayes  and 
times,  and  set  feasts, — as  well  as  set  synods  in  the  Reformed 
Churches  ?  And  why  not  holy  dayes  as  well  as  the  fifth  of  No- 
vember, and  dayes  of  Purim  among  tlie  Jews?"  This  author 
hereby  seems  to  imply  that  there  could  be  no  more  harm  in  com- 
plying with  the  prescribed  religious  seasons  of  Episcopacy,  than 
there  was  in  keeping  similar  days,  appointed  by  Presbyterian 
synods,  as  those  of  Geneva, — or  in  the  Jewish  observance  of  the 
stated  Feast  of  Lots,  or  in  obedience  to  the  law  of  King  James, 
which  required  every  fifth  of  November  to  be  spent  as  a  national 
thanksgiving  for  the  discovery  of  the  gunpowder-plot  in  1605. 
But  had  the  primitive  settlers  of  our  soil  met  this  argument,  they 
would  probably  have  replied  in  the  following  train  of  thought : 
We  have  no  serious  objections  to  these  occasions.  The  synods  of 
Reformers  were  calculated  to  keep  them  from  papal  hierarchy. 
The  commemoration  of  deliverance  from  the  powder-plot  was  fitted 
for  a  like  effect.  The  celebration  of  the  Jews'  being  preserved 
from  the  machinations  of  Haman,  guarded  them  against  idolatry. 
The  fixedness  of  these  seasons  was  suited  to  produce  opposite  re- 
sults from  the  fixedness  which  belongs  to  most  of  the  holy  days 
kept  by  the  established  church ; — and,  therefore,  we  do  not  reject 
the  former  as  exerting  a  bad  influence, — while  we  do  the  latter  for 
such  a  tendency. 

3.  Continuance. — With  views  of  this  sort  in  relation  to  fasts 
and  thanksgivings,  the  colonists  of  Plymouth  felt  obligated  to  con- 
tinue them  in  their  newly-adopted  residence, — as  suited  to  benefit 
them  and  their  posterity.  In  a  purpose  so  consistent  with  their 
profession,  and  expectations  of  help  mainly  from  the  hand  of  Om- 


*  Lechford  here  appears  to  mean  those  holy  days  that  were  kept  in  the  esta- 
blished church.  The  Puritans  so  far  held  their  fasts  and  thanksgivings  holy,  as 
to  require,  by  penal  enactments,  that  they  should  be  spent  with  the  sacreduces 
of  the  Sabbath. 


SEC.  I.]  FASTS    AND    THANKSGIVINGS.  583 

nipotence,  they  were  not  altogether  without  fear  of  having  their 
liberty  in  this,  as  well  as  other  respects,  interrupted.  The  power- 
ful exertions  of  Bishop  Laud  and  his  friends  to  crush  all  innova- 
tions on  the  ritual  of  Episcopacy,  in  British  America,  reached 
them  in  various  ways.  The  settlement  at  Weymouth,  in  1622, 
was  intended  as  one  check  to  their  religious  freedom.  The  party 
formed  at  Plymouth,  in  1624,  under  the  Rev.  John  Lyford,  and 
sustained  by  the  leading  members  of  the  company  for  this  colony 
in  London,  had  a  like  object.  Still  the  Puritans,  amid  their  per- 
plexities, held  fast  to  their  creed  with  its  practice.  They  excluded 
Mr.  Lyford  and  his  followers,  who  resorted  to  Gloucester  the  same 
year.  At  this  location,  there  appears  to  have  been  persons  of 
various  persuasions,  who  probably  observed  fasts  and  feasts  either 
at  set  dates  or  as  occasion  suggested.  The  first  occupants  of 
Naumkeag,  afterward  Salem,  in  1626,  with  Roger  Conant  at  their 
head,  were  the  adherents  of  Mr.  Lyford.  They,  of  course,  did  not 
fully  come  into  the  ways  of  Plymouth.  When  Governor  Endicott 
reached  Salem,  in  1628,  though  he  may  not  have  entirely  separated 
from  the  conformists,  yet  he  believed  in  the  ecclesiastical  order 
taught  by  John  Robinson.  In  a  letter  of  his  to  Governor  Brad- 
ford, dated  May  11,  1629,  he  remarked  on  a  conversation  which 
he  had  recently  held  with  Dr.  Samuel  Fuller.  His  words  were,  "I 
rejoice  much  that  I  am  by  him  satisfied  touching  your  judgment 
of  the  outward  form  of  God's  worship.  It  is,  as  far  as  I  can  yet 
gather,  no  other  than  is  warranted  by  the  evidence  of  truth,  and 
the  same  which  I  have  professed  and  maintained  ever  since  the 
Lord,  in  mercy,  revealed  himself  unto  me,  being  far  from  the  com- 
mon report,  that  hath  been  spread  of  you,  touching  that  parti- 
cular." Of  course,  the  author  of  this  passage  was  ready  to  har- 
monize with  the  inhabitants  of  Plymouth,  as  to  the  observance  of 
fasts  and  thanksgivings.  Succeeding  emigrants  to  Salem,  in  1629, 
were  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Higginson,  Skelton,  and  others,  who  were 
of  the  class  called  in  England  church  Puritans,  and  who  still 
cleaved  to  the  Episcopal  denomination  when  embarking  from  their 
native  shores.  In  their  farewell  address  on  so  trying  an  exigency, 
they  said,  "  We  do  not  go  to  New  England  as  separatists  from  the 
church  of  England,  though  we  cannot  but  separate  from  the  cor- 
ruptions of  it — but  we  go  to  practise  the  positive  part  of  churcn 
reformation  and  propagate  the  gospel  in  America."  Here  is  an 
intimation  that  they  intended  to  cast  oif  such  forms, — as  to  holy 
days, — which,  they  thought,  did  not  accord  with  the  simplicity  of 


584  SACRED    SEASONS    OF   THE   PURITANS.      [CHAP.  XXIX. 

the  gospel.  So  inclined,  they  kept  several  fasts  on  their  passage,* 
and,  when  reaching  Salem,  they  were  prepared  to  fall  in  with  the 
views  of  Governor  Endicott.  As  evidence  of  such  a  disposition, 
they,  as  members  of  his  council,  decided  that  it  was  best  for  John 
and  Samuel  Brown  to  leave  the  settlement,  because  they  set  up 
Episcopal  worship.  These  two  gentlemen  charged  such  authorities 
with  being  separatists,  and  asserted,  that  as  for  themselves,  they 
would  "hold  fast  the  forms  of  the  church  established  by  law." 
Subsequent  emigrants  to  Massachusetts,  for  the  most  part,  second- 
ed the  practice  of  the  Salem  colonists. 

The  planters  of  Connecticut  carried  thither,  in  1635,  similar 
conformity.     So  it  was  with  those  of  Saybrook  in  the  same  year. 

The  first  settlers  of  Providence,  under  Roger  Williams,  in  1636, 
and  of  Rhode  Island,  under  John  Clark,  in  1638,  differed,  as  is  well 
known,  from  the  rest  of  New  England  so  far,  as  to  withhold  fi-om 
civil  rulers  the  power  of  law  to  enforce  any  occasional  religious 
seasons-^  Still  such  rulers  were  at  liberty  to  recommend  fasts  and 
thanksgivings. 

New  Haven,  while  a  separate  colony  from  Connecticut,  followed 
the  course  of  Massachusetts,  as  to  these  days.  '*  Soon  after  they 
arrived  (in  1638)  at  Quinnipiack,  in  the  close  of  a  day  of  fasting 
and  prayer,  they  entered  into  what  they  termed  a  plantation  co- 
venant."'* The  first  records  of  their  government,  for  about  sixteen 
years,  however,  make  no  mention  of  fasts  and  thanksgivings,* 
but  their  laws  prove  beyond  a  doubt,  that  these  days  were  kept 
from  their  first  organization  as  a  distinct  colony.^ 

We  now  look  at  Maine.  Various  unsuccessful  attempts  were 
made  to  settle  this  part  of  our  country,  then  extending  only  to 
the  Kennebec  river,  at  an  early  period.  Its  chief  proprietor.  Sir 
Ferdinando  Gorges,  being  an  Episcopalian,  naturally  selected  rulers 
for  it  of  his  own  persuasion,  Avho  promoted  the  cause  of  the  national 
church.  Hence  it  was  that  this  colony,  for  the  most  part,  did  not 
adopt  the  Congregational  forms.  Thomas  Jenner,  a  dissenting 
minister,  in  a  letter  of  1641,  addressed  to  Governor  Winthrop,  ob- 
served, that  while  preaching  at  Saco,  he  had  "  not  troubled  the  peo- 
ple with  church  discipline."  He  also  stated,  that  he  had  advanced 
his  opinion  against  "papal  practices."  These,  as  he  subjoined, 
"I  saw  the  people  here  were  superstitiously  addicted  to."  For 
such  a  step,  he  was  charged  by  Mr,  Vines,  an  inhabitant  of  that 
town,  with  striking  "at  the  church  of  England."^  This  shows  how 

*  Hutchinson's  Collections  of  Papers.  Journal  of  Rev.  Francis  Higginson, 
pp.  37,  39,  41,  46. 


SEC.  I.]  FASTS   AND   THANKSGIYINGS.  585 

very  little  Congregational  customs  were  then  tolerated  in  one  of 
the  few  settlements  of  Maine.  So  it  was  in  Falmouth,  occupied  in 
1628,  where  a  chui'ch  of  conformists  was  soon  established ;  and  at 
York,  colonized  in  1630,  where  its  proprietor  apparently  purposed 
to  have  a  bishop's  diocese.  From  the  wane  of  the  royal  cause  in 
England,  and  the  death  of  Charles  I.  in  1648-9,  the  sway  of  the 
national  church  diminished  in  this  section  of  British  America.  At 
length,  proposals  began  to  be  made  by  the  people  of  Maine,  in 
1651,  to  come  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts,  as  a  means 
of  preserving  social  order  among  them,  and  even  their  very  exist- 
ence. The  next  year  a  majority  of  the  inhabitants  there  assumed 
a  like  relation ;  and  thence  religious  observances  of  dissenters  pre- 
vailed among  them. 

From  Maine  we  turn  to  New  Hampshire,  This  colony  was,  at 
first,  under  Episcopal  control.  Dover  and  Portsmouth,  both  set- 
tled in  1623,  appear  to  have  been  so  influenced.  The  latter  place 
soon  had  a  church  of  conformists.  But  the  occupation  of  Exeter 
by  John  Wheelwright  and  company,  and  of  Hampton  by  Stephen 
Batchelor  and  associates,  in  1638,  introduced  the  Puritan  forms 
there,  as  they  had  been  at  Dover  in  1633,  and  were  subsequently 
at  Portsmouth  about  1641.  So  that  New  Hampshire,  as  to  the  part 
claimed  by  Massachusetts,  and  also  to  the  other  part  not  so  claimed, 
had  thrown  off,  by  the  last  date.  Episcopal  conformity  and  adopted 
the  Congregational  order.  Such  a  change  was  accelerated  by  the 
distractions  of  England,  and  the  consequent  temporary  invalida- 
tion of  Mason's  claims.  When  New  Hampshire  resumed  the  powers 
of  a  colony,  in  1679,^  they  retained  their  prevailing  attachment  to 
the  fasts  and  thanksgivings  of  the  nonconformists.  When  their 
Assembly  were  about  to  meet  in  1680,  a  public  fast  was  observed 
to  ask  for  a  blessing  on  their  proceedings.  At  the  same  time, 
however,  while  their  charter  allowed  freedom  of  conscience  to  all 
Protestant  denominations,  it  particularly  required  that  encourage- 
ment should  be  given  to  Episcopalians." 

The  stamp  thus  put  on  the  public  sentiment  of  the  preceding  por- 
tions of  New  England  has  never  been  effaced.  Though  the  most 
of  them  have  been  changed  from  colonies  to  independent  states, 
they  still  preserve  the  religious  customs  of  their  fathers. 

No  relinquishment  of  fasts  and  thanksgivings  was  made  in  Ver- 
mont or  in  Maine,  when  they  assumed  State  privileges.  With  re- 
gard to  the  former  of  these  two  States,^"  they  began  to  observe 
such  days  in  1778,  and  have  not  since  faltered  in  so  doing. 

4.  Mode  of  their  appointment. — In  Plymouth  colony  this  was 


.686  SACRED    SEASONS    OF    THE    PURITANS.       [CHAP.  XXIX. 


done  by  the  civil  authority. ^^  The  practice  there  was  embodiedin 
a  law  of  1637 — "that  it  be  in  the  power  of  the  governor  and  as- 
sistants to  command  solemn  dales  of  humiliation  by  fasting,  and 
also  for  thanksgiving  as  occasion  shall  be  offered.  "^^  When  depu- 
ties became  a  part  of  the  General  Court,  they  sometimes  acted  with 
the  other  branch  of  government  in  the  designation  of  these  seasons. 
Such  times  were  also  proposed  and  observed  by  the  churches, 
either  singly  or  collectively,  as  circumstances  seemed  to  indicate. 
They  were  so  continued  by  church  and  state  in  Plymouth  colony 
till  the  arrival  of  the  second  charter  of  Massachusetts  in  1692, 
when  the  former  was  incorporated  with  the  latter  colony. 

The  mode  of  Plymouth,  as  just  described,  did  not  materially 
differ  from  that  of  Massachusetts.  Here,  with  respect  to  a  fast  at 
the  choice  of  ministers  for  the  Salem  church  in  1629,  Mr.  Gott 
informs  us  that  it  was  ordered  by  Governor  Endicott.^^  While 
the  General  Court  was  solely  composed  of  magistrates  till  1634, 
the  governor,  as  their  head  and  through  their  advice,  did  exercise 
like  power.  Subsequent  to  this,  until  the  arrival  of  the  second 
charter  in  1692,  he  did  not  entirely  lay  aside  such  a  practice.  Be- 
sides, the  council  in  their  own  name,  even  while  there  were  chief 
magistrates,  issued  proclamations.  The  first  printed  document  of 
this  class,  in  the  Massachusetts  archives,  is  of  the  following  tenor.''* 

"  At  a  council  held  at  Boston,  September  8th,  1670.  The  council 
taking  into  their  serious  consideration  the  low  estate  of  the  churches 
of  God  throughout  the  world,  and  the  increase  of  sin  and  evil 
amongst  ourselves,  God's  hand  following  us  for  the  same, — Do, 
therefore,  appoint  the  two  and  twentieth  of  this  instant  September, 
to  be  a  day  of  public  humiliation  throughout  this  jurisdiction,  and 
do  commend  the  same  to  the  several  churches,  elders,  ministers, 
and  people,  solemnly  to  keep  it  accordingly ;  hereby  prohibiting 
all  servile  work  on  that  day. 

"  By  the  Council, 

"Edward  Rawson,  Secret." 

The  term  council,  as  used  here  and  elsewhere,  included  the 
name  of  the  governor.  In  the  same  collection  is  a  manuscript 
proclamation  for  thanksgiving  in  1671,  and  similar  papers  for  two 
fasts  of  1675  and  1677,  issued  by  such  a  body.  The  first  printed 
proclamation  for  a  thanksgiving  to  be  found  in  the  like  depository, 
is  of  April  23,  1691,  and  is  headed,  "By  the  Governor  and  Coun- 
cil."" But,  however,  fasts  and  thanksgivings  were  appointed  in 
Massachusetts  singly  by  the  council,  and  also,  by  the  governor 


SEC.  l]  fasts  and  thanksgivings.  58T 

through  their  advice,  down  to  the  year  last  named ;  still  days  of 
this  description  were  more  frequently  ordered  in  the  name  of  the 
General  Court.  As  well  known,  there  was  a  suspension  of  the 
charter  governments  in  New  England,  from  a  part  of  1686  to  the 
spring  of  1689.  Of  the  two  presidents,  Dudley  and  Andros,  in 
this  period  of  the  usurpation,  the  latter  zealously  promoted  the 
Episcopal  order.  For  the  religious  customs  of  the  Puritans  he 
had  no  partiality.  Still,  political  policy  so  far  prevailed  with  him 
that  he  continued  them.  As  an  instance  of  this,  he,  on  the  19th 
of  November,  1687,  ordered,*  by  advice  of  his  council,  that  thanks- 
giving be  observed  on  Thursday,  December  1st,  throughout  his 
jurisdiction.  While  the  rulers  chosen  by  the  people  of  Massachu- 
setts were  in  power,  they  allowed  the  church  to  keep  as  many  fasts 
and  thanksgivings  as  they  chose.  Accordingly  we  find  among 
their  laws  one  of  the  succeeding  tenor,  passed  in  1641.  "  Every 
church  of  Christ  hath  freedom  to  celebrate  dayes  of  fasting  and 
prayer  and  of  thanksgiving,  according  to  the  word  of  God."^^ 
This  was  a  confirmation  of  previous  custom,  which,  as  before,  has 
ever  since  remained  in  New  England. 

With  respect  to  this  subject,  as  in  the  hands  of  the  legislature, 
they  continued  some  variation  in  the  proclamations  under  the  se- 
cond charter.  These  documents  were  issued  in  the  name  of  go- 
vernor, council,  and  representatives,  as  in  1693 ;  of  his  Excellency 
and  council,  as  in  1700 ;  and  of  governor  by  advice  of  council,  as 
in  1733.  The  last  mode  of  phraseology  was  that  which  was  gene- 
rally adopted  after  1700,  and  so  continued  till  the  adoption  of  the 
constitution  in  1780.  But  whatever  variation  of  this  kind  existed, 
the  representatives  always  claimed  the  right  of  having  a  concern 
in  the  appointment  of  fasts  and  thanksgivings.  So  inclined,  they 
did  not  find  their  whole  course  smooth  in  relation  to  these  seasons. 

In  1696  they  were  severely  reproved  by  the  council  for  inter- 
ference with  them  about  the  particular  date  when  such  an  occasion 
should  be  kept.  This  diiference  did  not  call  in  question  the  pro- 
priety of  the  house  to  request  the  governor  that  he  would  designate 
seasons  of  this  sort  by  consent  of  the  council.  In  1721,  the  re- 
presentatives moved  for  a  joint-committee  of  this  body  and  of 
themselves,  to  prepare  a  proclamation  for  a  fast.  The  council  de- 
clined such  a  proposition,  because  they  deemed  it  an  anticipation 

*  He  made  proclamation,  April  18,  1G88,  for  public  thanksgiving  on  the  29th, 
for  prospective  issue  by  the  queen.  He  required  that  the  30th  of  January,  1689, 
be  kept  as  a  fast-day,  to  commemorate  the  decapitation  of  Charles  I.,  "as  ordereiJ 
by  statute  for  all  the  king's  subjects." 


588  SACRED   SEASONS   OF   THE   PURITANS.      [CHAP.  XXIX. 

of  the  governor's  right.^^  But  "he  willing  to  conform  to  the 
house  so  far  as  would  consist  with  maintaining  his  right  of  issuing 
proclamations,  mentioned  in  the  proclamation  which  he  soon  after 
published,  that  the  appointment  was  by  advice  of  council  and  upon 
motion  from  the  house  of  representatives.  But  the  house  refused 
to  meet  him,  and  declared  they  had  never  made  any  such  motion, 
and  ordered  that  no  members  of  the  house  should  carry  any  pro- 
clamations to  their  towns  for  the  present.  The  day  was,  however, 
observed  as  usual,  except  that  one  of  the  representatives  (William 
Clark)  of  Boston  would  not  attend  public  worship,  but  opened  his 
"warehouse  as  upon  other  days."  The  difficulty  here  described 
arose  from  the  purpose  of  the  house  to  unite  with  the  council  to 
prepare  such  a  document  independently  of  the  governor,  though  to 
be  published  in  his  name. 

The  author,  whose  language  on  this  topic  has  been  just  quoted, 
relates  that,  as  stated  by  the  board,  the  attempt  of  the  representa- 
tives to  participate  in  the  composition  of  the  order  in  question, 
was  unprecedented.  But  there  is  a  mistake  on  this  point.  For, 
it  had  been  no  uncommon  thing  for  the  house  to  draw  up  procla- 
mations for  fasts  and  thanksgivings  and  forward  them  to  the  coun- 
cil and  governor  for  their  approbation.  Nor  were  these  papers 
rejected  as  being  improper.  The  chief  magistrate,  Samuel  Shute, 
with  whom  the  preceding  difficulty  took  place,  in  his  protest 
against  Massachusetts  before  Parliament  in  1723,  which  wellnigh 
caused  the  nullification  of  our  charter,  charged  the  house  with 
undue  interference  in  the  appointments  of  fasts  and  thanksgivings. 
On  this  subject,  Doctor  Douglass  stated,  in  1749,  that  such  days 
"  ever  since  Governor  Shute's  complaints,  have  been  appointed  by 
the  governor  and  council,  at  the  desire  of  the  house  of  representa- 
tives."^* The  practice  here  mentioned  lasted  till  1779.  The 
next  year  it  was  discontinued.  From  this  time,  when  the  senate 
was  formed,  and,  in  most  respects,  assumed  the  previous  duties  of 
the  council,  fasts  and  thanksgiving  have  been  recommended  by  the 
chief  magistrate  with  advice  of  council. 

As  the  genius  of  ecclesiastical  and  political  usages  of  Massachu- 
setts pervaded  those  of  New  Haven  and  Connecticut,  the  mode  of 
designating  fasts  and  thanksgivings  in  the  two  latter  colonies  was 
essentially  the  same  as  that  in  the  former.  Relative  to  more 
modern  practice  of  Connecticut,  we  have  the  ensuing  account. 
"  The  present  mode  is  by  the  govei-nor  alone.  This  has  been  the 
practice  since  May,  1833.  Before  that  time,  the  governor  desig- 
nated the  day ;  but  previous  to  the  adoption  of  the  constitution 


SEC.  I.]  FASTS   AXD    THANKSGIVINGS.  589 

in  1818,  which  abolished  the  October  session  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, the  governor  submitted  his  proclamation  to  the  two  houses  of 
that  body,  and  had  their  approbation.  Between  1818  and  1833, 
the  practice  was  the  same,  as  it  is  now  from  the  necessity  of  the 
case,  because  the  General  Assembly  was  not  in  session  at  or  near 
the  time  of  issuing  the  proclamation."^^ 

Concerning  the  appointment  of  fasts  and  thanksgiving  in  Rhode 
Island,  we  have  the  subsequent  passage.  These  days  "were,  in 
the  earlier  times  of  the  state,  occasionally  recommended  by  the 
legislature.  In  1789  commenced  the  annual  thanksgiving  in  this 
State.  The  subject  was  introduced  into  the  General  Assembly  by  the 
late  Judge  Bicknell,  then  a  representative  from  the  town  of  Barring- 
ton,  in  pursuance  of  instructions  from  his  constituents.  Since  then, 
a  day  has  been  set  apart  every  year  for  that  purpose,  except  only 
in  1801.  Resolutions  are  generally  introduced  into  the  legislature 
at  their  session  in  October,  recommending  '  to  the  good  people'  of 
the  State  to  observe  a  certain  day  as  a  day  of  public  thanksgiving 
and  praise,  and  requesting  the  governor  to  issue  his  proclamation 
of  the  resolutions  so  passed.  Public  fasts  have  never  been  recom- 
mended by  our  legislature  at  any  stated  seasons.  I  believe  fasts 
and  thanksgivings  are  and  have  been  long  held  by  advice  of  cleri- 
cal bodies  and  individual  churches."^ 

In  relation  to  New  Hampshire,  we  present  the  following : — "  Our 
records  as  far  back  as  1698,  show  the  appointment  of  fasts  and 
thanksgivings  by  the  governor  with  advice  of  his  council."  No 
doubt  the  representatives  claimed  and  exercised  the  privilege  of 
proposing  such  seasons  to  their  chief  magistrate.  "  I  find  from 
1776,  that  a  committee  of  the  assembly  was  generally  appointed 
to  prepare  a  form  for  a  proclamation,  which  would  be  adopted  by 
the  assembly  and  concurred  in  by  the  council,  and  receive  the  sig- 
ture  of  the  governor,  then  called  president.  "^^  Since  New  Hamp- 
shire adopted  their  constitution  in  1792,  their  fasts  and  thanksgiv- 
ings have  been  appointed  as  in  Massachusetts. 

Concerning  the  mode  under  consideration,  as  practised  in  Ver- 
mont, Ave  have  the  subsequent  information.  "  Previous  to  the 
adoption  of  any  constitution,  and  while  the  powers  of  government 
were  exercised  by  a  council  of  safety,  they  appointed  a  day  of 
thanksgiving  by  resolution.  After  the  first  constitution,  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly,  in  March,  1778,  appointed  a  day  of  fasting  and 
adopted  a  form  of  proclamation,  and  in  October  of  the  same  year, 
they  appointed  a  day  of  tlianksgiving,  and  requested  the  governor 
to  issue  his   proclamation  therefor.     There  have  been  no  resolu 


590  SACRED    SEASONS   OF   THE    PURITANS.       [CHAP.  XXIX. 

tions  of  the  General  Assembly  in  relation  to  fasts  since  1778,  but 
they  have  been  appointed  by  the  executive :  the  proclamation  has 
been  issued  by  the  governor,  by  and  with  the  advice  of  the  council. 
Resolutions  for  the  appointment  of  days  of  thanksgiving  are  an- 
nually passed  by  the  legislature,  and,  for  nearly  fifty  years,  the 
form  has  been  to  request  the  governor  to  appoint  a  day  of  thanks- 
giving, fixing  the  day."^^ 

5.  Penalties. — Another  topic,  connected  with  the  fasts  and 
thanksgivings  of  New  England,  are  the  penalties  for  not  duly  ob- 
serving them. 

As  the  magistrates  of  Plymouth  colony  ordered  such  days  in 
1623,  and  were  empowered  by  law  so  to  do,  in  1637,  it  is  implied 
that  a  penalty  was  affixed  there  to  the  violation  of  them,  at  a  very 
early  pei'iod.  In  1650,^  every  person  neglecting  public  worship 
is  required  to  pay  10s.  or  to  be  publicly  whipped.  As  this  worship 
appears  to  have  included  that  of  fasts,  thanksgivings,  and  lectures, 
a  corresponding  inference  may  be  drawn  as  to  the  fine  for  not  keep- 
ing them.  In  1682,  "  it  is  enacted  that  none  shall  presume  to  at- 
tend servile  worke,  or  labour,  or  attend  any  such  sports  on  such 
dayes,  as  are  or  shall  be  appointed  by  the  Court  for  humiliation  by 
fasting  and  prayer,  or  for  publicke  Thanksgiving,  on  penalty  of 

shillings."     The  sum  here  omitted  was  probably  10s.     The 

law,  just  described,  continued  in  force  till  the  annexation  of  Ply- 
mouth with  Massachusetts. 

As  the  rulers  of  Massachusetts  colony  had  authority  to  com- 
mand the  observance  of  fasts  and  thanksgivings,  they  had  like 
power  to  enforce  the  keeping  of  them. 

In  1646,^"*  the  ensuing  law  was  passed: — "Whereas  the  ministry 
of  the  word  is  established  according  to  the  order  of  the  Gospel 
throughout  this  jurisdiction,  every  person  shall  duely  resort  and 
attend  thereunto,  respectively  on  the  Lord's  dayes  and  upon  such 
public  fast  dayes  and  dayes  of  thanksgiving,  as  are  to  be  gene- 
rally observed  by  appointment  of  authority."  This  law  required 
that  each  individual  unnecessarily  absent  from  such  public  meet- 
ings should  be  fined  bs.  It  will  be  perceived  here,  that  the  pe- 
nalty for  neglecting  public  worship  on  fasts  and  thanksgivings,  was 
equal  to  that  of  neglecting  like  service  on  tke  Sabbath.  With 
such  a  regulation  Edward  Ilandolph  found  fault,  in  his  statement 
to  the  royal  council,  in  1676."  His  words  were,  "Whoever  shall 
observe  Christmasse  day  or  the  like  festivity,  by  forbearing  to 
labour,  feasting,  or  other  way,  shall  pay  5s. ;  and  whosoever  shall 
not  resort  to  their  meetings  upon  the  Lord's  day  and  such  days  of 


SEC.  I.]  FASTS   AND    THANKSGIVINGS.  591 


fasting  and  thanksgiving  as  shall  be  appointed  by  authority,  shall 
pay  OS.  No  days,  commanded  by  the  laws  of  England,  to  be  ob- 
served or  regarded."*  How  long  such  a  fine  was  strictly  imposed, 
cannot  be  particularly  told  at  this  late  day.  It  was  evidently  in 
i-force,  however,  till  1780,  because  the  proclamations  for  fasts  and 
thanksgivings  to  this  year,  commanded  them  not  to  be  desecrated 
with  "servile  labour."  Since  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  in 
Massachusetts,  all  fines,  as  well  as  legislation,  about  these  religious 
occasions,  have  therein  ceased. 

During  the  separate  jurisdiction  of  New  Haven,  they  laid  a  fine 
of  5s.  for  each  omission  to  attend  worship  on  fast  or  thanksgiving 
days,  as  well  as  on  the  sabbath. ^^ 

With  regard  to  fines,  now  in  view,  Connecticut  pursued  the 
course  of  the  Bay  colony.  In  1650,  they  adopted  the  law  on  this 
subject  previously  enacted  by  Massachusetts.  A  penalty,  for  the 
violation  of  fasts  and  thanksgivings,  was  continued  longer  there 
than  in  any  other  part  of  New  England.  In  1791,"  it  was  enacted 
that  there  should  be  abstinence  from  servile  labour  and  recreation 
on  these  occasions,  works  of  necessity  and  mercy  excepted,  on 
penalty  of  not  above  two  dollars  nor  less  than  one.  This  rule,  as 
is  readily  perceived,  did  not  tally  with  that  of  1650,  so  as  to  de- 
mand attendance  on  worship.  It  also  made  an  exception  as  to 
public  posts  and  stages,  anciently  unknown  in  our  country.  Pro- 
hibitions of  the  kind  under  consideration  were  repealed  in  1833. 
From  this  year,  fasts  and  thanksgivings  have  been  recommended 
by  the  executive,  and  not  ordered  as  formerly. 

Relative  to  New  Hampshire, ^^  their  proclamations  for  such  sea- 
sons, before  the  adoption  of  their  present  constitution,  contained 
clauses  like  the  following: — "All  servile  work  and  recreation  are 
forbidden;"  but  subsequently,  instead  of  commanding,  they  ad- 
vised to  the  observance  of  these  days.f     Hence,  there  is  implicit 

"^  The  act  against  the  keeping  of  Christmas  in  Massachusetts,  was  passed  in 
1659,  when  there  was  some  prospect  that  Charles  II.  would  be  brought  to  his 
father's  throne.  This  act  was  repealed  in  1682.  It  is  probable  that,  from  the 
last  date,  the  annual  celebration  of  November  5th,  so  far  as  it  had  declined  in 
New  England,  was  revived  and  continued  to  be  observed  by  processions  of  boys 
and  3'oung  men,  and  bonfires,  before  the  revolution  of  1775.  Since  then,  till  forty 
years  past,  this  was  kept  up  by  bonfires,  and  is  now,  to  a  very  limited  extent,  in 
Pthode  Island. 

I  In  reference  to  such  prohibitions,  there  was  a  singular  occurrence,  which  may 
have  produced  a  legal  question  of  no  small  interest  and  concern.  It  was  in  the 
town  of  Colchester,  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Connecticut.  It  is  thus  described 
by  the  original  record.     "At  a  legal  Town  meeting,  held  in  Colchester,  October 


592  SACRED   SEASONS    OF   THE    PURITANS.       [CHAP.  XXIX. 

evidence  that  fines  were  required  there  by  law  for  an  infringement 
on  fasts  and  thanksgivings  prior  to  1792,  but  not  afterward. 

Respecting  Rhode  IsLand,  they  appear  to  have  had  no  fines  for 
the  non-observance  of  these  religious  occasions,  nor  have  Vermont 
and  Maine  since  they  became  States.  « 

6.  Periodical  Observance. — A  question,  not  unfrequently  asked, 
is.  When  did  fasts  and  thanksgivings,  in  New  England,  become 
periodical?  By  the  term  periodical,  as  here  applied,  we  under- 
stand the  following : — When  did  fasts  begin  to  be  appointed  or  kept 
in  the  spring  of  every  successive  year,  by  order  of  the  legislature ; 
and  thanksgiving,  in  like  manner,  in  the  fall  ?  For  an  answer  to 
these  inquiries  we  must  not  rely  altogether,  as  some  have,  on  what 
are  called  the  General  Court  Records,  now  extant.  There  is  but 
a  solitary  minute,  and  this  relative  to  land,  on  such  records  of 
Plymouth  colony,  for  the  first  three  years.  After  this,  till  near 
the  close  of  their  separate  jurisdiction,  the  designation  of  their 
fasts  and  thanksgivings  was  seldom  placed  with  their  legislative 
transactions.  It  is  matter  of  fact,  that  such  days  were  appointed 
by  their  public  authorities  as  have  no  mention  made  of  them 
among  the  proceedings  of  these  rulers.  No  legislative  records  of 
Massachusetts,  before  the  arrival  of  Governor  Winthrop  in  1630, 
are  known  to  have  been  preserved.  Those  of  them  which  succeed, 
fail  to  notice  a  number  of  fasts  and  thanksgivings,  the  observance 
of  which  was  enjoined  by  the  civil  government.  Similar  facts  ap- 
ply to  Connecticut  and  New  Haven.  Only  three  of  each  sort  of 
these  days  are  found  on  the  books  of  the  Connecticut  General  As- 
sembly before  1650.  The  Journals  of  New  Haven  make  not  even 
a  reference  to  such  religious  occasions,  as  before  stated,  for  about 
sixteen  of  their  first  years.  But  other  sources  of  information 
prove  that  there  was  no  real  deficiency  of  this  kind.  The  printed 
laws  of  New  Haven  show  that  fasts  and  thanksgivings  were  com- 
mon with  them,  from  their  very  commencement  as  a  colony,  and 
had  all  the  conservative  restriction  of  the  Sabbath.     Who  could 


29,  1705,  it  was  voted,  that  whereas  there  was  a  Thanksgiving  appointed  to  be 
held  on  the  first  Thursday  of  November,  and  our  present  circumstances  being 
such,  it  cannot  with  conveniency  be  attended  on  that  day,  it  is  therefore  voted  and 
agreed  by  the  inhabitants  aforesaid,  concluding  the  thing  will  not  be  otherways 
than  well  resented  (or  favorably  received),  that  the  second  Thursday  of  November 
aforesaid  shall  be  set  apart  for  that  service."  Long  and  accredited  tradition  has 
uniformly  related,  that  this  suspension  of  a  week  was  to  afford  the  trader  of  the 
]ilace  an  opportunity  to  replenish  liis  exhausted  articles  of  sweetening,  and  par- 
ticularly that  of  molasses, — so  that  his  customers  might  not  forego  the  indulgence 
of  their  taste  for  pumpkin  pies  and  other  similar  dainties. 


SEC.  I.]  FASTS   AND   THANKSGIVINGS.  593 

reasonably  suppose,  that  for  such  periods,  so  deficient  in  being  re- 
corded as  to  fasts  and  thanksgivings,  New  England  would  consent 
to  deprive  themselves  of  these  interesting  seasons  ?  No  person, 
correctly  acquainted  with  their  views,  desires,  habits,  and  condi- 
tion. And  yet,  were  we  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  relying  alto- 
gether for  testimony,  in  the  present  case,  on  their  General  Court 
journals,  we  should  conclude  that  they  did  thus  forget  their 
obligations  to  God  and  to  some  of  their  best  influences  and  in- 
terests. 

But  here  the  inquiry  may  be  made,  Why  were  the  registers  of 
their  legislative  doings  so  at  fault  ?  Several  causes  for  this  may 
be  assigned.  The  appointment  of  these  days  was  so  in  accord- 
ance with  the  opinions,  wishes,  and  practice  of  the  whole  country, 
there  was  no  call  for  a  special  record  to  be  made  of  them  among 
the  transactions  of  the  legislature.  If  a  parallel  case  of  this  kind 
be  asked  for,  it  may  be  found  in  the  total  omission  of  noticing 
such  an  appointment,  on  the  records  of  Massachusetts  General 
Court,  since  the  adoption  of  their  constitution  in  1780.  Another 
cause  was,  that  after  deputies  or  representatives  in  Plymouth  and 
Massachusetts  made  a  part  of  their  legislatures,  they  were,  often- 
times, not  in  session  so  as  to  unite  with  the  assistants  or  council  in 
ordering  fasts  and  thanksgivings ;  and,  therefore,  a  record  failed 
to  be  made  of  such  an  act  more  frequently  than  would  otherwise 
have  been.  Besides,  when  the  representatives  were  in  session  sea- 
sonably enough  to  participate  in  this  act,  they  sometimes  left  it  to 
the  direction  of  the  assistants.  In  omissions  of  this  sort,  we 
should  naturally  think,  that  the  periodical  fasts  and  thanksgivings 
would  be  more  frequently  unnoticed  on  the  records,  because  gene- 
rally known  and  expected,  than  those  of  more  special  occasions  at 
other  parts  of  the  year.  If  the  query  is  put,  whether  these  omis- 
sions were  all  which  are  either  suspected  or  known,  we  reply  in 
the  negative.  There  must  have  been,  for  instance,  particular 
orders  for  the  emission  of  one-penny  pieces  of  the  Pine-Tree 
money  and  of  the  Good-Samaritan  shillings,  at  an  early  period,  from 
the  Massachusetts  mint.  But  no  orders  of  this  class  are  visible  on 
the  journals  of  General  Court.  In  view  of  the  preceding  consi- 
derations, we  are  justified  in  not  restricting  the  number  of  fasts  and 
thanksgivings,  publicly  ordered  by  our  ancient  authorities,  to  the 
numerical  notices  of  them  on  the  pages  of  their  legislative  pro- 
ceedings. Indeed,  the  great  probability  is,  that  many  more  of 
such  seasons  were  so  appointed  in  the  first  periods  of  New  Eng- 
land than  at  present,  though  this  position  is  not  confirmed  by  the 

38 


594  SACRED    SEASONS   OF   THE   PURITANS.        [CHAP.  XXIX. 


records  of  their  legislatures.  An  opinion  of  this  kind  is  favoured 
by  the  fact,  that,  in  some  years,  wherein  these  days  are  mentioned 
by  such  records,  two  or  three  of  each  kind  were  kept  in  the  course 
of  one  year.  As  instances  on  this  point,  Massachusetts  journals 
give  two  fasts  in  1639,  and  three  in  1664  ;  two  thanksgivings  in 
16-33,  and  two  in  1637.  These  were  distinct  from  those  often  ob- 
served by  the  churches  either  individually  or  collectively.  A  dis- 
position, so  manifested,  must  have  been  cherished  and  indulged 
from  the  remarkable  trials  and  deliverances  experienced  by  our 
fathers  in  their  early  history,  as  well  as  from  their  deep  feeling  of 
dependence  on  God  and  of  their  obligations  to  him.  It  would  be 
absurd  to  conjecture  that  the  pilgrims  would  keep  so  many  of 
these  seasons  in  one  year,  and  then  neglect  them  altogether  for 
several  successive  years,  in  which  they  are  not  once  alluded  to  by 
their  legislative  journals,  when  there  were  similar  calls  for  a  like 
observance  every  year.  They  were  a  people  chargeable  with  no 
such  inconsistency  as  here  implied ;  not  eaten  up  with  a  zeal  for  a 
dutiful  and  salutary  custom  at  one  period,  and  then  entirely  ne- 
glectful of  it  at  another.  Hence,  we  have  a  confirmation  of  the 
statement,  that  we  should  not  make  up  our  minds  solely  on  the  ex- 
isting legislative  records  of  New  England,  as  to  the  number  and 
dates  of  their  fasts  and  thanksgivings. 

Even  from  the  foregoing  considerations,  it  would  not  be  para- 
doxical to  venture  the  opinion,  that  such  religious  seasons  have 
been  periodical  from  the  founding  of  New  England.  Here  the 
question  occurs,  to  what  extent  do  legislative  journals  and  other 
coincident  proof  confirm  such  a  position  ?  By  the  Connecticut  re- 
cords of  General  Court, ^^  it  appears  that  periodical  thanksgivings, 
as  well  as  fasts,  began  to  be  designated  in  1650.  In  all  reasonable 
probability,  Massachusetts  would  not  come  short  in  this  respect ; 
for  she  was  looked  to  rather  as  an  example  than  otherwise.  The 
records  of  the  latter  colony,  so  far  as  preserved,  show  that  thanks- 
givings were  appointed  in  the  fall  of  1633,  1637,  1638, 1639, 1654, 
1656, 1659, 1662, 1665, 1666, 1667, 1669, 1670, 1672,  1673,  1676, 
1677,  1680,  1681,  1682,  1684,  etc.  Besides  these  festival-days, 
the  representatives  left  the  matter  of  ordering  one  in  1648  to  the 
council ;  and  a  paper  shows  that  the  latter  body  did  designate 
another  in  1671,  of  which  no  mention  is  known  to  have  been  made 
elsewhere.  It  may  be  proper  to  state  that  there  were  other 
thanksgivings,  during  the  same  period,  ordered  at  dates  different 
from  those  of  such  days,  as  just  now  enumerated. 

With  regard  to  fasts,  designated  by  the  Massachusetts  authori- 


SEC.  I.]  FASTS   AND   THANKSGIVINGS.  595 


ties  in  this  time,  though  they  were  more  in  number,  as  contained 
on  legislative  records,  than  thanksgivings,  yet  there  were  less  of 
them,  as  periodical,  than  of  these  festivals.  But  the  nature  of  the 
case,  the  propriety  of  confessing  human  unworthiness  and  inter- 
ceding for  Divine  blessing  on  the  labours  of  the  field,  the  pursuits 
of  the  sea,  and  other  avocations  of  community  in  the  vernal  sea- 
son, and  the  deep  religious  impression  of  our  fathers  that  they 
ought  not  to  omit  such  an  obligation,  force  upon  our  minds  the  in- 
ference, that  fasts  would  be  even  more  likely  to  be  appointed  for 
the  spring,  than  thanksgivings  in  the  fall.  It  is  very  probable, 
that,  if  the  regular  journal  of  the  assistants  or  council  had  been 
preserved,  it  would  have  supplied  a  large  part  of  the  vacancies,  as 
to  such  holy  days,  which  appear  in  the  foregoing  statements  and 
remarks.  For  this  assertion,  we  have  the  subsequent  fact.  From 
the  fire  of  1747,  when  all  the  minutes  of  the  council  for  many  pre- 
vious years,  except  a  few  of  general  import,  were  destroyed,  to 
1765,  there  are  notices  of  seventeen  periodical  appointments  of 
thanksgivings,  as  well  as  the  same  number  of  periodical  fasts,  on 
the  journals  of  this  branch  of  the  legislature,  while  the  records  of 
the  general  court  contain  only  about  five  of  such  appointments  of 
each  kind.  The  reasons,  so  advanced  to  account  for  deficiencies 
of  this  sort  in  Massachusetts,  would  apply  to  similar  deficiencies 
in  the  rest  of  New  England  jurisdictions.  At  this  point,  we  may 
ask  what  should  be  our  decision  on  the  question  before  us  ?  We 
perceive,  that  we  ought  not  to  depend  altogether,  for  a  reply,  on  the 
General  Court  records  of  New  England  now  extant.  We  perceive 
from  the  journals  of  Connecticut,  that  fasts  and  thanksgivings  were 
periodical  there,  and,  from  the  same  authority  and  concurrent  rea- 
sons, were  very  probably  so  in  other  of  its  adjacent  colonies,  by 
1650.  And  even  if  Connecticut  journals  did  not  afford  such  testi- 
mony, there  are  other  considerations,  which  forbid  the  surrender 
of  this  inference.  As  to  the  periodical  order  in  view,  before  the 
year  just  named,  we  are  left  to  judge  from  the  character  and  con- 
dition of  our  ancestors  as  well  as  fr^m  their  recorded  practice. 
This  practice,  so  far  as  notice  of  it  has  come  down  to  our  know- 
ledge, implies  nothing  contrary  to  such  order,  but  from  the  man- 
ner in  which  it  is  mentioned,  and  the  fact  that,  in  several  in- 
stances, no  notice  Avas  taken  of  it,  when  actually  existing,  on  the 
registers  of  legislation,  strongly  intimate,  that  this  order  com- 
menced at  the  beginning  of  New  England. 

A  single  glance  at  the  character  and  condition  of  the  primitive 
colonists,   instantly  suggests  that  the  Puritans  would  almost  as 


596  SACRED    SEASONS    OF   THE   PURITANS.      [CHAP.  XXIX. 


soon  tliink  of  neglecting  to  cultivate  the  ground  and  still  look  for 
a  harvest,  as  to  omit  a  public  fast  in  the  spring,  and  of  neglecting  to 
gather  in  the  abundance  of  their  fields  and  still  expect  to  be  fed, 
as  to  omit  the  appointment  of  a  thanksgiving  in  the  autumn.  This 
appears  to  be  a  legitimate  conclusion  under  all  the  circumstances 
of  the  case.  Hence,  may  we  not  reasonably  make  up  our  minds, 
that  fasts  and  thanksgivings  have  been  periodical  from  the  first 
colonization  of  New  England  ? 

Nor  is  this  inference  invalidated  by  the  objection,  that  it  involves 
an  implication  contrary  to  the  cause  for  which  our  fathers  de- 
clined conformity  with  the  established  holy  days  of  the  Episcopal 
church.  The  truth  is,  had  they  kept  their  fasts  and  thanksgivings 
a  single  day  before  or  after  Passion  week  and  Christmas,  it  would 
have  broken  up  the  association  of  the  mind  which  was  the  object 
of  their  alteration.  But  in  allowing  them  the  sweep  of  several 
weeks  for  such  days,  they  had  ample  scope  to  rid  themselves  of  the 
charge  of  making  a  distinction  without  any  difierence. 

§  2.    OBSERVANCE    BY    OTHER    STATES. 

We  have  now  reached  the  point  where  notice  should  be  taken 
of  fasts  and  thanksgivings  in  other  parts  of  the  United  States. 
It  is  well  known,  that,  in  such  portions  as  were  under  Episcopal 
discipline,  these  days  were  kept  there,  for  a  long  period,  according 
to  the  prescribed  form  of  the  English  established  church.  The 
Lent  and  Christmas  of  those  parts  of  our  country  were  to  them 
as  the  periodical  fasts  and  thanksgivings  of  the  Puritans.  Their 
other  similar  seasons  were  to  them,  in  some  respects,  like  the  ad- 
ditional ones  of  Congregationalists.  As  a  matter  of  general  con- 
cernment to  all  the  British  American  colonies,  they  were,  as  pre- 
viously expressed,  required  by  the  law  of  England,  passed.  1606, 
to  keep  an  annual  thanksgiving  on  the  fifth  of  November,  to  com- 
memorate the  discovery  of  the  gunpowder  plot.  It  was  subse- 
quently enacted  by  the  Parliament,  that  there  should  be  a  fast  for 
the  death  of  Charles  I.,  and,  also,  a  thanksgiving  for  the  birth  and 
accession  of  Charles  II.  to  the  throne,  every  successive  year. 
While  these  laws  were  complied  with  in  our  Episcopal  colonies, 
they  seem  to  have  been  neglected,  as  to  their  religious  observance, 
by  the  nonconformists  of  New  England.  In  the  year  1661,  the 
legislature  of  Virginia  incorporated  the  two  last  enactments  with 
their  laws.'"  Besides,  when  any  great  event  transpired  in  England, 
either  joyful  or  sorrowful,  orders  were  received  thence  by  the  colo- 


SEC.  II.]         OBSERVANCE  BY  OTHER  STATES.  597 

nists  of  our  country,  till  the  revolution  of  our  independence,  to 
keep  thanksgivings  or  fasts,  which  was  accordingly  and  pfunctually 
done. 

In  addition,  fasts  and  thanksgivings,  ordered  by  provincial  and 
national  congresses,  have  been  observed  throughout  the  Union. 

Having  thus  cleared  our  way  of  these  more  general  particulars, 
we  will  now  look  at  individual  sections  of  our  republic.  In  none 
of  these  have  the  periodical  fasts  of  New  England  ever  been  ap- 
pointed by  public  authorities.*  Such  occasions  have  been  ob- 
served by  various  denominations  of  dissenters  therein,  whenever 
the  exigencies  of  the  temporal  and  spiritual  condition  of  them- 
selves, or  neighbourhood,  or  country,  seemed  to  require.  Other 
denominations,  who  conform  with  the  rituals  of  their  respective 
churches,  have  had  their  holy  days  in  the  spring  and  winter  and 
other  established  seasons. 

As  to  annual  thanksgivings,  like  those  of  New  England,  the 
only  States  which  are  known  by  the  writer  to  have  had  them  ap- 
pointed by  their  chief  magistrates,  are  New  Jersey,  New  York, 
Michigan,  Ohio,  and  Indiana.  They  have  been  observed  in  New 
Jersey  for  not  less  than  a  half-century.  They  began  to  be  ap- 
pointed by  De  Witt  Clinton  of  New  York,  in  1819,  and  have  been 
so  continuedf  till  the  present  year.  For  ten  years  they  have  been 
kept  in  Michigan ;  for  six  years  in  Ohio  ;  and  for  three  or  four  in 
Indiana.  In  these  States,  we  are  credibly  informed,  that  thanks- 
giving is  less  and  Christmas  more  observed,  in  proportion  to  the 
population,  than  in  New  England.  As  a  substitute  for  thanksgiving, 
in  the  States  which  do  not  keep  it,  are  Christmas  and  other  similar 
seasons.  The  manner  of  observing  these,  as  described  by  Lucian 
Minor,  Esq.,  relative  to  Virginia,  has  a  particular  application  to 
nearly  all  such  States.  His  language  is — "  Christmas,  a  four  days' 
holiday,  maintains  here  its  old  English  character  of  festivity,  being 
the  nearest  resemblance  to  your  November  thanksgiving.  Those 
four  days  and  one  day  each  at  Easter  and  Whitsuntide,  are  the 
only  stated  holidays  among  us,  and  these  are  enjoyed  by  all 
colours  and  conditions,  who  choose,  but  mostly  by  all  of  the  slaves." 

Since  these  remarks  were  made,  in  1841,  for  the  first  edition  of 
this  work,  there  has  been  an  increasing  inclination,  in  our  Re- 

*  The  Dutch  government  of  New  York  appointed  a  fast  to  be  kept  March  4th, 
1643-4,  on  account  of  Indian  troubles;  and  a  thanksgiving  to  be  observed  Sep- 
tember 6th,  1645,  for  restoration  of  peace. 

f  The  Executive  of  New  York  State,  however,  designated  a  general  Fast  for  the 
month  of  April,  1841. 


598  SACRED    SEASONS   OF   THE   PURITANS.      [CHAP.  XXIX. 


public,  for  the  observance  of  annual  thanksgivings.  The  ensuing 
States  were  noted,  as  complying  with  such  a  custom  in  the  years 
which  succeed  them : — Kentucky,  1842  ;  Georgia,  1843  ;  Missouri 
and  Maryland,  1844 ;  Illinois,  1845  ;  Louisiana,  1846  ;  Delaware, 
Pennsylvania,  Mississippi,  Tennessee,  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  Arkansas, 
Florida,  1847.  So  did  the  Territory  of  Oregon  in  the  year  last 
named.  The  cities  of  Charleston,  S.  C,  Savannah,  Mobile,  and 
Washington  kept  a  similar  festival,  1845.  In  1851,  there  were  not 
more  than  three  out  of  our  thirty  States,  who  failed  to  imitate  the 
fathers  of  New  England  in  so  pleasant  and  desirable  a  practice. 

Having  thus  travelled  over  the  diversified  course  of  our  inquiry, 
we  are  reminded  of  the  long-continued  customs,  which  originated 
in  religious  opinions  of  various  shades  and  tendencies.  Whatever 
be  the  forms  or  times  of  worship  associated  with  these  customs,  so 
sacred  a  service — if  dutifully  performed — is  alike  beneficial  in 
promoting  humility  for  our  sinful  deficiencies,  and  gratitute  for  our 
numerous  mercies ;  in  exalting  the  mind  to  God  while  an  inhabit- 
ant of  earth,  and  the  soul  to  heaven,  when  disenthralled  from  its 
clayey  tenement.  Blessed  indeed  ar<)  they  who  so  commune  with 
Him  in  public,  as  to  be  partakers  ef  L>s  sanctifying  presence  in 
private,  and,  hereafter,  to  be  fiHed  with  His  fulness  for  ever. 


INDEX  OF  AUTHORITIES. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    EAKLIEST   AUTHENTIC   NOTICES   OF   THE   PRIMITIVE 
CHRtSTIANS. 

J 1.  Accounts  of  Jewish  and  profane  Authors,  p.  3.3- 

1.  Suetonius,  Vit.  Ner.  c.  16;  Vit.  Claud,  c.  26. 

2.  Annal.  15.  44. 

^  "2.  Christian  Authors,  p.  41. 

1.  Apol.  c.  1.  37. 

2.  Ad  Seap.  c.  2;  Ad  Natione.'!,  i.  c.  8 ;  Adv.  Jud.  c.  7." 

3.  Euseb.  Eccl.  Hist.  iii.  e.  15 :  Epiphan.  Haeres.  27. 

n.  6;  Hieron.  Catal.  Script.  Eccl.  c.  15. 

4.  Epist.  ad  Ephes.  c.  6. 

5.  Ad  Smyrna,  c.  8. 

6.  Ibid.  c.  9. 

7.  Book  ii.  c.  26. 

8.  Book  vi.  c.  16. 

9.  Neander's  Hist.  vol.  ii.  p.  660,  Torrey's  trans. 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  REUOIOUS  LIFE   OF   THE   PRIMITIVE  CHRISTIANS. 

2 1.  The  inward  piety  of  the  Primitive  Christians 
the.  principal  means  of  propagating  their  re- 
ligion, p.  51. 

1.  Apol.  c.  17.  22. 

2.  Tertull.  Apol.  c.  43. 

3.  Justin  Martyr,  Apol.  c.  21. 

4.  Ad  Gels,  lib.'i.  c.  26.  67. 

§  2.  Their  devoted  faith  and  superiariiy  to  suffer- 
ing, p.  53. 

1.  Justin  Mar.  Apol.  c.  8. 

2.  Greg.  Naz.  in  laud  Basil.  Or.  20. 

J  3.  Their  patience  under  injuries,  p.  54. 

1.  TcrtuU.  De  Patientia,  e.  15.  16. 

2.  Cyprian  ad  Demet. 

^  4.  Ttieir  reliance  upon  the  sustaining  power  of 
God,  p.  56. 
1.  Theophil.  Antioch  ad  Autolycum. 
g  5.  Their  reverence  for  the  word  of  God,  p.  57. 

1.  Chrysost.  Horn.  5  in  Gen. 

2.  Rufinus,  lib.  ii.  c.  9. 

3.  Socrates,  Hist.  vii.  c.  22. 

4.  Euseb.  Eccl.  Hist.  viii.  c.  11. 

5.  Eccl.  Hist.  Tui.  c.  13. 

§  6.  Their  prayerfulruss,  p.  58. 

1.  Ilepc  evxji,  B.  c.  12. 

2.  Strom,  vii.  722. 

3.  Tertull.  Apol.  c.  40. 

g  7.  Steadfast  profession  of  their  religion,  p.  60. 

1.  Tertull.  Apol.  c.  4. 

2.  Apol.  c.  8. 

3.  Tertull.  Apol.  c.  1. 

4.  Apol.  c.  21. 

6.  Augustin,  Confess,  viii.  c.  2. 


CHAPTER  in. 

THE   PRUnTTVE  CHRISTIANS  IN  THE   FAMILT. 

g  1.  Their  marriage  relations,  p.  63. 

1.  Ad  Uxor.  ii.  c.  3. 

2.  Ad  Uxor.  ii.  c.  8. 

3.  Tertull.  ad  Uxor.  ii.  c.  4. 

J  2.  Religious  education  of  their  children,  p.  64. 

1.  Chrj'sost.  Horn,  in  John  x. 

2.  Basil.  M.  Orat.  ad  Divites. 

3.  Euseb.  Vit.  Const,  lib.  iv.  c.  51. 

4.  Euseb.  Eccl.  Hist.  vi.  c.  2. 

5.  August.  Conf.  lib.  iii.  c.  11.  12. 

6.  Epist.  ad  Laetam. 

7.  Epist.  ad  Phil. 

g  3.  Of  the  devotional  exercises  of  the  family,  p.  66. 

1.  Athanasius,  A.  D.  330. 

2.  Hilary,  a.  d.  354,  and  Ambrose,  A.  D.  374. 

3.  Maximus  Taurinensis,  A.  D.  422. 

4.  Jerome,  a.  d.  .378. 

5.  Hom.  78  in  Matt. 

6.  Dorner,  Der  Lehre  von  der  Person  Christi,  2te ; 

Auflage.  1.  Thl.  s.  291-2. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

OP   THE   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANS  IN  SOCIAL  LIFE. 

^  1.  Tlie  hospitality  of  the  Primitive  Christians,  p.  68. 

1.  Hieron.  Apol.  in  Rufin. 

2.  Epist.  ad  Cor.  c.  1. 

3.  Greg.  Naz.  Orat.  i.  in  Julian. 

4.  Apol.  c.  39. 

§  2.  Of  the  unity,  peace,  and  love  of  the  Primiiive 
Christians  toward  each  other,  p.  71. 

1.  Apol.  c.  17. 

2.  Apol.  c.  39. 

3.  Mlnucius  Felix.  Apol. 

4.  In  Ps.  52. 

3  3.  Of  the  benevolence  of  the  Primitive  Christians, 
p.  72. 

1.  Justin.  Mar.  Apol.  c.  88. 

2.  Tertull.  Apol.  39. 

3.  1  Epist.  60. 

4.  Cave's  Prim.  Christ,  p.  292. 

5.  Euseb.  Eccl.  Hist.  vi.  c.  43. 

6.  Ibid.  iv.  c.  23. 

7.  Chrysost.  Orat.  19.  p.  298. 

8.  Euseb.  Eccl.  Hist.  vii.  c.  22. 

9.  Euseb.  Eccl.  Hist.  ix.  c.  8. 

2  4.  Of  their  efforts  for  the  propagation  of  Chris 

tianity,  p.  77. 
1.  Epist.  ad  Cor.  c.  55. 

§5.  Of  the  amusements  of  the  Primitive  Christians, 
p!  78. 

1.  Easeb.  Eccl.  Hist.  v.  c  18. 

599 


600 


INDEX   OF   AXJTHOKITIES. 


CHAPTER  V. 

OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHRISTIANS  IN  THEIB  RELATIONS   TO 
THE  GOVERNMENT. 

l\.  Of  their  intercourse  with  society,  p.  81. 
1.  Apol.  c.  42.  43. 

1 2.  0/  their  loyalty  to  governmeTit,  p.  82. 

1.  Justin  Mar.  Apol.  c.  23. 

2.  Apol.  c.  42. 

3.  Apol.  c.  33. 
i.  Apol.  c.  39. 
5.  Apol.  c.  30. 

2  3.  0/ their  military  service,  V- ^3. 

1.  Apol.  c.  5 ;  Ad  Scap.  c.  2. 

2.  Euseb.  Eecl.  Hist.  v.  e.  5. 

3.  Cave's  Prim.  Christ,  part  i.  p.  26. 

ii.  Of  their  honesty  and  intearity  as  good  citizens, 
p.  84. 

1.  Cited  by  Cave,  Prim.  Christ,  part  iii.  c.  1. 

2.  Apol.  c.  8. 

3.  Ad  Scap.  c.  2.  4. 

4.  Athanag.  A.  D.  170 ;  Apol.  c.  2. 

5.  Tertull.  Apol.  c.  44. 

6.  Minucius  Felix,  Apol.  c.  35,  A.  D.  208. 

it).  Of  unlavifvl occupations, p.  85; 

1.  De  Idol.  c.  6. 

2.  Tertull.  Apol.  c.  30.  33.  35. 
8.  Ad  Scap.  c.  2. 

4.  Ep.  61.  ad  Ephichratium. 

{7.  Of  undesigned  encomiums  f rem  enemies,  p.  89. 

1.  Lamprid.  Vit.  Alex.  Sev.  c.  43. 

2.  Cited  by  Neander  and  Bingham  from  Ep.  49. 

and  Fragment.  Eplst. 

CHAPTER  A"I. 

THE  CONSTITUTION   OF   THE  CHURCH   AND  THE   PECC- 
UARITIES   OF  THE  CHRISTIAN   SYSTEM. 

i\.  Of  the  Priesthood  cf  the  Primitive  Christians, 
p.  91. 

1.  Hist.  Torrey's  trans,  vol.  i.  p.  180. 

2.  Dial.  Tryph.  355. 

3.  De  Orat.  c.  28. 

4.  De  Monog.  c.  7. 

5.  Exhortate  ad  Cast.  c.  7. 

6.  Corap.  Donkwiirdigkeiten.  i.  292  et  seq.;  Planck, 

Gesell.  Verfass.  i.  166 ;  \V.  Btihmer,  Alterthum- 
swissenschaft.  i.  73  et  seq. ;  J.  H.  Bohmer,  De 
Jure  Laic.  Sacerdot 

54-  Of  the  indepeTidence  <f  the  Church,  p.  95. 
1.  Apost.  and  Prim.  Church,  c.  2,  Independence  of 
the  Churches:    Mosheim"s    Comment.   Mar- 
dock's  trans,  vol.  i.  p.  196. 

1 5.  Of  Presbyters,  Elders,  Bishops,  p.  95. 
1.  Apost.  and  Prim.  Ch.  c.  vi.  p.  124-245. 

\1.  Of  t)ie  changes  in  the  constitution  nf  the  Chris- 
tian Church  after  the  age  i^f  the  Apostles,  p.  97. 
J.  Introduction  to  Apost.  and  Prim.  Church,  p.  22. 

i  8.  Doctrinal  peouliarities  qf  the  Christian  system, 
p.  99. 

1.  Bellermann's  Yersuch  iiber  die  Gemmen  der 
Alten  mit  dem  Abraxas-Bilde.  i.-iii.  Berlin, 
1817-19.  8.  S.  St.  i.  s.  40-63.  St.  iii.  s.  43,  44. 
Fr.  Munters  Sinnbilder  und  Kunstvorstellun- 
gen  der  Alten  Christen,  i.  u.  ii.  Heft.  Altona. 
1825.  4. 

2   Der  Lehre.  von  den  Pensiri  Christi. 

3.  Kestner's  Agape.  Jena.  1819.  8.  u.  Zugabe,  S.  556 
et  seq. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

NAMES  AND  CLASSES   OF   CURISHANS. 

iX.Ofthe  appellations  and  names  assumed  by 
Christians,  p.  101. 
1.  J.  H.  Bbhmer's  Entwurf  des  Kirchenstaats  der 
ersteu  drey  Jahrhunderte.  Hal.  1733.  8;  Dis- 


sertationes  xii.  juris  ecclesiastic!  antiqni.  Lip.i. 
1711.  8 ;  Zieglers  Versuch  einer  pragmat. 
Geschichte  der  Kirchliihen  Verfassung.s-For- 
men  in  den  ersten  vi.  Jahrb.  d.  Kirehe  Leipz. 
1798.  8;  Planck's  Geschichte  der  Entstehung 
u.  Ausbildung  der  Chr.  Kirchlichen  Gesell- 
schafts-VerCissung,  Th.  1-5.  Hannov.  1803- 
1805.  8;  Herm.  SchoUiner,  De  magistratuunj 
eccl.  origine  et  creatione,  1754.  4 ;  Jo.  Fr.  Bud- 
der,  Exercit.  de  origine  dignitate  et  usu  noml- 
nis  Christian!.  Jen.  1711.  4.  S.  Ejnsd.  Synt. 
Dissert.  Theolog.  p.  385  et  seq. 

2.  Tacitus,  Annal.  lib.  xv.  e.  44. 

3.  Suetonius,  Vita  Claudii,  c.  25. 

4.  Euseb.  Hist.  Eccles.  lib.  v.  c.  1. 

5.  Chrysost.  Horn.  46.  torn.  i.  p.  532.  ed.  franc. 

6.  Greg.  Naz.  Orat.  31.  p.  506. 

7.  Epiphanius  Hseres.  42.  p.  366.  ed.  Pet. 

8.  Clemens  Alex.  Strom.  7.  p.  748.  Compare  Pear- 

sonii  Vindic.  Ignat  part  ii.  c.  12. 

9.  Tertull.  De  Bap.  c.  1 ;  De  Resurr.  c.  52 :  Optat. 

Contr.  Parmen.  lib.  iii.  p.  62 ;  Ignat.  part  ii.  c.  12. 

52.  Of  Barnes  qf  reproach  and  derision  conferred 
on  Christians  by  Umr  enemies,  p.  106. 

1.  Suetonius,  Vita  Nero.  c.  16. 

2.  Epiphan.  Hseres.  29.  n.  1.  9  ;  Hieron.  Comment- 

in  Isa.  xlix ;  Prudent.  Peristeph.  Carm.v.  25-26k 
Hymn.  10  de  Rom.  Mart.  5.  41. 

3.  Greg.  Naz.  Orat.  3.  p.  81.  Socrat.  h.  e.  3.  c.  12. 

4.  Theodoret,  h.  e.  3.  c.  21. 

5.  Hieron.  ep.  10.  ad.  Fur. 

6.  Grig,  contra  Cels.  lib.i.  p.  30;  Amob.  DLsputat. 

1 ;  Kortholt's  Abhandlung.  p.  474  et  seq. 

7.  Orig.  contra  Celsum,  lib.  v.  p.  272  et  seq.;  Ter- 

tull. ad  Nation,  lib.  ii.  c.  12. 

8.  Tertull.  Apologet.  c.  50. 

9.  Lactantius,  Instit.  9. 

10.  Euseb.  h.  e.  lib.  iv.  c.  15;  Justin  Mar.  Apol.  i- 

p.47. 

11.  Arnob.  Disp.  adv.  Gent.  1.  71 ;  Prudent.  Hymn, 

10.  14.  404  et  seq.;  Tertull.  ad  Nat.  1.  8. 

12.  Tertull.  Apol.  c.  16 ;  Ad  Nat.  1.  7. 12 ;  August. 

Ep.  44. 

13.  Minuc.  Fel.  Octav.  c  14. 

14.  Plutarch,  Sympos.  lib.  iv.  qusest.  5 ;  Joseph,  c. 

Apion,  2.  10. 

13.  Qf  the  distinction  between  the  Clergy  and  the 
Laity,  p.  107. 

1.  De  Monogam.  c.  12. 

2.  Eccl.  Hist.  lib.  v.  c.  1-3. 

3.  Denkwurdigkeiten,  vol.  i.  p.  427. 

J  4.  Of  the  baptized,  p.  109. 

1.  Cyril,  Hierosol.  Procatech.  et  Catech.  mystagog. 

5  et  seq. 

2.  S.  Coneil.  Ancyr.  e.  4. 5 ;  Dionys.  Areop.  de  Hier. 
Eccl.  c.  3. 

3.  Bohmer,  Jns.  Eccl.  Protest,  tom.  i.  p.  269  et  seq. 

4.  Apost.  Const,  viii.  c.  4. 

5.  Apost.  and  Prim.  Ch.  c.  4.  elections  by  the  Ch. 

p.  52-86. 

6.  Clem,  ad  Con.  c.  54.  Comp.  c.  44. 

7.  Apost.  and  Prim.  Ch.  c.  v.  p.  87-123. 

8.  Gesell.  Yerfass.  i.  180. 129-40.  508. 

i  5.  Of  Ascetics,  Coenobites,  Monks,  Praiemities, 
p.  113. 

1.  Jerome,  Yit.  S.  Paul,  Ep.  ad  Paul,  de  instit. 

Monach.  Comp.  also  Barcepha,  De  Syris  Jlono- 
phvs.  in  Assemani,  Bibl.  Or.  tom.  iii.  part  ii. 
p.  861. 

2.  Cjp.  Ep.  62.  al.  4.  ad  Pompon. 

3.  Assemani,  Bibl.  Or.  tom.  iii.  part  ii.  p.  857.  torn. 

i.  p.  28.  138. 

4.  Cod.  Theodos.  lib.  xi.  tit.  30,  1.  57. 

5.  Socrat.  h.  e.  lib.  iv.  c.  23. 

6.  Assemani.  Bibl.  Or.  tom.  iii.  part  ii  p.  857. 

7.  Regul.  S.  Bened.  c.  i. 

8.  Bingham's  Ant.  bk.  viii.  sec.  5. 

9.  Euseb.  h.  e.  vi.  c.  11. 

10.  Clemens  Alex.  tr.  quis.  di>.  salv.  n.3& 

11.  Mceph.Hist.  lib.  xv.  c.  23. 


INDEX    OF   AUTHORITIES. 


601 


12.  Sozomen,  h.  e.  yi.  c.  33;  Evagr.  i.  c.  21. 

13.  Ju.stin,  Novel,  v.  c.  3 ;  Suicer,  Thesaurus. 

14.  Pallad.  Hist.  Laus.  c.  15. 

15.  Binglumi,  bk.  Tiii.  see.  13;  Jlosheim,  Tol.iv. ; 

Athanus,  ep.  ad  Draoant;  Augustin  de 
Hiieres.  c.  40;  Ilieron.  Vita  Hilar,  c.  19;  Du 
Gauge,  Glossar.  art.  Fraternitas. 

IT.  Of  Cataahwmens,  p.  117. 

1.  Tertull.  De  Bap.  c.  18 ;  Augustin,  Confess,  lib. 

i.  c.  11.  lib.  vi.  c.  1. 

2.  Augustin,  Confess,  lib.  xii.  c.  6.  Ep.  147.  c.  52 ; 

Posiilii,  Vit.  Augus.  c.  1.  p.  165. 

3.  Con.etitut.  Apostol.  lib.  viii.  c.  32. 

4.  Illiber.  c.  42.  A.  D.  673. 

5.  Agath.  c.  .34.  A.  D.  506. 

6.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  Cateches.  1.  n.  5 ;  Jerome, 

Ep.  61.  ad  I'ammach.  3.  4. 

7.  Socrates,  h.  e.  lib.  vii.  c.  30;  Basil  M.  Ep.  1S6; 

Epiphan.  haeres.  28.  n.  6. 

8.  Balsamon,  not.  in  Concil.  Neocassar.  c.  5 ;  Cave, 

Prim.  Chris,  i.  c.  8. 

9.  Suicer,  Thesaurus. 

10.  Maklonatus,  De  Bap.  c.  i.  p.  78  et  seq. 

11.  Bingham,  Christ.  Antiq.  vol.  iv.  p.  17. 

12.  Constitut.  Apos.  1.  8.  c.  6-8;   Concil.  Arelat.  i. 

c.  6;  Illiber.  c.  39 ;  Euseb.  Vit.  Const.  M.  iv. 
61;  Sulpic.  Sever.  Vit.  Martin.  Turoa.  Dial, 
c.  5. 

13.  Marci.  Vita  Porphyrii.  in  Baronii.  Annal.  ad  a. 

400. 

14.  Edm.  Martene,  De  Antiq.  Ecel.  vit.  tom.  i.  26 

et  seq. ;  J.  Al.  Assemani,  Cod.  liturg.  tom.  i. 
c.l. 

15.  Cone.  Nice.  c.  14;  Illiberit.  e.  11. 

16.  Cyp.  ep.  73.  57;  Euseb.  h.  e.  vi.  4;  August.  De 

Bap.  iv.  2;  Greg.  Naz.  Orat.  39 ;  Origen.  Tract. 
12.  in  Math.  p.  85 ;  Cyril.  Hierosol.  Catech.  iii. 
n.  10. 

17.  August.  De  peccator.  merit,  lib.  ii.  e.  26 ;  lib.  i. 

c.  11. 

18.  Bingham,  bk.  x.  sec.  16;  Bona,  Rer.  Liturg.  lib. 

i.  c.  16.  n.  3;  Basnage,  Exercit.  Critic,  iu  Ba- 
ron, p.  487. 

J  8.  Of  Eneroumens,  or  Demoniacs,  p.  124. 

1.  Concil.  Illiberit.  c.  37 ;  Arausic.  i.  c.  14. 

2.  Pellicia,  De  eh.  eccl.  polit.  tom.  1.  ed.  Patter,  p. 

504  et  seq. 

3.  Justin  Mar.  ii.  c^  6.  eju.sd.  dial,  cum  Tryphone 

Judseo.  c.  39.  p.  136.  c.  82.  p.  179.  ed.  Beued. ; 
Irenaius  adv.  Haeres.  1.  ii.  c.  31.  56;  1.  v.  c.  6. 
et  apud  Euseb.  h.  e.  1.  v.  c.  7 ;  Tertull.  Apolog. 
c.  23.  27.32.  37  ;  ad  Seapul.  c.  2;  Origen.  oontr. 
Cels.  1.  i.  p.  7. 1.  vii.  p.  334.  ed.  Spene.:  Dionys. 
ap.  Euseb.  h.  e.  1.  vi.  c.  4U;  Minucius  Felix. 
Octav.  p.  361.  ed.  Paris.  1605 ;  Cyprian  de  idol, 
vanitate.  p.  14.  ad  Demetrian.  p.  191.  ed.  Brem. 

CHAPTER  Vni. 

OF  THE  SITPERIOR  ORDERS   OF   THE  CLERGY. 

§  1.  Prdiminari/  remarks,  p.  126. 

1.  De  PriBscrip.  advrs.  Ilairet.  c.  42. 

2.  Ep.  .34.  35. 

3.  Eccl.  Hist.  vi.  c.  43. 

4.  In  Es.  c.  3 ;  Epist.  ad  Rustic,  part  i.  dist.  93.  c.  24 ; 

Buret,  part  ii.  caus.  16.  quaest.  i.  c.  7. 

5.  Cyp.  Epist.  9  et  20. 

6.  Eu.'-eb.  Eccl.  lILst.  lib.  vi.  c.  43. 

7.  Chry.io.'ftom,  Horn.  67.  in  Math. ;  Comp.  Julian, 
^    Epist.  ad  Arsac. 

?  2.  Of  Bisfwps,  p.  130. 

1.  Justin  Mar.  Apolog.  ii. ;  Euseb.  h.  e.  vi.  c.  3.  8. 

vii.  c.  13;  Basil.  M.  Horn,  in  Ps.  xxviii. ;  Cyp. 
ep.  3.  9. 

2.  Eu.ieb.  Vit.  Con.st.  lib.  ii.  c.  2;  Hist.  Eccl.  lib. 

viii.  c.  2;  Tertull.  Apol.  c.  39;  De  Cor.  Mil.  c. 
3;  Cyp.cp.72. 

3.  Comment,  in  Phil.  i.  1 ;  1  Tim.  iii.  1. 

i.  Cyp.  ep.  55.  69.  42;  August,  in  Ps.  xlv.  16. 


Tobit,  vi.  14 ;  Lib.  Enoch,  in  Gr.ibe,  Spicil.  i.  p. 

347 ;  Testament,  xii.  Patr.  Vei.  Grabe,  i.  p. 

150:  Joseph,  .\ntiq.  lib.  i.  c.  4;  Philo  de  Gi- 

gant.  p.  284 :  Justin  Mar.  et  Apolog.  min.  p. 44; 

Iron.  adv.  Ha-r.  iv.  16.  36;  Clem.  Al.  Psedag. 

iii.  2. 
De  Pudicit.  c.  13. 
Ep.  3.    Comp.  Euseb.  e.  h.  c.  7. 
Schrtickh's  K.  Gesch.  Th.  vui.  s.  124;  Th.  xvii. 

p.  23.  24  ;  Siricius,  Epist.  ad  Orthod.  prov. 
Cyp.  ep.  63.  55.  59 ;  Basil  M.  Constit.  Men.  c.  22. 
Apolog.  ii.  p.  67. 

Constitut.  Apost.  lib.  viii.  c.  12.  13  et  seq. 
Concil.  Trullan.  c.  19;  Concil.  Mogunt.  i.  c.  2; 

Ludovici.  Pii.  Capitul.  i.  a.  SIG.  c.  23  et  seq. 
Concil.  Trident,  sess.  5.  c.  2.  sess.  24.  c.  4. 
Theodoret.  Eccl.  Hist.  lib.  5.  c.  17 ;  Soc.  Eccl. 

Hist.  lib.  7.  c.  13. 
Concil.  Neocaesar,  A.  D.  314.  c.  11 ;  Agath.  A.  r. 

506.  c.  17. 

S3.  Of  the  Inferior  Bishops,  V- '^3^- 

Bingham's  Antiq.  bk.  ii.  c.  14. 

Ant.  Diirr.  Dissert,  de  Suifraganeis  seu  Vicariis 
in  Pontificalibus  Episcoporum  Germanise.  Biu- 
terim.  s.  384  et  seq. 

Concil.  Neoca?sar.  c.  13. 

Concil.  Antioch.  c.  8. 

ConcU.  Chalcedon. 

Athanas.  Apolog.  ii.  0pp.  tom.  i.  p.  802.  vgL  Con- 
cil. Nic. :  also  Binterim.  s.  4<J4. 
.  Capit.  Caroli.  M.  lib.  7.  c.  187. 

Concil.  Germ.  tom.  ii.  p.  092. 

Gregor.  M.  Epist.  lib.  iii.  ep.  2:  Johann.  ii.  ad 
Episc.  Galliae.  ep.  3.  Ge.  Zeltner  de  Theologo. 
circuitore  seu  -repioScvrais. 

1 4.  Ofilie  Superior  Bishops,  p.  142. 

Comp.  Concil.  Chaleed.  c.  30;  Concil.  Chalced. 

Act.  iv.  p.  471 ;  Act.  xvl.  p.  818. 
Apol.  11.  c.  Ar.  p.  791. 
Eccl.  Hist.  iv.  c.  23. 
Eccl.  Hist.  V.  23. 

Concil.  Antioch.  c.  7;  Sardic.  c.  6. 
Apost.  and  Prim.  Ch.  c.  ix.  p.  280-308. 
Bingham's  Antiq.  bk.  ii.  c.  18. 
Hieron.  Rubei.  Hist.  Ravennat.  lib.  4.  p.  209. 
Bingham's  Antiq.  bk.  iii.  c.  17.   Comp.  also  Sal- 

masius,  Petavius.  .'^chelstrate,  Richerius,  etc. 
Ilieron.  ep.  54.  ad  Marcell.  adv.  Mont. 
Concil.  Nicen.  c.  6.  7;  Constant,  i.  c.  2.  5;  Epe- 

sen.  Act.  7. 

2  6.  Q/"  Presbyters  or  Elders,  p.  148. 

Apost.  and  Prim.  Ch.  c.  vi.  p.  125-245. 

Apol.  i.  c.  65. 

Clem,  of  Alex.  Stromat.  lib.  vii. 

Institut.  Juris.  Canon.  lib.  i.  Tit.  21.  g  3. 

Ep.  ii.  ad  Nep.  vgl.  Dial.  c.  Lucif. 

ConcU.  Carthag.  4.  c.  3.  4:  Constit.  Eccl.  Alex. 

c.  8;  Decret.  Gratiani.  dist.  2:1  c.  8. 
Chrysost.  de  Sacerd.  lib.  iii.  c.  1-6.  c.  4;  Homil. 

4.  in  Jes.  Hom.  15.  in  2  Cor. 
Constitut.  Ap.  8.  c.  9.  10.  11 :  Chrysost.  tom.  ii. 

p.  57  ;  Concil.  Milevit.  c.  12. 
Cyp.  ep.  33.  (al  38.)  6.  (al  14.)  46.  (al  49.)  24.  (al 

29.)  55.  (al  59:)  Ba.sil.  M.  ep.  .319;  Epiphan. 

IL-er.  57. 1 1.  69.  g  3.  Chrysost.  de  Sacerd.  Ub. 

iii.  c.  5. 
Euseb.  e.  h.  lib.  vi.  c.  43.  vii.  c.  2S.  30;  Concil. 

Illiber.  c.  36;  Concil.  Arlet.  i.:  Concil.  Tolet. 

i. ;  Concil.  Bracar.  ii. ;  Chalcedon.  Nic.  c.  ii. 
Leo.  M.  Epist.  92.  c.  1. 
Irenicum.  p.  273  et  seq. 
Concil.  Neocaesar.  c.  13. 
Socrat.  Hist.  Eccl.  lib.  vi.  c.  9. 
Sozomen.  h.  e.  lib.  viii.  c.  12. 
Ep.  4.  ad  Rustic. 
Orat.  20;  Concil.  Chalcedon,  c.  14;  IjCOn.  M. 

Ep.  ad  Don.  etc. 
Codin.  de  Ollic.  .M.  Eccl 
Cyp.  Epist.  6. 14.  23 ;  Epiph.  Uaeros.  57.  no.  1. 


602 


INDEX    OF    AUTHORITIES. 


20.  Socratps.  h.  e.  vi.  9.  comp.  Sozomeniis,  Hist. 

Eccl.  viii.  12. 

21.  BciUmer's  Alterthums.  i.  p.  252. 

17.  O/RuUno  Elders,  p.  161. 

1.  TertuU.  Apol.  c.  39. 

2.  Origcn.  Horn.  11.  in  Ex. 

3.  Cyp.  Ep.  24.  ad  Clerum. 

4.  Eu.«eb.  Kcd.  Hist,  7.  c.  24. 

5.  August.  Epist.  78.  al.  137  ;  Com.  2.  in  Ps.  36. 

6.  Optatus  Jlelev.  de  Schism.  Donat.  ed  Dupin.  p. 

1U9. 

5  8.  Of  Deacons,  p.  16.3. 

1.  De   Rebu.s   Christianis  ante  Const.  M.  p.  118. 

coll.  p.  139. 

2.  Comment,  in  Act.  Apost.  c.  vl. 

3.  Neaniler.   Gesch.  Ptiautz.   Kii-cb.  i.  s.  41.  46. 

Comp.  66.  197.  199;   Bp.  White's  Memoirs,  p. 
365. 

4.  Vgl.  Hienrick's  Ep.  ad  Timoth.  p.  15.  p.  5.5-57. 
6.  Ignatius  Ep.  ad  Trail.  ^ 2.  ad  Smyrn.  g  8  Magnes. 

I  6 :  Polytarp.  ad  Phil.  ^  5. 

6.  Zieglerde  iJiaconi.s;  Thomassin,  Binterim,  etc. 

7.  Apost.  Con.st.  lib.  ii.  c.  44.  c.  30. 

8.  Concil.  Nice.  18. 

9.  Conril.  Cartha^.  iv.  o.  37. 

10.  Agath.  c.  16.  17  :  Tolct.  i v.  c.  89 ;  Arelat.  iii.  c.  1 ; 

Braear.  iii.  o.  5;  I.sidorc.  Hi.=p.  lib.  ii.  c.  12. 

11.  Sicgcra  Haudbuch.  i.  p.  142  et  seq.  comp.  Au- 

gusti.  Ilamlbuch.  i.  p.  244  et  seq. 

12.  Sozom.  lib.  vii.  c.  19;  Alexand.  ep.  Enegeb.  ap. 

Theod.  lib.  i.  c.  4;  Justin,  Novell,  iii.  c.  1. 

13.  Euseb.  Hist.  lib.  vi.  43. 

14.  Sozomen.  Ec<;l.  Hist.  lib.  vii.c.  4.3. 

15.  Concil.  Turon.  I.e.  1.  2. 

16.  Con.stitut.  Apost.  viii.  c.  28;  Concil.  \ic.  c.  18; 

Arelat.  i.  c.  15  ;  Ancyra.  c.  2;  Hierou.  ep.  85, 
ad  Evagr. 

17.  Con.stitut.  Apost.  viii.  c.  18 ;  Sozom.  Eccl.  Hist. 

7.  c.  19. 

18.  Apol.  i.  (al  ii.)  ?  65.  p.  220.  ed  Oberth. 

19.  Con.stitut.  Apost.  viii.  c.  18. 

20.  Cyp.  ep.  9.  (al  10.)  p.  37 ;  Hieron.  Comment,  in 

Ezekiel.  xviii. 

21.  August.  qu.Tst.  5.  et  N.  T.  qua>st.  6. 

22.  Constitut.  Apost.  ii.c.  57;  Hieron.  ep.  57;  Con- 

cil. Va.'ien.se.  ii.  c.  2. 

23.  Sozom.  h.  e.  lib.  vii.  c.  19. 

24.  Constitut.  Apost.  viii.  c.  5.  6.  10:    Chrysost. 

Horn.  xvii.  in  lleb.  ix.;  Horn.  ii.  in  1  Cor. 

25.  Comment,  in  Ephes.  c.  iv. 

26.  Tertull.de  Bap.  c.  17;  Cyril.  Hieros.  Catech. 

17.  §  17;  Hier.  contr.  Lucif.  c.  4;  Concil.  llli- 
berit.  c.  77. 

27.  Constitut.  Apost.  ii.  c.  44. 

28.  Epiph.  Hivreg.  85.  g  5. 

29.  Apost.  Const,  lib.  iii.  c.  19. 

5  9.  Of  Deacmiessts,  p.  171. 

1.  Tertull.  de  Veland.  Virgin,  c.  9;  Constit.  Apost. 

lib.  iii.c.  1 :  Ba-sil.  M.  c.  24;  Sozom.  Hist.  Eccl. 
lib.  vii.  c.  16. ;  Codex.  Theod.  lib.  xvi. 

2.  Sozom.  Hist.  Eccl.  lib.  viii.  c.  9 ;  Concil.  Chalce- 

don.  c.  14.  (b1  15.) 

3.  Tertull.  de  Veland.  Virgin,  c.  9. 

4.  Constit.  Apost.  lib.  vi.  c.  18 ;  Epiphanius,  ex- 

pos fid.  c.  21 ;  Justin  Mar.  vi.  c.  6;  Binterim. 

8.  4.35-7. 

5.  Clemens  Alex.  Strom.  7.  395. 

6.  Constit.  Apost.  lib.  viii.  c.  19 ;  Concil.  Chalce- 

don.  c.  15;  TruUan.  c.  14.  e.  40. 

7.  Concil.  Nic.  c.  19;  lAodic.  c.  11. 

8.  Constitut.  Apost.  lib.  viii.  c.  28.  lib.  ii.  c.  26.  57. 

68.  lib.  iii.  7. 

9.  Tertull.  Ue  Bap.  17. 

10.  De  Virg.  vel.  c.  9. 

11.  Cbi-ysost.  De  .Saoerd.  lib.  ii. 
12   Constitut.  Apost.  lib.  iii.  c.  9. 

510.   Of  Archdeacons,  ^.YJi. 

1.  Theodoret.  Hist.  Eccl.  lib.  i.  c.  26. 

2,  Hier.  Comment.  Ezech.  48.  0pp.  torn.  v.  479. 


3.  Photii.  Bibl.  cod.  182.  torn.  i.  p.  127 ;  cod.  225. 

226. 

4.  Concil.  Aurel.  jv.  c.  26;  Chaleed.  act.  10. 

5.  Hincmar.  Khem.  Capit.  ad  Gunethar  et  Odelph. 

6.  Decret.  Gratiani.  25.  c.  1 ;  Gregor.  Deere t.  lib.  i. 

tit.  xxiv.  c.  1;  Concil.  Tolet.  viii. 

7.  Vgl.  Lampert.  Hist.  Metens.  lib.  iv.  c.  95  ;  Con- 

cil. Lateran.  p.  24.  c.  4;  Harduiu.  tom.  vi.  part 
ii.  p.  1798. 

1 11.  Of  Suhdeuams,  p.  177. 

1.  Ep.  20.  29.  34.  35.  40.  78.  79. 

2.  Baumgartcn  Erlaut.  d.  ch.  Alterth.  s.  123;  Con* 

stit.  ,\post.  lib.  viii.  c.  21. 

3.  Basil  M.  Ep.  Can.  51;  Concil.  Carth.  iv.  c.  5. 

4.  Coucil.  Trident,  sess.  xxiii.  e.  2. 

5.  Constit.  Apost.  viii.  c.  11;  Concil.  Laodic.  21. 

22.  25;  Euseb.  Hist.  Eccl.  x.  c.  4;  Cyp.  ep.  24. 
29. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

OP  THE  INFERIOR  ORDERS  OF  THE  CLERGY,  SUBORDI- 
NATE SERVANTS,  AND  EXTRAORDIN.UIY  OFnCERS  OF 
THE  CHURCH. 

Jl.  0/iJead€rs,  p.  179. 

1.  Cyp.  ep.  24.  al  29.  ep.  33.  al  38. 

2.  Socrat.  h.  e.  lib.  iii.  c.  1 ;  Sozomen.  h.  ei  lib.  v. 

c.  2. 

3.  Apost.  Constit.  viii.  c.  22. 

4.  Chrysost.  Hom.  in  John  xxviii. 

1 2.  Of  Precentors,  Singers,  p.  182. 

1.  Concil.  Laodic.  c.  16.  59. 17 ;  Rat.  Div.  Offlc.  lib. 

ii.  c.  1.  c.  3. 

2.  Bingham's  Antiq.  bk.  iii.  c.  7 ;  Siegel,  Hand- 

buch.  ii.  p.  206. 

3.  Justin,  Novell.  3.  c.  1. 

4.  Ojmp.  c.  xvi.  and  Prim.  Ch.  c.  xii. 

§  3.  Of  Ac'Ayths,  Acolythists,  w  Acolytes,  p.  184. 

1.  Vit.  Con.stit.  M.  lib.  iU.  c.  8;  Concil.  Carthag.4. 

c.  6;  Cyp.  ep.  7.  34.  52.  59.  77.  etc. 

2.  Concil.  Carthag.  4.  c.  6. 

3.  Cyp.  Epis.  78.  79. 

Ii.  Of  Ostiarii, or  Doorkeepers,  p.  185. 

1.  Alcuinus,  de  Div.  0pp.  p.  269;  Stat.  Can.  Cler. 

tom.  iii. 

2.  Binterim.  s.  311. 


?5. 


Oft/te  subordinate  Servants  of  the  Church  and 
of  the  Clergy,  p.  186. 

1.  Epiphan.  Exposit.  Fid.  c.  21. 

2.  Hieron.  de  Sept.  Ordin.  Eccl. 

3.  Augustin.  c.  Crescent,  lib.  iii.  c.  21. 

4.  Justin  Novell.  2.  3.  49. 

5.  Cod.  Justin,  lib.  i.  lit.  2. 1. 4.  xi.  lit.  17 ;  Ood.  Theo- 

dos.  V  .  tit.  33.  1.  i. 

6.  Socrat.  h.  c.  lib.  vii.  c.  22. 

7.  Cfxl.  The(Xlos.  lib.  xvi.  tit.  2. 1.  42.  43;  Cod.  Ju.«- 

tin.  lib.  i.  tit.  3.  1.  18;  Coll.  Constit.  Eccl.  Ub. 
i.  tit.  3.  c.  IS;  Concil.  Chaleed.  Act.  i. 

8.  Du  Cajige.  Medicas  Latinitatis  ;  Durandi  ration. 

div.  off.  lib.  ii.  c.  1.  n.  14. 

9.  Ceremon.  Rom.  lib.  i.  sec.  2 ;  Mabillon.  Mu6. 

Ital.  tom.  ii.  p.  531. 

\&.  Of  Officers  </  the,  Church  not  belonging  to  the 
Clergy,  p.  187. 

1.  Euseb.  h.  e.  lib.  vi.  c.  26 ;  Socrat.  h.  e.  lib.  vi.  c. 

5.  vii.  c.  2;  Sozomen.  h.  e.  lib.  vii.  c.  41.  viii.  c. 
27. 

2.  Tertull.  ad  Scapul.c.4:  Cyp.  ep.  12. 

3.  Euseb.  h.  c.  lib.  vii.  c.  29 ;  Socrat.  h.  e.  lib.  ii.  c. 

30 ;  Concil.  Eph.  Act.  i. ;  Concil.  Chaleed.  Act.  i. 

4.  Leon.  M.  ep.  10. 15.  23;  Gregor.  M.  ep.  lib.  i.  ep. 

10.  34. 

5.  Goar.  ad  Cotlin.  p.  5. 12. 

6.  Hincman  Rhemensis.  ad  Proceres  Regni.  c.  12; 

Du  Cange,  Glossar.  A.  E.  Klausing  de  Syncel- 
lis. 

7.  S.  Cedreni.  Hist.  536.  593.  602.  624;  Goari  Prsef. 


INDEX   OF   AUTHORITIES. 


603 


ad  Georg.  Syncellum.  edit.  Niebuhr,  vol.  ii.  p. 
55-57 . 

8.  Capitul.  Caroli  M.  lib.  v.  c.  174 ;  Concil.  Paris, 

A.  D.  829.  c.  20.  21 ;  Concil.  Londin.  a.  d.  11U2. 
c.  1. 

9.  De  Syncellis.  p.  10.  g  4. 

5  7.  Of  Occasional  Officers  qf  the  Cliureh,  p.  190. 

1.  Cyp.  Epist.  23.  al.  24. 

2.  Apol.  Minuc.  Fel.  45.  (Ben.  ii.  6.  p.  93.) 

3.  Adv.  Hseres.  ii.  57.  (Ben.  ii.  32.  4.  166  a.) 

4.  Ad.  Scapulam.  4.  comp.  Apol.  23.  27.  32.  37; 

Cyp.  De  Idol.  Van.  p.  14 ;  Ad  Demetrian,  p. 
191.  ed.  Bren. 

CHAPTER  X. 

OF  ELECTIONS   TO  ECCLESIASTICAL  OFFICES. 

1 1.  Of  Election  fry  lot,  p.  195; 
1.  Comment.  Murdock"s  trans,  vol.  i.  p.  102-4. 

1 2.  Of  Elections  by  vote  qfthe  Church,  p.  195. 

1.  Chrysost.  Horn,  ad  locum. 

2.  Comp.  Neander's  Hist.  i.  p.  189,  Torrey's  trans. 

3.  Cyp.  ep.  68. 

4.  Epist.  52.  p.  120. 

5.  Orat.  de  Corona,  g  74.  77 ;  Comp.  ?  9.  42. 49.  55. 

6.  Lampridius,  A"it.  Alexandri  Severi. 

7.  Greg.  Naz.  Orat.  21.  torn.  i.  p.  377. 

8.  Greg.  Xaz.  Orat.  19.  tom.  i.  p.  308. 

9.  Paulin.  Vit.  Ambros.  Rufin.  h.  e.  lib.  ii.  c.  11 ; 

Theodoret,  h.  e.  lib.  iv.  c.  67 ;  Sozomen,  h.  e. 
6.  c.  24. 

10.  Sulpie.  Sev.  Vit.  S.  Martini. 

11.  Theodoret,  h.  e.  lib.  i.  c.  7. 

12.  Socrat.  h.  e.  6.  c.  2. 

13.  August.  Epist.  110. 

14.  Theodoret.  h.  e.  lib.  ii.  e.  31.  32. 

15.  Apo.'^t.  Constit.  viii.  c.  4. 

16.  Concil.  Arelat.  A.  D.  452.  c.  54;  Barcin.  c.  3: 

Pbilostorg.  h.  e.  9.  c.  13;  Greg.  Naz.  Orat.  21. 

17.  Apost.  Constit.  lib.  viii.  c.  4. 

18.  Amlirose,  De  Dignit.  Sacerdot.  &  5. ;  August,  ep. 

110. 

19.  De  Sacerdot.  lib.  iii.  c.  15. 

?  3.  Of  Restrictions  qfthe  Elections,  p.  199. 

1.  Symmachus,  ep.  5.  c.  6. 

2.  Ju.stinian.  6:  Novell.  123.  c.  1.  137.  c.  2;  Cod. 

Justin,  lib.  i.  tit.  3  ;  De  Episcop.  leg.  42. 

3.  Concil.  Tolet.  12.  A.  D.  681;  Greg.  Naz.  Orat.  21. 

4.  Thomassini,  Eccl.  Discipl.  part  ii.  lib.  ii.  c.  1-42. 

5.  Concil.  Nicen.  ii.  A.  d.  787.  c.  3;   CEcum.  viii. 

A.  D.  871.  c.  22. 

S  4.  Q/"  certain  unusual  forms  (f  Election,  p.  201. 

1.  Hom.  Quis  dives  salvus.  in  Euseb.  lib.  iii.  c.  23. 

2.  Exiseb.  h.  e.  lib.  vi.  c.  11.  c.  29;  Sozomen,  h.  e. 

lib.  ii.  c.  17 ;  Sulpie.  Sec.  Vit.  S.  Martini,  c.  7 ; 
Cyp.  ep.  .34.  fal  39.)  33.  (al  38.)  35.  (al  40.) 

3.  S.  Gregor.  Nys-^en.  Vit.  Gregor.  Thaumat.  0pp. 

tom.  iii.  p.  561-2. 

4.  Socrat.  b.  e.  lib.  i.  c.  19;  Theodoret,  1.  c.  23; 

Kufin.  h.  e.  lib.  i.  c.  9. 

5.  Sozomen.  h.  e.  lib.  ii.  c.  17.  c.  20.  viii.  c.  2 :  Theo- 

doret, iv.  c.  26;  Socrat.  vii.  e.  46;  Aujrust.  ep. 
10 ;  Possid.  Vit.  Aug.  c.  8 ;  Gratian.  in  c.  12. 
c.  17.  qu.  i. 

6.  Sozomen,  h.  e.  lib.  ii.  c.  17. 

5.  Of  Church  Patronage,  p.  202. 

1.  Lud.  Thomas.«ini  de  Discipl.  Eccl.  part  ii.  lib.  i. 

c.  29—32.  edit.  Mognut.  torn.  iv.  p.  150  et  .seq.; 
J.  H.  Bohmer,  Jus.  Eccl.  Protest,  tom.  iii.  p. 
462  et  seq. ;  Chr.  W.  Kindleben  iiber  den  Ur- 
sprung,  Nutzen  und  die  Mis.sbrauche  des 
Kirchen-Patronats.  Berlin,  1776.8;  Geschichte 
des  Patronatrechtes  in  den  K.  Teutschland, 
ISOH.  8. 

2.  Comp.  Paulin.  Epist.  32.  carm.  12.  24. 

3.  Chrysost.  Hom.  18.  in  Act.  Apost.  0pp.  tom.  ix. 

p.  174.  ed.  Franc. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

OF   ORDINATION. 

i2.  Of  Disqualifications  and  Qualifications  for 
Ordination,  p.  206. 

1.  Constit.  Apost.  lib.  iii.  c.  9;  Tertull.  de  Prpe- 

script.  IIa?r.  c.  41 ;  De  Bapt.  c.  17 ;  Epiphan. 
H»r.  79.  n.  3.  4.  69.  n.  2. 

2.  Constit.  Apost.  lib.  viii.  c.  19 ;  Concil.  Chalced. 

c.  15  ;  Trullan.  c.  14.  40 ;  Sozomen,  h.  e.  lib. 
viii.  c.  9. 

3.  Concil.  Araus.  c.  26 :  Epaon.  c.  21 ;  Aurel.  ii.  c.  18. 

4.  Canon.  Apost.  c.  61 ;  Concil.  Neocaesar.  c.  89 ; 

Nieen.  c.  2;  Illiberit.  c.  30;  Origen  contra 
Cels.  lib.  iii.  p.  142. 

5.  Concil.  Ancyr.  c.  11. 

6.  Ep.  xxiii.  c.  4.  comp.  ep.  iv.  c.  3.  ii.  c.  2 ;  Tho- 

massin.  part  ii.  lib.  c.  66;  Ambros.  ep.  29; 
Codex  Theodos.  lib.  xii.  tit.  i. 

7.  Sozomen,  lib.  viii.  c.  24. 

8.  Concil.  NeoCcBsar.  c.  12. 

9.  Innocent.  I.  ep.  xxii.  c.  4;  Concil.  Illiberit.  e. 

51 ;  Concil.  Nicen.  c.  8;  Cod.  Canon.  Afi-ic.  c. 
48.  al  47 ;  58.  al  57. 

10.  Novell.  123.  e.  1.  137.  c.  2;  Canon.  Apost.  c.  22; 

Theodoret.  h.  e. lib.  i.  c.  4 ;  Concil. Chalced. c.  2; 
Bingham,  bk.  iv.  c.  3.  sec.  xiv.  Schrockh's  Chr. 
Kirchcngesch.  Th.  22.  s.  580. 

11.  Euseb.   h.   e.   lib.  vi.  c.  30;   Ambros.  ep.  60; 

Theodoret.  h.  e.  lib.  ii.  c.  26;  Socrat.  h.  e.lib. 
ii.  c.  5;  Hinckmai.  Khem.  Vit.  Remig. 

12.  Ep.  i. ;  Siricius,  ep.  i. 

13.  Concil.  Neocx'sar.c.  11;  Agath.  c.  17;  Tolet.  iv. 
c.  19;  Arelat.  iv.  c.  1. 

14.  Basil.  M.  ep.  54;  Concil.  Nic.  c.  2.  6. 10  ;  Concil. 

Illiberit.  c.  76;  Xeoca?sar.  c.  9;  Ep.  C8.  al  67. 
comp.  ep.  24;  Cave,  Prim.  Christ,  p.  253  et 
seq. ;  Martene,  De  Antiq.  Vit.  part  ii.  p.  295. 

15.  Lampridius,  Vit.  Alex.  Sever,  o.  45. 

16.  Novell.  Constit.  137.  c.  2. 

17.  Augiistin.  de  Doctr. ;  Christ.  Prob.  Hieron.  Ep. 

ad  Pamm.  ?  12;  Greg.  Naz.  Carm.  Ei's  eavrov. 
Chrysost.  de  Sacerdot.  lib.  4.  §  6.  7. 

18.  Concil.  Bracar.  ii.  c.  20. 

19.  Paulinus,  ep.  4.  ad  Sever.;  Sozomen.  h.  e.  lib. 

vi.  c.  34;  Theodoret.  Hist.  Vel.  c.  3;  Jerora. 
ep.  61.  ad  Pammach:  ep.  110;  Schrockh's  K. 
Gesch.  Th.  ii.  s.  36;  Binterim  Denkwunligk. 
der  Kathol,  Kirche.  i.  bk.  ii.  Th.  s.  378-336. 

20.  Optat.  Milev.  de  Schism.  Donat.  lib.  ii.  c.  22; 

Hieron.  Comment,  in  Ezech.  c.  44. 

?  3.  Of  the  Administration  qf  the  Site,  p.  211. 

1.  Cone.  Nic.  c.  19;  Antioch,  c.  9;  Chalced.  c.  2; 

Carthag.  iii.  c.  45.  iv.  c.  3. 

2.  Chrysost.  Hom.  xi.  in  1.  Ep.  ad  Tim;  Hom.  1. 

in  Ep.  ad  Phil.;  Hieron.  ep.  85.  ad  Evagr.; 
Epiphanius  Hieres.  75.  n.  4;  Concil.  Sardic. 
c.  19  ;  Hispal.  ii.  c.  5;  Athanas.  Apol.c.  Ar. 

3.  Greg.  Naz.  Carm.  de  Vita  Sua;  Socrat.  h.  e.lib. 

iv.  c.  29. 

4.  Leo.  M.  ep.  81.  ad  Dioscur.  c.  1 ;  Galas,  ep.  ix. 

e.  11. 

5.  Concil.  Laodic.  c.  5 ;  Theodoret,  h.  e.  c.  13. 

6.  Martene,  part  ii.  p.  329 ;  Concil.  Barcinon.  c.  3. 

7.  Constit.  Apost.  lib.  viii.  c.  5 ;  Dionys.  Areop. 

de  Hier.  Eccl.  c.  5. 

CHAPTER  Xn. 

OP  CLERICAL  PREROGATIVES. 

1 1.  0/  tlie  Rank  qf  the  Clergy,  p.  215. 

1.  Codex  Theodos.  lib.  xvi.  1.  10.  53.  bes.  1. 1. 

2.  Codex  Theodos.  lib.  ii.  tit.  i.  1.  10.  lib.  xvi.  tit. 

viii.  1.  1. 

3.  Epist.  ad  Arsacium  Pontif.  Galat.  ep.  49.  Opp. 

p.  430. 

4.  De  Vit.  Constant.  JI.  lib.  i.  c.  4.  vgl.  lib.  4.  c.  24. 

5.  Zosim.  Hist.   lib.  4.  c.  ;j6;  J.  A.  Bosii.  Exerc. 

post,  de  Pontificate.  M.  Imperat.  Rom.  prsf- 
cipue.  Christianorum ;  S.  Qrteviua.  TheaauT. 
Antiq.  Rom.  tom.  v.  p.  271. 


604 


INDEX   OF   AUTHORITIES. 


6.  Sozom.  h.  e.  lib.  vii.  c.  25 ;  Theodor.  v.  c.  17 ; 

Rufin.  xi.  c.  18.  vgl.  Socrat.  lib.  vii.  c.  13; 
Syne.a.  ep.  58. 

7.  Orat.  17.  p.  271. 

8.  Horn.  4.  De  Verb.  Jes.  Horn.  15.  in  2  Cor. 

9.  De  Dignitate  Sacerdot. 

10.  Deer.  Grat.  part  i.  distinct.  96.  e.  9.  part  ii.  can?. 
9.  quaest.  ii.  iii.  Ph.  Kovenii  Respubl.  Chr.  Antv. 
4.  p.  1.  2.  52. 

^2.  0/  the.  Immunities,  Prerogatives,  and  Privi- 
leges of  Vie  Priestfiood,  p.  217. 

1.  Cod.  Theodos.  lib.  xvi.  tit.  ii.  1.  1.  2.  8.  10 ;  xii. 

tit.  i.  1.  15.  36.  39 ;  xiu.  tit.  1. 10 :  Cod.  Justin, 
lib.  i.  tit.  iii.  1.  7.  8.  25:  Novell,  xii.  Ixxix. 
Ixxxiii.  cxxiii.  item;  Gothofredus,  Ritter, 
Planck's  Gesch.  der  Kirchl.GesseUschafts-Ver- 
fassung,  Th.  i.  s.  289. 

2.  Eu?eb.  h.  e.  lib.  x.  c.  7 ;  August,  ep.  68 :  Collat. 

Carthag.  cl.  ii.  c.  216;  Codex.  Theodos.  lib. 
xvi.  tit.  ii.  1. 1.  2. 

3.  Codex  Theoilos.  lib.  xii.  tit.  i.  1.  75 ;  lib.  xvi.  tit. 

viii.  1.  3.  4 :  Symmaeh.  lib.  x.  ep.  54. 

4.  Codex  Xheodos.  lib.  xi.  tit.  xvi.  1.  15.  21.  24:  lib. 

XV.  tit.  iii.  1.  6;  Codex  Justin,  lib.  i.  tit.  ii.  1. 7. 
11. 

5.  Codex  Justin,  lib.  i.  tit.  ii.  1. 7;  Novell.  Justin. 

xxxi.  c.  5. 

6.  Novell.  Justin.  131.  c.  5 ;  Cod.  Justin,  lib.  x. 

tit.  xviii. 

7.  Athanas.  Apol.  2 :  Pozomen.  h.  e.  lib.  ii.  c.  21 : 

Theodor.  h.  e.  lib.  iv.  c.  7  ;  August.  Serm.  49  ; 
Cod.  Theodos.  lib.  ii.  tit.  i. ;  tit.  xxiv. ;  lib. 
xvi.  tit.  ii.;  Bingham,  bk.  v.  c.  3. 

8.  Cod.  Justin,  lib.  ix.  tit.  xii.  lib.  i.  tit.  iii.  1.  7.  8; 

Cod.  Theodos.  lib.  xi.  tit.  xxxix. 

9.  Cod.  Justin,  lib.  i.  tit.  iii.  1.  7 ;  Novell.  Justin. 

cxxiii.  c.  7 :  Concil.  Carthag.  5.  c.  1 ;  ConcU. 
Tribur.  c.  21 ;  Cod.  Can.  Afric.  c.  59. 

10.  Histor.  lib.  ii.  c.  32. 

11.  Cod.  Theodos.  lib.  xvi.  tit.  xii.  1.  3.  12.  tit.  ii.  1. 

23;  Novell.  Talent,  xii.  ad  Cod.  Theodos. 
Novell.  Justin.  86.  c.  1 ;  Ambros.  ep.  32. 

12.  Cod.  Theodos.  lib.  ii.  tit.  i.  1.  10. 

13.  Conci!.  Sardic.  c.  8;  Ambros.  de  Oflfic.  Minist. 

lib.  ii.  29:  August,  ep.  153;  Bingham,  bk.  ii. 
c.  7.  8;  Thomassin.  Discipl.  Eccl.  part  ii.  lib. 
iii.  c.  S7.  95.  96:  H.  M.  Hebenstreit.  Histor. 
Jurisdictiones  Eccl.  Dissert.  3 :  Fred.  Walters, 
Lehrbuch  des  K.  Kechts,  s.  328. 

§  3.  0/  Clerical  Letters,  p.  220. 
1.  Cyp.  Epist.  24.  al  29. 
2;  Concil.  Carthag.  1.  can.  7. 

?   Agath.  cjin.  52;   Epaun.  c.  6.    Laodic.  c.  41; 
MUevit.  c.  20;  Concil.  Antioch.  c.  7. 

§  4.  Of  Clerical  Costumes,  p.  221. 

1.  Euseb.  Eccl.  Hist.  lib.  2.  c.  23.  lib.  5.  c.  24; 

Epiphan.  Haer.  29.  n.  i.  78.  n.  14;  Abdias. 
Babyl.  8.  c.  2. 

2.  Theodoret,  lib.  2.  c.  27. 

3.  De  Christ.  Eccl.  Polit.  b.  i.  g  4.  p.  121.  comp. 

148-50. 

4.  Isidor.   Pelu.''.  lib.  i.  ep.  136;   Hieron.  lib.  i. 
contra  Pelag. ;  Chrysost.  in  Matt.  Horn.  32.  al 

33. 

5.  Durandus,  De  Offic.  lib.  3.  c.  17. 

6.  Eccl.  Hist.  lib.  6.  c.  20. 

7.  Theodoret,  Hist.  ii.  c.  27  ;  Socrat.  Hkt.  vi.  c.  20. 

g  5.  Of  the  Revenue  of  the  Clergy,  p.  225. 

1.  De  Jejun.  c.  17. 

2.  Apolog.  c.  39. 

3.  Can.  Apost.  c.  3;  Cyp.  ep.  28.  34.  66;  Euseb.  h. 

e.  lib.  V.  c.  18. 

4.  Cyp.  ep.  i. ;  I'lin.  ep.  lib.  x.  p.  114:  Cod.  Theodos. 

lib.  V.  tit.  6 :  Adam's  Antiq.  74  et  415. 

5.  Gelas.  ep.  i.  al  9.  c.  5 ;  Greg.  Naz.  Orat.  40.  p. 

655 ;  Gratiani,  Deer.  c.  i.  qu.  1.  c.  8. 

6.  Concil.  Trullan.  ii.  c.  23. 

7.  Hieron.  Quffist.  Herb,  in  Gen.  23. 
fi.  Pahls.  K.  Kechts.  344. 

9.  Bracar.  L  c.  25.  ii,  c.  7 ;  Galesii,  ep.  i,  al  9.  c.  27  ; 


Simplic.  ep.  3.  ad  Florent.  Gregor.  M.  ep.  lib. 
iii.  ep.  11. 

10.  Concil.  Bracar.  i.  c.  23. 

11.  Gelas.  ep.  1.  al  9.  c.  27. 

12.  Cod.  Theodos.  lib.  xvi.  tit.  2. 1.  4 ;  Cod.  Justin. 

lib.  i.  tit.  ii.  1. 1. 

13.  Euseb.  h.  e.  lib.  x.   c.  6;   Euseb.  Tit.  Const. 

lib.  iv.  c.  28. 38.  39 ;  lib.  iii.  c.  21.  58 ;  Sozomen. 
h.  e.  lib.  V.  c.  5;  Theodos.  h.  e.  lib.  iv.  c.  4; 
Gieseler's  Lehrb.  die  K.  Gesch.  i.  bk.  ii.  Ausg. ; 
s.  204.  205.  s.  308. 

14.  Cod.  Theodos.  hb.  ix.  tit.  17.  1.  5 ;  Cod.  Justin. 

lib.  i.  tit.  2.  1.  12. 

15.  Cod.  Theodos.  lib.  xvi.  tit.  10. 1.19-21;  Sozomen. 

h.  e.  lib.  V.  c.  7.  16. 

16.  Cod.  Theodos.  lib.  xvi.  tit.  5. 1.  52 ;  Socrat.  h.  e. 

lib.  vii.  c.  7. 

17.  Cod.  Theodos.  lib.  v.  tit.  3.  1.  1 ;  Cod.  Justin, 
lib.  i.  tit.  3.  1.  20,  53;  Novell.  5.  c.  4. 123.  c.  42. 

Euseb.  Tit.  Const.  M.  lib.  ii.  c.  36. 

Gesellschaft.  Terfass.  i.  281. 

Irenajus.  adv.  Ha;rcs.  lib.  iv.  c.  17. 18.  al  33.  34. 

Chr.  M.  Pfaff.  Iren^i.  Anecd.  Frag. 

Adv.  Haeres.  lib.  iv.  c.  8.  13.  18. 

Horn.  4.  in  Ep.  ad  Ephes.  H.  14.  in  Act;  Hom. 

74.  in  Matt. 
Orat.  5. 

In  I's.  cxviii.  et.  Matt.  xxiv. 
In  Ps.  cxlvi.  Serm.  de  Temp.  166.  219. 
Concil.  Matiscon.  ii.  c.  5;  Cabillon.  ii.  c.  19;  Mo- 
gunt.  c.  3  ;  Kothomag.  c.  7. 
Capitul.  Caroli.  M.  A.  D.  779.  c.  7  ;  Capitul.  Caroli. 

de  part.  Saxon.  A.  D.  789.  c.  17 ;  Capitul.  Fran- 

cof.  A.  D.  794.  c.  23. 
Capitul.  vi.  Ludov.  a.  t>.  819.  c.  9.  A.  ».  823.  c. 

21;  Capitul.  A.  D.  829.  sec.i.  c.  7. 10;  Walters' 

Lehrb.  des  K.  R.  s.  367-69.  461-69. 
Can.  Apost.  c.  4;  Constit.  Apost.  viii.  c.  40. 


g  6.  Of  the  Independence  and  Degeneracy  of  the 
Bishop,  p.  229. 

1.  Apost.  Constit.  ii.  c.  31.  Comp.  Com.  Ganz.  c.  7. 

2.  Geschichtsforsch.  iii.  p.  42. 

3.  Bohmer,  Alterthums.  i.  311 

4.  Cited  by  Schiine,  iii.  p.  8 :  Comp.  Antioch.  c.  12 ; 

Aurelian.  c.  25 ;  Bracar.  c.  8. 

CHAPTER  Xm. 

OF   CHURCHES   AND   SACRED   PLACES. 

g  1.  Of  the  History  of  Churches,  p.  232. 

1.  Eu.seb.  h.  e.  lib.  vii.  c.  22:  Pliniu.s,  ep.  lib.  xix. 

ep.  97 ;  Pertschens.  K.  Histoire.  Th.  i.  s.  416. 

2.  Assemani,  Bibl.  Or.  torn.  i.  p.  387 ;  Euseb.  h.  e. 

lib.  ii.  c.  1 ;  Faber,  De  Templor.  apud  Chris- 
tian. Antiq.  dubia  in  I'ott's  Sylloge  Comment. 
Theol.  vol.  iii.  p.  334-37 ;  Schrockh's  Chr.  K. 
Gesch.  Th.  iv.  s.  17.  18. 

3.  Lamprid.  Vit.  Alex.  Severi.  c.  49 ;  Mosheim,  De 

Eccl.  ante  Constant.  M.  p.  463. 

4.  Euseb.  h.  e.  lib.  vii.  c.  13. 

5.  TertuU.  de  Idol.  c.  7 :  adv.  Talent,  c.  3 ;  De 

Coron.  Mil.  c.  3;  De  Pudic.  c.  4:  Cyp.  ep.  55. 
33;  Gregor.  Thaumat.  Epist.  Can.  c.  11;  Gre- 
gor. Nys.  Tit.  Gregor.  Thaum.  0pp.  iii. ;  Dio- 
nys.  Al.  ep.  can.  c.  2 ;  Lactant.  Instit.  div.  lib. 
V.  c.  11;  De  Mort.  Persec.  c.  12.  15;  Ambros. 
in  Ephes.  4.  etc. 

6.  Euseb.  viiL  c.  1. 

7.  Euseb.  h.  e.  lib.  viii.  e.  213. 

8.  Euseb.  h.  e.  lib.  x.  c.  5.  c.  2;  De  Tit.  Const. 

M.  lib.  iii.  c.  25.  64.  65. 

9.  Socrat.  h.  e.  lib.  iv.  c.  24 :  Evagr.  h.  e.  lib.  i.  c. 

16:  Cod.  Theodos.  16.  tit.  x.  1.  16.  19.  25. 

10.  Euseb.  Tit.  Const.  M.  lib.  iii.  c.  25-40.  41-58 ; 

lib.  iv.  c.  58-60;  Socrat.  h.  e.  lib.  i.e.  16;  ii.  c. 
16.  43:  Sozom.  h.  e.  lib.  ii.  c.  4.  26;  lib.  JT.  c.  26. 

11.  Euseb.  h.  e.  lib.  x.  c.  3. 

12.. Gibbon's  Rome,  vol.  iii.  p.  42.  N.  Y.  cd. 

13.  Muratori,  Scriptor.  rer.  Iialie,  tcm.  i.  part  ii.  p. 

576;  Man.so's  Gesrhiibte  des  Ostirolhiichen 
Keichs  iu  Italien.  s.  137.  167.  396.  "^ 

14.  De  Sacram.  Pucnit.  lib.  vii.  c.  14.  20. 


INDEX    OF   AUTHORITIES. 


605 


2.  Of  the  Form,  ,Si7e,  and  Position,  p.  240. 

1.  Tertull.  de  Bapt.  c.  8.  p.  12;  Be  Pudie.  c.  13. 

2.  E.  S.  Cyprian,  de  Kcdesia  Subterrauea;  Chr. 

Sonntag  de  Ecclesia  Subteran.  Jamieson,  p. 
106.  107. 

3.  Cyril  Hieros.  Mystng.  Catech.  1.  n.  2;  Gregor. 

Kaz.  Orat.  40 ;  Hieron.  Comment.  In  Amos  t1. 
14 ;  Dlonys.  Areop.  de  Hierarch.  Eccl.  c.  3. 

^3.  Of  the  Arrangement  and  Gmstituent  Parts, 
p.  241. 

1.  Planck.  Gesch.  Kirch.  Terfass.  i.  p.  1C6. 
2  4.  Of  the  Bema,  or  Sanctuary,  p.  242. 

1.  Concil.  Tolet.  4.  c.  IS;  Isidor.  Hispal.  Orig.  lib. 

i.  c.  3. 

2.  Euseb.  h.  e.  x.  c.  4 ;  vii.  c.  15. 

3.  Concil.  Laodic.  c.  21. 

4.  Concil.  LaoJic.  c.  44. 

5.  Concil.  Laodic.  c.  19.  24 ;  Concil.  Trullan.  c.  69. 

6.  Euseb.  h.  e.  x.  c.  4.  5;  vii.  c.  50;  Gregor.  Naz. 

Somn.  Anast.  v.  4;  Constit.  Apost.  ii.  c.  57  ; 
Augustin,  ep.  203;  Athenas.  Apol.  ii. 

g5.  Of  tfie  Altar,  p.  243. 

1.  S.  Th.  Fchoenland,  Ilistor.  Nachrirht  TOn  Alta- 

ren.  Lips.  1716.  8:  J.  Ge.  Geret,  de  Vet.  Chris- 
tian. Altaribus,  Onold.  1755.  4. 

2.  0pp.  tom.  V.  p.  12.  50;   Serm.  310;   Ilicron. 

contra  Vigilant. 

3.  Concil.  Carthag.  4.  al  5.  c.  14  in  Justelli  Bibl. 

Jur.  Can.  Tet.  T.  i.  p.  370. 

ga.  Of  Oie  iVaue,  p.  246. 

1.  Cyp.  ep.  33.  34. 

2.  Constit.  Apoft.  lib.  ii.  c.  57 :  viii.  c.  20 ;  Cyril, 

Hierosol.  Procatech.  6.  8;  Euseb.  ii.  17. 

3.  Constit.  Apost.  ii.  c.  57;  August,  de  Civ.  Dei,  ii. 

c.  2S;  Cyril,  Hierosol.  Procatech.  c.  8;  Chry- 
80st.  Horn.  74  in  Math. ;  Steph.  Durandi,  de 
Kit.  Eccl.  lib.  i  c.  18. 

4.  Constit.  Apo?t.  ii.  57.  58. 

6.  Codinus.  de  Otfir.  c.  17  ;  Leo  Allatius,  de  Tempi. 
Grace,  ep.  ii.  ^5;  Gretserus,  in  Codinum,  lib. 
iii.  c.  12. 

6.  Paulin  Nol.  ep.  12;  Concil.  Trull,  c.  97  ;  Leonis. 

Imp.  Nov.  73. 

7.  Chrysorit.  Horn.  111.  in  Ep.  ad  Ephes. ;  Evagrius, 

h.  e.  vi.  21 ;  Paul.  Nol.  nat.  1  elic.  111.  vi. 


27.  Of  the  Narlhex,  or  Ante-Temple,  p.  250. 

1.  Tertull.de  Orat.  c.  11;  Euseb.h.e.  x.c.4;  Chry- 
sost.  Horn.  52  in  Matt,  in  Ps.  cxl. ;  Synes.  ep. 
121;  Pelliccia,  tom.  i.  p.  133.  21.  lib.  6.  c.  6. 

2  8.  Of  the  Outer  Buildings  or  Exedra,  p.  2.51. 

1.  Paul.  Kol.  ep.  12;  Cyril,  Hiero«.  Catech.  mys- 

tag.  i.  2.  ii.  1;  Pidon.  ep.  iv.  15;  August,  dc 
Civ.  Dei.  22.  8;  Ambros.  ep.  33;  Gregor. Turon. 
Hist.  6.  11;  Justin  Novell.  58.  42;  Concil. 
Trull,  c.  59 ;  Concil.  Constant,  sub.  Minna. 
Act.  1. 

2.  Theodoret,  h.  e.  v.  c.  18;  Sulpit.  Sev.  Dial.  ii. 

c.  1 ;  Prapf.  ad  Concil.  Carthag.  iii.  iv. 

3.  Cod.  Theodos.  lib.  xvi.  tit.  v.  1.  30;  Justin  Nov. 

79.  c.  3;  Du  Cange,  Comment,  in  Paul  Silent. 
p.  504:  Gregor.  ii.  Ep.  a  1  Loon.  Isaur.;  Jo. 
Grietner,  de  Incarcerat.  Clericor.  cum  et  sine 
Catena. 

4.  Euseb.  h.  e.  vi.  c.  20:  August,  de  Iferea.  c.  SO; 

Basil  M.  ep.  82:  Ilieron.  Cat.  Script.  Eccl.  c. 
3.  75.  113;  Comment,  in  Tit.  c.  3. 

5.  Hospininn,  de  Templi.'^.  lili.  iii.  c.  6;  Lf^meier, 

de  Bibliotheris;  J.  M.  Cliiudepii  D.  de  fortu- 
na  Bibl. ;  D.  Augustini.  c;i  E.xciJio  Ilippo- 
ncii«i. 

6.  Eus.b.  Vit.  Crn.<!t.  M.  lib.  iv.  ■•.  59  ;  Cnd.  Theo- 

dJS.  lib.  ix.  tit.  xlv.  1.  4. 


1 9.  Of  Church  Tmvers,  BeUs,  and  Organs,  p.  254. 

1.  Calvoer,  Bit.  Eocles.  tom.  ii.  p.  143-44. 

2.  Trithem.  im  Chronic.  Hirsgav. 

3.  Binterim,  s.  17. 

4.  Leo.  Ost.  lib.  iii.  c.  28 ;  De  Locis  Sanctis,  p.  8  ; 

Mirac.  S.  Columbani.  c.  2. 

5.  L.  Chr.  Sturm,  Prodrom.  Architec.  1714.  Stieg- 

litz.  Encykl.  der  biirgerl.  Baukunst.  Th.  v.  s. 
2ti2 ;  Wiebeking's  Theoret.  Prakt.  Baukunde. 
Th.  iv.  s.  288. 

Of  BdU. 

6.  nistoriche  Nachricht  von  den  Glocken,  deren 

Ursprung,  Materie,  Nuzzen  und  Missbrauch  ; 
von  Ireneus  Montanus,  Chemnitz,  1726.  8; 
Chr.  W.  J.  Chrysander,  Hist.  Nachricht  von 
Kirchen-Glocken.  Rintnen.  1755.  8. 

7.  Polydorus  Vergil,  de  Invent.  Ker.  lib.  vi.  c.  11 ; 

Centur.  vii.  c.  6 ;  Hospinian.  de  Orig.  TempL 
lib.  ii.  e.  26. 

8.  Baron.  Annales,  A.  D.  865. 

9.  Baron.  Annales,  ad  a.  Iviii.  n.  102. 

10.  Ed.  Encycloped.  art.  Bells. 

Of  Organs. 

11.  Jos.  Antony's  Ge«;hichtilche  Darstellung  der 

Entstehung  und  Vervolkommnung  der  Orgs). 
Munster,  1832.8. 

12.  Monachus  Sangallensis  de  Carol.  M.  lib.  ii.  c. 

10;  Canissii.  The.saur.  Monum.  part  iii.  p.  74. 

13.  Fischer's  Geschichte  der  gr.  Orgel  in  Breslau, 

8.26. 

§  10.  Of  the  Doors  of  the  Church,  p.  258. 

1.  Constit.  Apost.  lib.  viil.  c.  28;   Ignatii,  Ep.  ad 

Antioch.  c.  12. 

2.  Fiorillos  KunstrGe.schichte;  Leibnitz,  Scriptor. 

Ker.  Brunsvic.  tom.  i.  p.  446-63;  Schrockh's 
Kirch.  Gesch.  21.  187-88. 

211.  Of  the  Pxvement  and  Walls  of  the  Church, 

p.  259. 
1.  Life  of  Const,  lib.  iii.  c.  36. 

g  13.  Of  the  Ornaments  of  the  Church,  p.  2i30. 

1.  Life  of  Const.  111.  c.  40. 

2.  De  Offip.  lib.  ii.  c.  21. 

3.  Comment,  in  Jer.  c.  7  ;  in  Zech.  c.  8 ;  Ep.  2.  ail 

Nepot. ;  Ep.  8.  ad  Demeti;  Ep.  12.  ad  Gau- 
dent. 

4.  Horn.  81.  in  Matt.;  51.  in  Matt.;  Horn.  60.  ad 

I'op.  Antioch. 

gl4.  Of  Images,  p.  262. 

1.  Tertull.  de  Pudioitia.  c.  7.  c.  10. 
2    Pipdagog.  1.  iii.  f.  246.  247. 

3.  Illiberit.  can.  36. 

4.  Goldasti.  Imp.  Decret.  de  Cult.  Im.  p.  610. 

5.  Comment,  in  Jer.  c.  vii. 

6.  Lib.  11.  ep.  246. 

7.  Tom.  11.  ed.  Petav.  p.  317. 

§15.  Of  the  Veneration  for  Sacred  Places,  and  the 
Privih'ges  attached  to  them,  p.  266. 

1.  Jo.  Fabrieii,  Dissert,  de  Reverentia  erga  Sacra. 

Ilelm-t.  1706.  4:  J.  U.  Biihmer,  dc  Sancti- 
t«te  Ecclesiarum.  Halfe.  1722.  4  :  Jo.  Mo^bii, 
'AffuXoA'jj'ia,  s.  de  Ebrieorum,  Gentilium  et 
Christianorum  .\sylis.  Lips.  1673.  4. 

2.  Pa-dag.  1.  8.  c.  11.  p.  255;  Comp.  Cave,  Prim. 

Christ.  285. 

3.  Prim.  Christ.  156-7. 

4.  Justin.  Novell.  133.  c.  31. 

5.  C'onoil.  Gangrense,  c.  5.  6. 

6.  Tertull.  de  Orat.  c.  11;  Euseb.  h.  e.  x.  c.  4; 

Serv.  n.  c.  3S;  Chry.sost.  Horn.  52.  in  Math.; 
72.  in  Johann.;  3.  in  Eph. 

7.  Chrvso^t.  torn.  iv.  p.  840 :  Cod.  Theodos.  lib.  ix- 

tit.  xlv.  1.  4. 

8.  Julinn.  Y.f.  49.  ad  Ansae. p.  431 ;  Sozomen,  h. e 

lib.  V.  c.  16. 


606 


INDEX    OF    ArXIIORITIES. 


9.  Ambros.  ep.  33;  Prudent.  Ilymn.  2.  in  S.  Laur. 
V.  519.  620;  Paulin.  >ol.  Natal,  vi.;  Chryso.^^t. 
Horn.  29.  in  apiul  Cor. ;  Athenas.  torn.  ii.  p. 
304;  Ca.?8iodor.  Hist.;  Tripart.  lib.  ix.  c.  30 ; 
Dionv-i  Areop.  dc  Hier.  Eccl.  c.  2.  g  4. 

10.  Eccl.  Hi.'it.  10.  3 ;  Vit.  Const.  4.  44. 

11.  Concil.  Bracar.  i.  A.  D.  462.  c.37 ;  Concil. Chalced. 

c.  4. 

g  16.  0/  the  Church  as  a  place  of  Refuge,  p.  267. 

1.  Cod.  Theodos.  lib.  ix.  tit.  xlv.  1.  1. 1. 16;  Cod. 

Ju.'tin.  lib.  i.  tit.  xii.  1.  1 ;  Socrat.  h.  e.  lib.  vi. 
c.  5 ;  Sozomen,  h.  e.  lib.  yiii.  c.  7. 

2.  Coleti  Concil.  torn.  xi.  p.  1463. 

3.  Homil.  in  Eutropium.  torn.  iv.  p.  4S1. 

4.  Cod.  Justin,  i.  12.  1.  2. 

5.  Cod.  Justin,  i.  tit.  xii.  1.  3;  Cod.  Theodos.  lib. 

ix.  tit.  xIt.  I.  4. 

6.  Justin,  \ovell.  Con.=tit.  xvii.  c.  7. 

7.  Capitul  Car.  M.  A.  n.  789.  c.  2 ;  Capit.  ii.  A.  D.  803. 

C.3. 

8.  Lud.  Thomassini,  Discipl.  Eccl.  part  ii.  lib.  iii. 

c.  100.  torn.  vi.  p.  6Sf). 

9.  Decret.  Gregor.  lib.  iii.  tit.  xlix.  c.  6. 

10.  Cc'dreni,  ni,«t.  523:  llistor.  Alex.  Annse.  Comn. 
lib.  ii.  Nicephor.  Grej^or.  Hist.  lib.  ix. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

OF  RELIGIOUS  WOBSHIP. 

§  1.  Of  Primitive  Wrrrship,  p.  270. 

1.  Justin  Mar.  Apol.  79.  85.  87. 

2.  Apol.  i.  c.  13. 

3.  Apol.  i.  c.  55. 

4.  Comp.  King's  Prim.  Christ. 

5.  De  Orat.  c.  9 

i  2.  Of  the  Secret  Discipline  of  the  Ancient  Churcli, 
p.  276. 

1.  Apost.  Constit.  lib.  iii.  cap.  v. 

2  3.  Of  Liturgies,  p.  284. 

1.  Basil,  ep.  57. 

2.  Socrat.  Eccl.  Hist.  c.  27. 

3.  Kingdom  of  Christ,  p.  82.  83. 

4.  Kingdom  of  Christ,  p.  252.  25.3. 

6.  Errors  of  Romanism,  p.  49-61. 

6.  Euseb.  Vit.  Constant,  lib.  4.  36. 

7.  Antiq.  of  the  Eng.  I'.itual,  and  a  Dissert,  on 

Prim.  Liturg.  Kev.  William  Palmer,  M.  A., 
Oxford,  1832. 

8.  Tract  No.  63.  vol.i.  p.  439. 

9.  Riddle's  Christ.  Antiq.  p.  377. 

§4.  Of  Ancient  Creeds,  p.  291. 

1.  Tertull.  de  P.ienit.  c.  6. 

2.  Hist,  of  Doctrines,  vol.  i.  p.  6.  1850. 

1 6.  Of  Catechetical  Instittctions,  p.  302. 

1.  G.Langemack  IlistoriaCatechetica:  J.G.  Walch 

Einleituug  id  die  Catcclietif  e  Hi.storia  Alterer, 
mitteler.  und  neuerer  Zeitfn;  J.  G.  Kocher 
Einleilunsr  in  die  Caleohetiyche  Theologie. 

2.  Tertull.  Apol.  c.  2;    De  Anima.  c.  37;    Adv. 

Marc.  V.  c.  14;  De  Pudicit.  c.  4:  Clem.  Alex. 
Strom,  vi.  c.  16:  Iren.  adv.  lIa?ros.  iv.  c.  3. 10. 
26.  31:  Orig.  Horn.  viii.  in  Exod.  etc. 

3.  Orig.  viii.  in  F.xo  I.  0pp.  torn.  v.   p.  419.  ed. 

Oberth. ;  August.  Quawt.  71.  in  Exo<t.;  Ep. 
cxix.  c.  11.  12;  Contra  Faust.  15.7:  De  De- 
cem.  Chordis.  c.  ."i.  6;  Scrm.  de  Temp.  95.  481. 

4.  Siegers  Ilandbuch,  i.  p.  352. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

OF   TUE   PHAVERS   of  the  AXaE.NT   CHURCH. 

^\.  Of  Extempore  Prayer,  p.  305. 

1.  Tertull.  Apol.  31. 

2.  Polycarp.  ad  Phil.  c.  12. 


3.  King's  Inquiry,  part  ii.  c.  2.  §7. 

4.  Basil  de  Ascet.  vol.  i.  p.  536. 

^2.  Of  the  Unity  and  Trinity  of  the  Godhead  im- 
plied in  tlie  Devotions  of  the  Ancient  Church, 
p. 311. 

1.  Adv.  Pr.ixeam.  c.  31. 

2.  Jo.  Henr.  Maji.  Synopsis  Theologi*  Judaicas,  p. 

29-55. 

3.  Cateches.  xvi.  c.  4;  Comp.  Tertull.  adv.  Prax. 

c.  3. 

4.  De  Spiritu  Sancto  ad  Amphil.  c.  25-29. 

5.  Eusel).  Eccl.  Hi.st.  v.  c.  28. 

6.  Concil.  Hippo.  A.  D.  397.  c.  .j1;  Carthag.  A.  D. 

625 :  S.  Fulgent.  Rusp.  ad  Monimum.  lib.  ii. 
c.  5.  etlit.  Basil.  1621.  p.  32S :  Basil  51.  de 
Spiritu  Sancto  ad  Amphil.  c.  12;  Ambros.  de 
S.  S.  lib.  i.  c.  3. 

7.  Bingham,  vol.  v.  p.  71. 

g  3.  Of  Divine  Worship  paid  to  Christ,  p.  314. 

1.  Euseb.  h.  e.  lib.  iv.  c.  15. 

2.  Contra  Celsum.  lib.  v.  p.  2.?3.  lib.  vii.  p.  385. 

3.  Bingham,  bk.  xiii.  c.  2;  Jo.  Fried.  Cotta.  de 

gloria  multus  religiosi  Christo  asserta.  Tu- 
bing. 1765.  4 ;  C.  \V.  Thalemann,  Jesum  Chris- 
tum eodem  quo  Patrem  mtdo  colendum  atque 
adorandum. 

§5.  Of  the  Simplicity  and  Brevity  of  the  Devotions 
of  the  Primitive  Cliurch,  p.  316. 

1.  A.  Neander,  1.  Th.  1821.  8.  s.  329-30;  Thom. 
Smith,  de  statu  Eccles.  Gracae  Hodierno,  p. 
22  et  seq. 

g  6.  Of  the  Catholic  Spirit  of  their  Devotions,  p.  316. 

1.  Contra  Celsum,  lib.  vii.  p.  403. 

2.  Euseb.  Orat.  de  Laudibus.  Constant.  M.  p.  706; 

Chrysost.  Homil.  in  John,  p.  13. 

3.  Concil.  Gerund,  c.  10.  A.  D.  517 ;  Concil.  Tolet. 

iv.  c.  9.  3.  A.  D.  633.  bk.  xiii.  c.  5. 

g  8.  Of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  p.  318. 

1.  J.  A.  Schmid.  Oratio  Dominica  historice  et  dog- 

matice  preposita.  Helmstad,  1723.  4;  J.  Ge. 
■\Valch.  de  usu  orationis  Dominicae  apud  ve- 
teres  Christianos,  Jenae,  1729.  4;  Jo.  Ge.  Stei- 
nert,  do  peculiari  indole  prccum  Domini 
nostri  quarum  in  N.T.  fit  mentis,  Oesit.  1817.4. 

2.  Apol.  i.  p.  222.  edit.  Oberth. 

3.  Psedag.  lib.  iii. 

4.  De  Oratione  Dominica?,  c.  1-9. 

5.  De  Orato.  Dorain.  p.  137;  Bingham,  13. c. 7. §1; 

Compare  Opp.  edit.  Oberth.  torn.  i.  p.  366-388. 

6.  Opp.  edit.  Oberth.  torn.  iii.  p.  408-593. 

7.  August.  Epist.  89.  ad  Hilar,  p.  407 ;  Chrysost. 

Hom.  42.  276.  44.  p.  288;  Cyril,  Hieros.  Car 
tech.  Mvf  tag.  v.  p.  298. 

8.  Chrysost."  Hrm.  11.  in  2  Cor.  p.  740;  Hom.  62. 

p.  934;  August.  Serm.  42;  Walch,  Miscellan. 
Sacr.  p.  69 ;  Bingham,  bk.  xiii.  c.  7.  'i  9. 

9.  Tertull.  de  Orat.  c.  2.  3;  Cyp.  de  Orat.Dom.  p. 

371 :  Greg.  Nyss.  Horn.  10  in  Ep.  ad  Coloss. 
p.  1385. 

10.  Iren.  adv.  Haer.  iv.  c.  18;  Tertull.  de  Orat.  c. 

6;  Cyp.  de  Orat.  Dora. p. 376;  Origen.  de  Orat. 
p.  523-36;  CyrU,  Hierosol.  Cateoh.  Mystag. 
V.  c.  15. 

11.  Tertull.  de  Orat.  c.  8;   Griesbach.  Comment. 

Crit.  in  Gr.  Mathaie  textum,  p.  71 ;  Paula*. 
Comment,  i.  p.  576;  Kuinoel,  in  Libros  N.  T. 
Histor.  vol.  i.  p.  181.  2;  M.  Ro;diger,  Synopsis. 
Evang.  1829.  8.  p.  2.31. 

12.  Constit.  Apcst.  lib.  vii.  c.  24.  p.  372 ;  ConcU.  Ge- 

rund. A.  0.  517.  c.  10;  Concil.  Tolet.  iv.  A.  D. 
633.  c.  9. 

13.  Constit.  Apost.  lib.  vii.  c.  44.  p.  385 ;  Chi-ysost. 

Hum.  6.  in  ep.  sd  Coloss. 

14.  Gregor.  the  Great,  Epist.  lib.  ix.  ep.  12 ;  Jerom. 

Dial,  contra  Pelag.  lib.  iii.  <t3;  Jnstin.  Apol. 
i.  p.  125 ;  Cyril  of  Jerusalem.  Cateches.  mys- 


INDEX    OF   AUTHORITIES, 


607 


tag.  T.  c.  5 ;  August.  EpLst.  ad  Paulin,  50.  p. 

15.  ApoFt.  Constit.  lib.  viii.  c.  6.  p.  397-98:  Chry- 

so-t.  torn.  X.  p.  435.  ed.  Bened.;  p.  516.  ed. 
Francofurt. 

16.  Apost.  Constit.  viii.  c.  8 ;  Goari  Eurholog.  Gr.  p. 

397. 

17.  Apost.  Constit.  lib.  viii.  c.  9-11 ;  Chrysost.  Horn. 

S.  in  Ep.  ad  Cor. 

18.  Apost.  Constit.  lib.  viii.  c.  9 ;  Chrysost.  Horn,  in 

2  Cor.  p.  673. 

19.  Apost.  Constit.  lib.  viii.  c.  ■11.  p.  423-24. 

20.  Apost.  Constit.  lib.  rii.  c.  47.  48.  p.  3S8-9. 

21.  Apost.  Constit.  lib.  vii.  c.  36.  p.  379-SU. 

J  9.  Of  the  Responses — Amen,  Hallelujah,  Hosanna, 
etc.,  p.  320. 

1.  J.  A.  Schmidt,  De  Insignioribus  Vcterum  Chris- 

tianorum  Formulis.  Ilelmst.  1696.  4;  Jo.  Ge. 
Walch,  De  Formulis  Salutandi  Apostolicis. 
Jen.  1739.  4. 

2.  Hilar,  on  Ps.  65 :  Chrysost.  Horn.  35.  in  1  Cor. ; 

0pp.  tom.  X.  p.  325. 

3.  Justin  Mart.  Apol.  1.  ?  65.  67  :  Comp.  August. 

contra  Pelag. ;  Serm.  Defer,  iv.  0pp.  tom.  vi.  p. 
446. 

4.  De  Spectaculis.  c.  25. 

5.  Constit.  Apost.  lib.  viii.  c.  13;  Cyril,  Hierosol. 

Cateches.  23:  Mystag.  v.  p.  331-32;  Ambros. 
in  Sacr.  lib.  iv.  c.  10 :  August,  contra  Faus- 
tum.  lib.  xii.  c.  10;  Jerom.  Epist.  39 ;  Leon. 
M.  Serm.  91. 

6.  August.  Ex.  in  Ev.  S.  Joan.;   Serm.  151.  de 

Temp. ;  I^iodorus,  Ilispal.  Orig.  lib.  vi.  c.  17  ; 
De  Div.  Off.  142;  Gregor.  Nyss.  Tractat.  de 
Inscr.  Psalmon.  c.  7. 

7.  Gregor.  M.  Epist.  lib.  ix.  ep.  12.  p.  940. 

8.  August.  Epist.  119.  ad  Jan.  c.  17.  86.  ad  Casul.; 

Hieron.  Pra^fat.  in  Ps.  50. 

9.  Wernsdorf.  de  Form.  Vet.  Eccl.  Psalmod.  Halle- 

lujah, p.  21.  25.  27  :  August,  in  Ps.  118, 

10.  Hist.  Eccl.  Ub.  u.  c.  23. 

11.  Apo-t.  Constit.  lib.  8.  c.  13. 

12.  Ps.  51. 1.  193.  3:  Virg.  ^neid.  12.  777;  Comp. 

Bona.  Rer.  Liturg.  lib.  ii.  c.  4.  in  Gavanti  The- 
saur.  Sacr.  Tit. 

13.  Epist.  lib.  vii.  12;  lib.  ii.  63. 

14.  Concil.  Braca.  i.  can.  21 ;  Uarduin.  tom.  iii.  p. 

352. 

15.  Tertull.  de  Pra^script.  Hfpret.  c.  41 :  Chrysost. 

Homil.  3.  in.  Ep.  ad  Coir  ss. ;  Optat.  Milevit.  de 
Schi-^mate.  Donat.  lib.  iii.;  (iavanti.  Thesaur. 
Sacr.  Kit.  tom.  i.  p.  77 ;  Ambros.  de  Dignat. 
Sacerd.  c.  5.  2. 

16.  Calvoer.  Kit.  Eccl.  i.  p.  472. 

17.  Cateches.  Mystagog.  V. 24;  Chrysost.  Homil.  24. 

in  1  Cor.  10;  Theopbylaot.  Comment,  in  Coloss. 
3d.  0pp.  tom.  ii. ;  Isidor.  Pelus.  Epist.  lib.  i.  ep. 
77.  ad  Dioscur.  p.  23 ;  August,  de  Vera  Re- 
lig.  c.  3;  De  Bono  PerseverantiK,  c.  13. 

J 10.  0/the  Attitude  and  Gestures  in  Singing  and 
Prayer,  p.  324. 

1.  Joach.  Hildebrand,  De  Precibus  VeterumChrLs- 

tianorum.  Ilelmst.  1735.  4 ;  Godofr.  Wegner, 
De  Orationibus  Jaculatoriis.  Regiomont.  1708. 
4;  J.  Biirgcr,  De  Gestibus  Precantium  Vet. 
Christianorum,  1790.  8. 

2.  Tertull.  de  Orat.  c.  11-23.  ed.  Oberth.  tom.  iii.  p. 

22-39. 

3.  Comp.  Hug.  Grotii  Adnotat.  ad  Matt.  6.  5. 

4.  Concil.  Nic.  c.  20 ;  Comp.  Tertull.  de  Cor.  c.  3. 

5.  De  Orat.  c.  31.  ed.  Oberth.  tom.  iU.  p.  580. 

6.  Epist.  119.  c.  15. 

7.  De  Spirit.  S.  o.  27. 

8.  August.  3.  in  Ps.  36;  Jo.  Cassian.  De  Instit. 

Rer.  lib.  ii.  c.  12. 

9.  Apost.  Constit.  lib.  viii.  c.  9. 10 :  Hermce  Pastor. 

part  i.  vis.  1;  Clemens  Bom.  1  ilp.  ad  Cor. 
f_  48 ;  Tertull.  ad  Scapul.  c.  4;  Origcu  de  Orat. 
c.  .31;  Euseb.  h.  e.  lib.  ii.  c.  23:  lib.  v.  c.  5; 
De  Vita  Constant.  51.  lib.  iv.  c.  61 ;  Chrysost. 


Homil.  18.  in  2d  Epi.st.  ad  Cor. ;  .A^ugust.  de 
Civit.  Dei.  22.  c.  8 ;  Caesar.  Arelat.  Uomil.  34 ; 
Prudent.  Cathemer.  Hymn.  ii. 

10.  Chrysost.  Homil.  28.  29 ;  Constit.  Apost.  lib.  viii. 

c.  6. 

11.  Soerat.  h.  e.  lib.  iii.  c.  13.  c.  37 ;  ThooJoret,  h.  e. 

lib.  V.  c.  18.  19. 

12.  Origen,  de  Orat.  20 ;  Chrysost.  in  Ps.  140 ;  Euseb. 

Vit.  Constant,  lib.  iv.  c.  15. 

13.  Constit.  Apost.  lib.  vii.  c.  44:  Cyril,  Hierosol. 

Cateches.  Mystag.  i.  c.  2.  4.  9:  Bingham, 
Antiq.  vol.  v.  p.  275-SO ;  Jerome,  Comment, 
in  Amos,  6.  14. 

14.  Antiq.  B.  iii.  c.  8.  g  15. 

15.  Prim.  Christ,  part  1.  c.  9. 

16.  Tertull.  de  Orat.  c.  19 ;  De  .Tejun.  o.  10 ;  Cyp.de 

Orat.  Dom.  p.  386.  (ed.  Oberth.:)  Chrysostom, 
Horn.  4;  De  S.  Anna. 

17.  Lib.  iii.  c.  59 ;  lib.  viii.  c.  34 :  Jo.  Cassian.  De 

Institut.  lib.  iii.  c.  2-4. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

OF  THE  PS.iLMODY  OP   THE  CHURCH. 

11.  Of  Original  Authorities,  p.  327. 

1.  Tertull.  Apol.  c.  2. 

2.  Eccl.  Hist.  lib.  ii.  32. 

3.  De  Anima.  c.  9 ;  Euseb.  Vit.  Const,  lib.  iv.  c. 

45 ;  Comp.  Metrisch.  Offenbar.  8.  32 ;  Bulls  De- 
fi-nsis  Fidei  Nicoenae.  I  111.  c.  2.  p.  316.  cited  by 
Miinter. 


1 3.  Of  the  Mode  of  Singing,  p.  329. 
In  Ps.  xlv. 


2.  Serm.  10.  in  Verb.  Apost. 

3.  Chrysost.  Horn.  36.  in  1  Cor. 

4.  Chrysost.  in  Ps.  146 ;  Hom.  145. 

5.  Eccl.  Uift.  ii.  c.  24. 

6.  Paulinus,  Vit.  Ambros.  g  13 ;  August.  Confesg. 

ix.  7. 

7.  .Uts'  Kirchliche  Gottesdienst,  ?513. 

§  4.  Of  the  Power  vf  Sacred  Music,  p.  331. 

1.  Chrvsost.  Expos,  in  Ps.  xli. 

2.  Geschicht«forsch.  ii.  pp.  198-201. 

3.  Briefe   sur    Beforderung    der  Humanitat.   7. 

Samuel,  s.  28  et  seq.,  cited  by  Augusti,  Denk- 
wlirdigkeiten,  vol.  v.  s.  296,  297. 

4.  Chrysost.  Hom.  in  Ps.  xli.  and  Ps  xcii. 

5.  August.  Confess,  lib.  ix.  c.  9.  p.  118. 

CHAPTER  XVn. 

OF  THE  USE  OF  THE  SCRIPTUBES  IN  REUGIOUS  WORSHIP. 

1 1.  Preliminary  Remarks,  p.  338. 

1.  Chr.  Fr.  Walch's  Kritische  Untersuchung  vom. 

Gebrausclie  der  heligen  Schrift  unter  den 
alten  Christen  in  den  drey  ersten  Jahrhun- 
derten.  Leipzig,  1779.  8;  K.  A.  Credner.  Anse- 
hen  u.  Gebrauch  der  neutestam.  Schriften  en 
den  beyden  ersten  Jahrhunderten.  S.  Beytr. 
zur  Eiuleitung  in  die  biblirchen  Schriften. 
B.  I.  18.32.  S.  s.  1-92;  Leand.  van  Ess,  Aus- 
xiige  ausden  heil.  Vatern  and  auderen  Leh- 
rern  der  kathol.  kirche  iiber  das  northweu- 
dige  und  ntlzliche  Bibellesen?  zur  Aufmun- 
terung  der  Katholiken.  Leipzig,  1808.  8. 
Zweyte  Ausgabe.  Sulzbach,  1816.  8;  Guil. 
Ern.  Tentzel ;  de  ritu  Lcctionum  sacraruui. 
Viteb.  1685.  4;  Jo.  Andr.  .Schmid,  de  I'riuiili- 
va;  Ecclesiae  Lectionibus.  Helms!.  161)7.  4;  De 
Lectionariis  Utriusque  Ecclesist.  ibid.  1703.  4. 

2.  Apolog.  i.  c.  67.  p.  222.  ed.  Oberth. 

3.  Apolog.  c.  39  ;  Ad  Uxorem.  lib.  ii.  c.  6 ;  De  Ani- 

ma. c.  9. 

4.  Apnl.  c.  39. 

5.  De  Anima.  e. 

6.  Tertull.  de  Pra>script.  Ilaeret.  c.  41 ;  Cyp.  Epist 

34.  33. 

7.  ApoEt.  Constit.  lib.  ii.  c.  25.  c.  67 ;  Origen,  con 


608 


INDEX   OF   AUTHORITIES. 


tra  Cels.  iii.  45.  50 ;  Tluetii  Comment.  Orig.  in 
S.  S.  p.  8. 108 ;  Chrysost.  Horn,  in  John ;  Uom. 
viii.  in  Ep.  ad  Ileb. ;  Horn,  in  Pentac.  tom. 
iii.  p.  85— SS. 

8.  Apost.  Constit.  lib.  ii  c  59.  lib.  Tiii.  c.  5.  lib.  v. 

c.  19;  Theocloret.  h.  e.  lib.  i.  c.  7  ;  Concil.  Laod. 
c.  59:  Carthflg.  iii.  c.  47  :  Chalced.  c.  13.  14: 
Tolet.  i.  c.  2;  Vasense,  ii.  c.  3;  Valentin,  c. 
1.  etc. 

9.  Laodic.  c.  59;  Concil.  Carthag.  iii.  c.  47;  Cyril 

of  Jerusalem,  Cateche.s.  iv.  c.  33 ;  Rufini.  Ex- 
posit.  Symbol.  Ap.  c.  37.  38. 

10.  Euseb.  h.  e.  lib.  ii.  c.  '23 ;  Hieron.  Ep.  ad  Dardan. 

0pp.  tom.  iii.  p.  46;  Gregor.  ^y.ss.  Orat.  in 
8uum  ilrdin. 

11.  J.  Miinchers  Ilandbuch  der  Christl.  Dogmen- 

Gesch.  Th.  iii.  s.  75.  ff. 

12.  Mabillon,  de  Liturg.  Gal.  lib.  ii.  p.  1.37  et  seq. 
1.3.  Euseb.  h.  e.  tI.  14.  iii.  25.  iii.  3.  iii.  Iti.  iv.  23.  iv. 

15;  August.  Serm.  xii.DeSancti.s;  De  Divers. 
45.  63.  101-3.  109. 

2.  Of  the  Order  in  which  the.  Scriptures  wei'e 
read,  p.  340. 

1.  Athana.'.  Apolou'.  ii.  contra  Arian.  p.  717  ;  Au- 

gust, in  Ps.  cxxxviii.  p.  t50 ;  August.  Serm. 
143.  144. 

2.  Tertull.  adv.  Marc.  lib.  iv.  c.  2.  lib.  v.  c.  3;  De 

Praescript.  Uajret.  c.  36;  Irena;us  Hwres.  lib. 
iii.  c.  29. 

3.  August.  Expos,  in  1  John,  tom.  ix.  235. 

4.  August.  Serm.  139.  140.  194.  148. 

6.  August.  Tractat.  vii.  in  Joan.  tom.  ix.  p.  24; 
Chrysost.   Hom.  63.  (66.) 

6.  Concil.  Tolet.  iv.  c.  16. 

7.  Chrysost.  Hom.  7.  ad  Popul.  Antioch;  August. 
Ser'm.  71.  De  Temp. 

§  3.  0/"  the  Mode  of  Designatinq  the  Divisions  and 
Lessons,  p.  342. 

1.  Hug's  Einlcit.  in  N.  T.  The.  i.  s.  243.  266;  Za- 
cagni  Collectan.  Monum.  Vet.  Eccl.  Gr.  et 
Lat.  tom.  i.  p.  401 ;  Gallandi  Bibl.  Pair.  tom.  x. 

(}  4.  Of  the  Manner  of  Riading  t!ie  Scriptures,  p.  342. 

1.  Confession,  lib.  x.  c.  33. 

2.  Concil.  Carthag.  iii.  c.  4;  August,  op.  155;  De 

Civit.  Dei.  22.  c.  8;  Chry.sost.  Hom.  in  Coloss. 
iii.  p.  173. 

3.  Chrysost.  Hom.  iii.  in  2  Thess.  p.  381. 

4.  S.  Gavauti  Thesaur.  tom.  i.  p.  90-94. 

5.  Lib.  ii.  c.  57. 

6.  Serm.  xxvi.  ex.  L.  tom.  viii.  p.  174;  Selvaggii. 

Antiq.  Clin.  Instit.  lib.  ii.  p.  1. 

7.  Chrysost.  Hom.  i.  in  Matt.  p.  13. 

8.  Contra  Vigil,  e.  3;  Vgl.  c.  4. 

?  5.  Of  the  Psaller,  p.  346. 

1.  Concil.  Tolet.  vii.  c.  10 ;  Concil.  Nicaen.  ii. 

2.  Athanas.  ad  Alarcell.  tom.  i.  p.  959;  Ambros.  in 
Ps.  Dav.  I'rasf.  0pp.  p.  1270. 

3.  Concil.  Tolosat.  A.  D.  1129.  c.  12;  Hard.  tom.  ii. 

part  ii. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

OF   HOMnjES. 

g  1.  Central  Remarks,  Names,  etc.  p.  348. 

1.  Bern.  Eschenburg's  Versuch  einer  Geschiclite 

der  f»ffentlichcu  Iteligions-Vortriii^e  iu  dei 
Gricchi-iohcn  und  l,atcinisohen  Kirchr-  von 
don  y.cilfn  Christi  bis  zur  Kcformation.  Erster 
Hauptaliscbnitt  vonChristobisChrysostomus 
und  Augu'itin.  Jena.  1786.  8;  H.Th.  Tz>chir- 
ner:  De  Claris  Ecclesiae  A'eteris  Oratoribus. 
Commentat.  i.-ix.  Lips.  1817-1821.  4. 

2.  S.  Camp.  Vitringa  do  i^ynagogue.  Vet.  p.  580  et 

seq.  690  et  seq. ;  Rhempherdus  de  Decern. 
Gliosis,  p.  226. 

3  Apol.  i.  c.  67.  p.  222.  ed.  Oberth. 

4  Apologet.  Adr.  Gent.  c.  39. 


5.  Lib.  ii.  c.  57.  Comp.  S.  Coteler.  a.  a.  0.  n.  1 ;  J. 

L.  Selvaggii  Anliq.  Chr.  Institut.  lib.  ii.  p.  1. 

6.  Lib.  ii.  c.  5^^.  lib.  c.  19. 

7.  S.  Patr.  Apost.  ed.  Cot.  edit.  Amstelod.  1724.  f. 

tom.  1.  p.  621  et  seq. 

§  2.   Of  those  by  whom  the  Homilies  were  delivered, 
p.  3.50. 

1.  Apolog.  c.  67.  ed.  Oberth.  p.  222;  Rutin.  Hist. 

Eccl.  lib.  ii.  c.  11;  Paulin.  A'ita.  Ambros. 

2.  Theodor.  h.  e.  iv.  c.  6.  7. 

3.  Hom.  X.  in  1  Ep.  ad  Tim.  p.  454. 

4.  Sozomen.  Hist.  Eccl.  lib.  viii.  c.  27. 

5.  Poseidii.  Vita.  August  c.  5;  Chrysost.  Hom.  in 

2  Tit.  X.  iu  1  Tim.  iu. 

6.  Euseb.  Eccl.  Hist.  lib.  8.  c.  19. 

7.  Concil.  Vaseus.  ii.  c.  2.  A.  D.  529;  S.  Gregor.  M. 

Pra?fat.  ad  lib.  xl.  Hom.  in  Evangel,  ad  Secund. 
und  Jo.  DiaconiVit. ;  Gregor.  M.  lib.  ii.  c.  18; 
Euseb.  e.h.  lib.  vi.  c.  19;  Euseb.  Vit.  Constant, 
lib.  iv.  e.  29-34. 

8.  Apost.  Constit.  lib.  iii.  c.  9. 

9.  De  Prfcscript.  c.  41 ;  De  Bapt.  c.  17 ;  De  Veland. 

A'irgin.  c.  9. 

10.  Coucil.  Carthag.  c.  98. 

11.  Concil.  Carthag.  c.  99. 


2  3.  Of  the  Frequency  of  Sermons,  p.  352. 


1.  Gaudentius  Tract,  v.;  August.  Tr.  in  Ps. 86. 

2.  Apost.  Constit.  lib.  ii.  c.  57 ;  Concil.  Laodic.  c.  19; 

Concil.  Aureliim.  c.  3;  August.  Serm.  237; 
De  Tem.  Serm.  49. 

3.  Basil.  M.  in  Hexa>m.  Hom.  2.  9 ;  Chry.sost.  Hom. 

X.  in  Gen.  Hom.  9.  et  10.  ad  Antioch.;  Socrat. 
h.  e.  lib.  V.  c.  21. 

g  4.  Of  the  Length  of  Sermons,  p.  S53. 

1.  Hnmil.  Ixiii.  p.  C05. 

2.  Bingham,  vol.vi.  p.  513. 

g  5.  Of  the  Position  of  the  Preacher,  p.  353. 

1.  Socrates,  h.  e.  lib.  vi.  c.  5;  Sozomen,  h.  e.  lib. 
viii.  c.  5;  August,  de  Civit.  Dei.  lib.  xiii.  8; 
Ep.  226.  253.^ 

g  6.  Of  the  Mode  of  Delivery,  p.  354. 

1.  August.  S.  Hom.L.  Serm.  26;  Serm.de  Diversis; 

Serm.  49 :  De  Ciitecbiz.  Rudibus.  c.  13 ;  Euseb. 
de  Vita  Constant,  lib.  iv.  c.  33. 

2.  Hom.  iii.  de  Incomprehens.  tom.  viii.  p.  407; 

Hom.  iii.  in  1  Thess.  p.  381. 

3.  Greg.  Naz.  Orat.  2;  Opp.  tom.  i.  ed.  Colon,  p. 

46;  Casarius  Arelatensis.  Hom.  xii. 

4.  Cyp.  de  Vit.  C'aesarii,  c.  12. 

5.  Concil.  Carthag.  c.  24. 

6.  Ferrarius  de  Concion.  Kit.  p.  287  et  seq.;  Bing- 

ham, vol.  vi.  p.  525.  526. 

7.  Euseb.  h.  e.  lib.  vii.  c.  30 ;  Chrysost.  Hom.  xxx. 

in  Act.  Apost.;  Greg.  Naz.  Orat.  32;  p.  510; 
Augu.st.  Hom.  L. ;  Serm.  25 ;  Serm.  de  Temp. 
45 ;  Doctr.  Chr.  vi.  24-26. 

8.  Socrat.  h.  e.  lib.  vi.  c.  4 ;  Sozcmen,  h.  e.  lib.  viii. 

c.  27 ;  Greg.  Naz.  Orat.  32.  p.  528. 

9.  Euseb.  h.  e.  lib.  vii.  c.  30. 

iT.  Of  the  Omstrvction  of  the  Sermon,  p.  356. 

1.  Serm.  121.  Comp.  Tractat.  15  in  Joann.;  Trac 
tat.  36.  40. 

2.  Axigust.  de  Doctr.  Chr.  lib.  iv.  c.  15;  Serm.  4C; 

De  Temp.  Serm.  15 :  De  Verb.  Apost. ;  Gregor. 
M.  19.  in  Ezech.  p.  1144. 

3.  Chrysost.  Hom.  4.  11.  12.  13.  20;  3d  in  Ep.  ad 

Coloss. :  Apost.  Constit.  lib.  vii.  c.  5. 

4.  Optat.  Milevit.  de  S(hism.  Dom.  lib.  iii.  fin  7. 
6.  Bingham,  vol.  vi.  p.  490;  Comp.  Gret-'or.  Naz. 

Orat.  1.  de  Fuga.  p.  15;  Hom.  de  Bi:pt.  Chr. 
•    tom.  i.  p.  276.  ed.  Tr. 

J  8.  Of  the  Subjects  of  Discourse  by  the  Fothers, 
p.  358. 

1.  Orat.  de  Fuga.  p.  16. 


INDEX   OF   AUTHORITIES. 


609 


1 9.  Of  the,  HomCies  in  the  Eastern  and  Western 
Churches,  p.  3u8. 

1.  Apost.  and  Prim.  Ch.  c.  xiii.  p.  391-411. 
CHAPTER  XIX. 

OP  BAPTISM. 

^  1.  Sistorical  Sketch,  p.  362. 

1.  Tractat.  5.  in  Joann.  c.  18. 
2  De  Spir.  S.  lib.  i.  c.  3;  Comp.  Cyp.  Epist.  73.  ad 
Jubaj. 

3.  Cyril.  Hieros.  Catech.  Ill;  Chrysost.  Horn.  6. 

in  Coloss.  Serm.  10. 

4.  Comp.  Petr.  Zoruii,  Historia  Eucharistias  In- 

fantum. Chr.  E.  Weismann,  De  Prtepostera 
Eucharistia?  reductioue. 

5.  TertuU.  de  Bap.  c.  15;  Cyp.  Ep.  7,  3,  ad  Jubaj. 

de  Unitate  Eccl.  p.  112. 

6.  De  Bap.  c.  15 ;  Comp.  de  Praescript.  Ilasr.  c.  U. 

c  37  ;  De  Pudicit.  c.  19.  40. 
7-  Concil.  Arelat.  1.  c.  8;   Concil.  Nic.  c.  8.  19; 

Coneil.  Trull,  c.  55;  Concil.  Constant.  1.  c.  7; 

Concil.  Laodic.  c.  7.  8. 
8.  Optatus  MUevit  de  Scbismat.  Donat.  lib.  i.  c.  2. 

c.  10.  T.  c.  3.  6.  8;  August,  de  Bap.  contra 

Donat.  lib.  iv.  c.  17. 1.  c.  3;  Fulgentius  Kusp. 

de  i'ide,  c  29. 

ii-  Of  Vnscriptural  Formalities  and  Doctrines  re- 
lating to  Baptism,  p.  367. 

1.  Pastor.  HermiP.  Vis.  iii.  A.  Simil.  Lx. 

2.  Iren.  iii.  c.  17.  (19.) 

3.  Adv.  Haeres.  c.  18. 

4.  Apost.  Constit.  vii.  c.  42. 

5.  Cyp.  ep.  76. 

6.  Lib.  vii.  c.  43 

7.  Tertull.  de  Coron.  Mil.  c.  3;  Hieron.  in  Esai. 

55.1. 

8.  Justin  Mar.  Apol.  J  72. 

9.  Min.  Felix,  'i  29. 

10.  Tertull.  de  Coron.  MU.  c.  3. 

'i  0.  OfOic  Names  by  which  the  Ordinance  is  desiff- 
naied,  p.  373. 

1.  Clemens.  Alex.  Paedag.  lib.  i.  c.  6 ;  Justin  Mar. 

Apol.  1.  c.  61 ;  Tertull.  de  Bap.  c.  5.  7.  16. 

2.  CyrU,  Hieros.  Procatech.  ^  16;   Gregor.  Naz. 

Orat.  40;  Joh.  Damasc.  de  Fide  Urth.  iv.  19; 
Optat.  Mil.  lib.  v.  p.  80 ;  Justin  Mart.  Apol. 
1.  c.  61-67;  Tertull.  de  Bap.  tom.  ii.  p.  40-57. 
ed.  Oberth.  adv.  Prax.  26;  Const.  Apost.  lib. 
ii.  c.  7.  lib.  c.  9.  11.  16.  17.  18.  lib.  7.  c.  22.  lib. 
c.  32;  Greg.  Naz.  Ei'j  to  iytov  jiaTrriaiia, 
Orat.  CyrU.  Hieros.  Catech.  Mystag.  1  et  Ii. 

g  6.  Of  Infant  Baptism,  p.  374. 

1.  CTirysost.  Hom.  40.  in  Gen. 

2.  ated  by  Schiine.  ii.  p.  270. 

3.  Hom.  8.  on  Levit.  c.  xii. 

4.  Hom.  on  Luke  xiv. 

6.  Comment,  on  Epist.  to  the  Romans,  lib.  5. 

6.  Apol.  2.  p.  62.  94;  Dial.  Tryph.  p.  315.  362. 

7.  Lib.  i.  Vision  3.  c.  3;  lib.  iii.  Simil.  9.  n.  16. 

8.  Ep.  i.  ad  Corinth,  n.  17. 

9.  Taylor  on  Baptism,  p.  55-56. 

2  7.  Of  Limitations  and  Exceptions,  p.  387. 

1.  Concil.  Carthag.  3.  c.  5 ;  Decret.  Cod.  Eccl.  Afric. 

c.  18. 

2.  Greg.  Naz.  Orat.  40.  de  Bap. 

3.  Adv.  Marcion.  lib.  v.  c.  10. 

4.  Horn.  40.  in  Cor. 
o.  Haeres.  28.  c.  6. 

6.  Concil.  Colon.  A.  D.  1281.  c.  4;  Concil.  Laod.  a.d. 

1287.  0.  2 ;  Concil.  Turin.  A.  D.  1310.  c.  114. 

7.  Ep.  69.  (76.)  ad  .Magn. 

8.  Constit.  Apost.  lib.  viii.  c.  32;  Concil.  Illiber.  c. 

37.29;  Araus.  1.  c.  12.  etc. 

9.  Timoth.  Alex.  Kespons.  c.  3 ;  Cassian.  Collat.  lib. 

vii.  c.  30. 


89 


10.  Cyp.  ep.  76.  August,  de  Adult.;  Conj.  lib.  i. 

Confess,  lib.  iv.  c.  4;  Cyril  of  Alexandria  in 
Joann.  11;  Fulgentius,  De  Bapt.  ^th.  c.  8; 
Euseb.  Ecol.  Hist.  lib.  vi.  c.  43;  Concil.  Neo. 
Caesar,  c.  1. 

11.  Bingham,  bk.  ii.  c.  5.  §  2. 

12.  S.  Gregor.  Turon.  Hist.  Franc,  lib.  vi.  c.  17 ;  S. 

Caroli.  M.  Capitul.  iii.  a.  d.  769:  Concil.  Tolet. 
4.  c.  56. 

13.  Concil.  Carthag.  4.  c.  6.  Leo.  M.  ep.  90.  92 ;  ad 

Rustic.  Gregor.  ii.  Ep.  i.  ad  Bonif. 

14.  Constit.  Apost.  lib.  viii.  c.  32;  Tertull.  deldolat. 

11;  De  Spectac.  c.  22;  Adv.  Hermog.  c.  7. 

15.  Concil.  Illiber.  c.  62 ;  Concil.  Carthag.  3.  c.  35 ; 

Cyp.  ep.  61 ;  August,  de  Civ.  Dei.  ii.  14. 

16.  Concil.  Arelat.  1.  c.  4 ;  Hieron.  Vit.  Hilar,  c.  13. 

17.  Concil.  Laodic.  c.  36;  Concil.  Trull,  c.  61 ;  Chry- 
sost. Hom.  13.  in.  Ep.  ad  Eph. ;  Hom.  8.  in  Ep. 
ad  Coloss. ;  Hom.  6.  adv.  Jud.;  ConcU.  Tolet.  1. 
c.  17. 

18.  De  Spectat.  c.  22. 

19.  De  Civ.  Dei.  lib.  ii.  c.  14. 

20.  De  Arte  Gymnastica,  lib.  i.  cap.  3.  p.  12. 

21.  Bingham,  bk.  ii.  c.  6.  §  6.  9. 

g8.  Of  Ministers  of  Baptism, -p.  Z^. 

1.  Clemens.  Alex.  Hypoth.  lib.  v.  Nicephorus.  h. 

e.  lib.  ii.  c.  3. 

2.  Lib.  iii.  c.  2.  Comp.  Jerome  Dial. :  adv.  Lucif.  c. 

4;  Synod.  Roman,  ad  Gall.  Episc.  c.  7.  ed. 
Hard.;  Concil.  Hispal.  2.  A.D.  619. 

3.  Justin  Mar.  Apol.  i.  c.  67. 

4.  Hieron.  adv.  Pelag.  lib.  i. 

2  9.  Of  the  Times  of  Baptism,  p.  392. 

1.  De  Bapt.  c.  19. 

2.  Leo  M.  Epist.  4.  ad  Sicil.  ep.;  Siricius,  Ep.  ad 

Himmer.  c.  2 ;  Socrat.  h.  e.  lib.  i.  c.  5 ;  Ambros. 
de  Myst.  Paschal,  c.  5;  August.  Serm.  de 
Temp.  160. 

3.  Concil.  Antissiodor.  a.d.  578.  c.  18;  Concil. Ma- 

tiscon.  2.  c.  3;  Gelasius  Epist.  9. 

4.  Euseb.  Vit.  Constant,  lib.  iv.  c.  22.  comp.  c.  57 ; 

Greg.  Naz.  Orat.  42.  Gregor.  Nyss.  Orat.  4; 
Socrat.  e.  h.  lib.  vii.  c.  5 ;  Cyril.  Hierosol.  I'ro- 
catech.  c.  15. 

5.  Opp.  tom.  ii.  p.  3C7  et  seq. 

6.  De  Bap.  e.  19.  comp.  also  Basil.  M. ;  Hom.  13. 

Exhortat.  ad  Bapt.  Chrysost.  Hom.  in  Act.; 
August,  de  Quadrages.  Serm.  6. 

1 10.  Of  the  Place  of  Baptism,  p.  393. 

1.  Apolog.  1.  c.  61. 

2.  Horn.  9. 19. 

3.  De  Bapt.  c.  4. 

4.  Gesta  S.  Marcelli  in  Surii  Vit.  s.  d.  16. 

5.  Eccl.  Hist.  lib.  x.  c.  4 ;  De  Vit.  S.  Constant,  lib. 

iii.  c.  50. 

6.  Catech.  Mystag.  i.  ii.;  ii.  i. 

7.  De  Init.  c.  2.  5;  De  Sacram.  lib.  iii.  c.  2.  ep.  33. 

8.  De  Civ.  Dei.  lib.  22.  c.  8. 

9.  Duranti.  Rit.  Eccl.  lib.  i.  c.  19. 

§  11.  Of  the  Element  of  Baptism,  p.  395. 

1.  Tertull.  de  Bap.  c.  3.  4.  5 ;  Ambros.  de  Initat. 

mystar.  c.  4;  De  Sacr.  lib.  iii.  c.  11 ;  Cyp.  de 
Bap.  Chr.  c.  4:  Basil.  M.  in  Ps.  23;  Gregor. 
Naz.  Orat.  40 ;  Chr)  .sost.  Ilnm.  35.  in  John  5. 
Hom.  in  Acts ;  August,  ep.  '£i.  ad  Bonif  Tract, 
ii.  in  John ;  Cyril.  Hieros.  Catech.  3.  c.  5  ;  Joh. 
Damas.  de  Fide.  Orth.  lib.  2.  c.  9. 

2.  Tertull.de  Bap. c.  4;  Cyp.  ep.70;  Constit.  Apost. 

lib.  7.  c.  43;  Dyonis.  Aness.  de  Heir.  cat.  3; 
Ambros.  de  Sacr.  1.  c.  5.  2.  c.  5;  Ba.«il.  M.  de 
Spir.  s.  27 ;  August,  de  Bap.  iii.  10.  v.  2.  vi.  25. 

g  12.  Of  the  Mode  and  Form  of  Baptism,  p.  395. 

1.  Ilcnr.  Pontani  Dissertatt.  de  ritu  mersionis  in 
sacro  bapt.  Trajecti.  1705.  4;  Jo.  Gill,  the 
ancient  mode  of  baptizing  by  Immersioa  etc. 


610 


INDEX   OF   AUTHORITIES. 


Lond.  1726.  8 ;  G.  Ge.  Zeltner,  De  Mersione  in 
Baptismo  Apostolica  Larga  Perfusione  Instau- 
randa.  AlUl.  1720.  1725.  4;  Jo.  Eartholiiii. 
Dissert,  de  Baptismo  per  Adspersionem  Legi- 
time Administrato.    Harniie.  1557.  4. 

Brenner's  Geseliichtl.  Darstellung  der  Verrich- 
tung  dcr  Taufe,  etc.  1818.  s.  1-70. 

Mxiratori.  Liturg.  Rom.  Vet.  torn.  ii. 

AdT.  Prax.  c.  26;  De  Coron.  Mil.  c.  3. 

De  Spiritu  Sancto,  e.  27. 

Adv.  Lufif.  c.  4.  Comment  in  Ep.  Eph.  4. 

De  Sacr.  2.  c.  6. 

Cyril.  Hieros.  Catech.  Mystag.  2.  c.  4;  Gregor. 
Nyss.  in  De  Bapt.  Chr.  Athanas.  De  Prabol. 
Scr.  Quaest.  94 ;  Leo  Mag.  Ep.  ad  Episc.  Sic.  c.  3. 

Gregor.  Mag.  ep.  lib.  i.  ep.  41. 

Concil.  Tolet.  4.  c.  5. 

Ambros.  Ser.  20 ;  Cyril.  Hieros.  Catech.  Mystag. 
2.  2;  Chrysost.  Horn.  6.  Ep.  ad  Coloss.  Ep.  1. 
ad  Innocent ;  Athanas.  Ep.  ad  Orthodox  Comp. 

Vasx.  de  Bapt.  Di.^putat. 

Leo  AUat.  Eccl.  Occid.  et  Orient.  Con.  lib.  iii.  c. 
12.  ii;  Alex,  de  Stourdza.  Considerationes 
sur  la  Doctrine  et  TEsprit  de  I'Eglise  Ortho- 
doxe. 

Jo.  Ciampini.  Monument.  Vet.  part  ii. ;  Mabil- 
lon.  Mus.  Jtal.  torn.  i.  Brenners  Geschichtl. 
Darstell.  s.  14-16. 

Summa.  p.  3.  quipst.  66.  art.  7. 

De  Bapt.  lib.  vi.  c.  25. 

Apol.  ].  c.  61. 

De  Bapt.  c.  13.  adv.  Praxeam.  c.  26. 

Ep.  73.  ad  Jubaj.  0pp.  torn.  i.  ed.  Oberth.  p.  233. 

Apost.  Constit.  lib.  iii.  c.  16;  Canon,  c.  49; 
Comp.  Bingham,  bk.  ii.  c.  3. 

Ambros.  De  Sacrament,  lib.  c.  ult. 

Bingham,  bk.  ii.  c.  3.  §  3. 


i  13.  Of  the.  Rites  connected  witfi  Baptism,  p.  399. 

1.  Ambros.  de  Sacrament,  lib.  ii.  c.  2;  De  Initial. 

c.  2;  August,  de  Symbolo  ad  Catech.  lib.  ii.  c. 
1.;  Hieron.  Cora,  in  Amos,  6. 14  ;  Gregor.  Naz. 
Orat.  40.  De  Bapt.  p.  670.  ed.  Par.;  Chrysost. 
Ilom.  6.  in  Ep. ad  Coloss.;  Horn,  ad  Pop.  .\nt. 
p.  237.  Constit.  Apost.  lib.  vii.  c.  41 ;  Justin 
Mar.  Apol.  1.  c.  61.  Apol.  11.  p.  93;  Bingham, 
bk.  ii.  c.  7.  g  6;  Jos.  Vicecomitis,  De  Kitibus 
Bap.  lib.  ii.  c.  27. 

2.  Mart.  Chladenii   Dissert,  de  Abrenuntiatione 

Baptismali.  Viteb.  1713.  4:  Th.  StoUe.  de 
Orij^ine  E.xorcismi  in  Bapt.  JensE,  1735. 4 ;  Jo. 
Chr.  Wernsdorf.  de  Vera  Ratione  Exorcismo- 
rum  Eccl.  Veteris.  Viteb.  1749.  4;  J.  M. 
Kratft's  Ausrilhrliche  Historie  vom  Exorcis- 
mo.  Hamburg.  1750.  8. 

3.  Uenke's   All.   Gesch.  der  Chr.  Kirche,  i.  97; 

Stark's  Gesrh.  des  ersten  Jahr.  torn.  iii.  p.  203 ; 
Schrockh's  Chr.  Kirchengesch.  torn.  iv.  s.  25; 
Optatus  Milevit  de  8chi.<m  Donat.  lib.  xxiv.  c. 
6;  Basil  M.  de  Spiritu  Sancto.  c.  '27;  Gregor. 
Naz.  Orat.  40. 

4.  August,  de  Fide,  ad  Catechumen,  2. 1. 

5.  Chryst.  Hum.  ad  Baptiz. ;  Concil.  Constant.  Sub. 

Meun.  act.  6. 

6.  Cyril.  Hieros.  Catech.  Mystag.  i.  ?  2;  Pseudo 

Dionys.de  Hierarch.  Eccl.  c.  2;  Greg.  Naz. 

Orat.  40 ;  Ambrose,  De  Initiat.  c.  2 ;  De  Mys- 

ter.  c.  3;  Hieron.  in  Amos,  6. 14. 
I .  Apost.  Constit.  lib.  vii.  c.  41 ;  Tertull.  de  Cor. 

Mil.  c.  3;  Cyp.  ep.  vii.;  DcLapsis;  Jerome, 

Com.  in  Matt.  xxv. 
S.  Asfsemani  Codex.  Liturg.  lib.  ii.  c.  1.  ?l-5. 
'A  Clemens  Alex.  Stromal,  i.  p.  319 ;  August.  Serm. 

212. 
jO.  TcrtuU.  de  Coron.  Milit.  c.  3;  De  Resurrec.  c. 

48:  Kuseb.  Eccl.  Hist.  7.  c.  5;  Cyp.  Epist.  76. 

sd  Magnum. 

11.  Comp.  Tertull.  Apol.  39. 

12.  Torrey's  Trans,  i.  309. 

1  !.  Apost.  Constit.  lib.  iii.  c.  17 :  Cyp.  ad  Demet.  de 
Unitato  Eccl.;  Cyp.  ep.  1.  al.  l\iii. ;  Hieron. 
••p.  cxiii.;  August.  Serm.  de  Temp.  101;  As- 
b^iQiuii.  Cod.  Liturg.  lib.  i.  p.  43. 


14.  Pseudo  Ambrosius.  de  Sacram.  lib.  1.  c.  2;  Jus- 

tin Kespons.  ad  Orthodox.  Quaest.  137;  Apost. 
Constit.  lib.  ii.  c.  22.        ' 

Ceremonies  after  Baptism. 

15.  Cyp.  ep.  64.  al  59 ;  August,  contra  Ep.  Pel.  iv. 

c.  8 ;  Chrysost.  Serm.  50.  Util.  Leg.  Script. 

16.  Concil.  Araus.  c.  2;  Innocent  i. Ep.ad  Descent. 

Eugub.  Brenner,  s.  97. 

17.  Cvril.  Hieros.  Catech.  Mystag.  vi.  g  8 ;  Euseb. 

"Vit.  Constant.  4.  62 ;  Socrat.  h.  e.  5.  8  ;  Sozo- 
men.  h.  e.  7.  8  ;  Greg.  Naz.  Orat.  39 ;  Paladins. 
Vit.  Chrysost.  c.  9.  Jerome,  ep.  57.  78. 128 ; 
August.  Serm.  232. 

18.  Gregor.  Orat.  40;  Baron.  Annal.  401 ;  Ambroa. 

de  Laps.  Virg.  Sacr.  c.  5 ;  Gregor.  Turon.  Hist. 
I'ranc.  lib.  v.  c.  2. 

§14.  Of  Sponsors, -p.  iOZ. 

1.  De  Bapt.  c.  8. 

2.  Ep.  23.  ad  Bonif. ;  De  Peccator.  Merit,  lib.  i.  c. 

34;  Serm.  116;  De  Temp.  163;  DeTemp.de 
Bapt.  lib.  iv.  c.  24. 

3.  August.  Serm.  116;  De  Temp.  torn.  x.  p.  304; 

Epist.  23.  ad  Bonif. 

4.  De  Hier.  Eccl.  c.  2. 

5.  Hom.  in  Ps. 

6.  Hen.  Cyrop.  lib.  i. c.  6;  Theophrast.  Ethic,  c.  12. 

7.  De  Hierarch.  Eccl.  c.  2. 

8.  Serm.  163.  De  Temp.;  Comp.  116.  De  Temp.; 

Ep.  ad  Bonif.  de  Peccator.  Merit,  lib.  i.  c.  34. 

lib.  Of  yames given  at  Baptism,  ■p.  406. 

1.  D.    Mart.    Luther's   NaUmen-Buchlein.    1537 ; 

Neu  edirt  mit  Anmerk.  von  Godofr.  Wegener. 
Lips.  1674.  8;  Jo.  Henr.  Stu.ss,  de  Nominum 
Mutatioue  Sacra.  Goth.  1735.  4;  H.  A.  Mein- 
ders,  dc  Nominibus  et  Cognominibus  Ger- 
manorum  et  Aliorum  Populorum  Septentr. 
Vet.  S.  Miscell.  Lips.  tom.  vi.  p.  1  et  seq. ; 
Catalogus  Nominum  pr.  in  Goldasti  Antiq. 
Alcmann.  tom.  ii.  p.  92  et  seq. 

2.  Baron.  Annal.  a.d.  259. 

3.  Soc.  Eccl.  Hi.st.  lib.  vii.  c.  21. 

4.  Cyril.  Hieros.  Procatech.  and  Catech.  3 ;  Gregor. 

Nyss.  Orat.  in  Cos. qui  Differ.  Bapt.;  August. 
Confess,  lib.  ix. 

CHAPTER  XX. 

OF    C0?fFmM.\T10X. 

§  2.  Of  Ministers  of  Confirmation  and  the  Attendr 
ing  Rites,  p.  410. 

1.  Geschichtliche  Daxstellung,  1820. 

1 3.  Of  the  Administration  of  the  Rite  of  Confirma- 
tion, p.  410. 

1.  Ed.  Martene.  de  Antiq.  Eccl.  Rit.  lib.  i.  c.  2.  art. 

4 ;  Aiiscmani  Cod.  Liturg.  Univers.  lib.  iii. 

2.  Lib.  iii.  c.  17.  vii.  c.  22.  44.  45. 

3.  Catech.  Mystflg.  3. 

4.  Innocent,  ep.  1.  ad  Decent,  c.  3;  Martin  Bruch- 
aren.  c.  52 ;  Concil  Constant,  i.  c.  7. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

OF  THE  lord's  Sl'PPER. 

§  1.  Of  the  ifames  or  Appellations,  p.  412. 

1.  Suiceri  Observat.  Sacr.  p.  91 :  Casauboni  Ex- 

ercit.  16.  ad  Baronii.  Annsd.  p.  450  et  seq.; 
.To.  Gerhardi  Loc.  Thool.  tom.  x.  p.  3. 

2.  Ad  Uxor.  lib.  ii.  c.  4. 

3.  Jo.  Gerhard.  Loc.  Theol.  tom.  x.  p.  4.  5;  Corpu.s 

.Turis  Keel.  Saxon,  s.  136.  137. 

4.  Justin  .Mar.  Apol.  i.  c.  65.  66.  p.  2'20  :  Iren.  adv. 

Ha?res.  lib.  iv.  c.  34;  Clem.  al.  I'a'dag.  lib.  ii. 
c.  2.  p.  178. 

5.  Constit.  Apost.  lib.  viii.  c.  13. 


INDEX    OF   AUTHORITIES. 


611 


6.  Chr.  Matth.  VfuS.  Xotse  in  Irentei  Fragmenta 

Anecdota.  Hag;*,  1715.  8.  p.  12S. 

7.  De  Ilierarch.  Ecol.  c.  3. 

8.  Jo.  Gerhard,  x.  p.  8. 

9.  Bona,  Ker.  Lituro:.  lib.  ii.  c.  1.  p.  2.  ed.  Colon.; 

S.  Steph.  Duranti.  de  Ptit.  Eocl.  Cath.  lib.  xxi. 
1 :  Gerhard.  Loc.  Tlieol.  x.  p.  10 ;  Isidor.  Ilis- 
pal.  Etymol.  lib.  \i.  c.  19;  Guil.  Durandi 
Kation.  Div.  Off.  lib.  iv.  c.  1. 

§  2.  0/  the  Scriptural  Account  of  the  Lard's  Sup- 
per, p.  418. 

1.  Dav.  Blondel,  de  Eucharistia  Vet.  Eccl.  1640. 4 : 

J.  A.  Quenste<U,  De  s.  Eucharistiae  in  Primi- 
tiva  Eccl.  Usitata.  171.5.  8:  Fr.  Brenner's 
Geschichtliche  Dar.'stellung  der  Verrichtung 
und  Ausspendung  der  EucharLstie,  von  ChrLs- 
tus  bis  auf  unsere  Zeiten  u.  s.  w.  Bamberg. 
1824.  8. 

2.  Epiphanius.  Hasres.  70. 

3.  Hug.  Introduc.  to  X.  T.  ii.  §  52. 

4.  Horn.  83.  in  Matt. 

5.  De  Doctrina  Christ,  lib.  ii.  c.  9 ;  J.  Fr.  Buddeus, 

Inst.  Thool.  Dogm.  p.  369;  Gerhard.  Loc. 
Theol.  torn.  x.  p.  387  ;  Witsius,  on  Covenant, 
lib.  ii.  c.  10. 

6.  Gerhard,  torn.  x.  p.  393;  J.  S.  Baumgarten,  Dis- 

sert, de  Juda.  Sacrse.  Oena".  Conviva.  Hal. 
1744.  4:  Guil.  Saldini  Otior.  Theol.  lib.ii.  Ex- 
ercit.  viii.  p.  376. 

1 3.  Of  the  Testimony  of  Pagan  Writers,  p.  4;;0. 

1.  De  Morte  Perigrini.  0pp.  torn.  vlli.  272.  ed.  Bi- 

pont. 

2.  Contra  Cel«.  lib.  i.  c.  1. 

3.  Chr.  Kortolt.  PaganusObtrectator.  Lube''.  1703. 

4.  lib.  ii.  c.  9 :  lib.  iii.  c.  9 ;  G.  Fr.  Gudii,  Pa- 
ganua,  Christianorum  Laudator  ct  Fautor. 
Lips.  1740.  p.  17.  18:  J.  H.  Bbhmer,  Diss.  xii. 
De  Juris  Eccles.  Antiqui;  Dissertat.  ir.  De 
Coitionibus  Christianorum,  ad  Capiendum  Ci- 
bum;  Stufkii  Autiq.  Convirial.  1.  i.  c.  31; 
Dallasas,  De  Cult.  Kelig.  lib.  iii.  c.  x. 

i  4.  Of  the  Testimony  of  the  Apostolical  Fathers, 
p.  420. 

1.  Adv.  Hser.  lib.  iv.  e.  18.  c.  17. 

2.  MunSL-her,  ii.  380:  IrenieiFragmenta  Anecdota; 

M.  Pfaff.  Hag.  Com.  1715.  8 ;  Fragment,  p.  26- 
28 ;  Irenasus  adv.  Hffires.  lib.  i.  c.  13 ;  v.  c.  2. 
n.  18. 

3.  Pa?dag.  lib.  ii. 

4.  Horn,  in  Exod.  H.  1.3. 

5.  De  Corona  Militis.  c.  3;  De  Resurrectione  Car- 

nis.  c.  1 ;  Comp.  Apologet.  c.  39. 

6.  Ep.  63.  ad  Caecilium  de   Sacrament.   Domini 

Calicis.  0pp.  ed.  Oberth.  torn  i.  p.  1S5-96 ;  l)c 
Orat.  Domini,  p.  147.  ed.  Brem.;  De  Lapsis, 
p.  132:  Ep.  75;  De  Bono  Patient,  p.  216;  Ep. 
58.  p.  125. 

7.  Cyril.  Hieros.  Catech.  Mystag.  v.  c.  18:  Ambros. 

de  Sacr.  lib.  iv.  c.  5:  De  Init.  c.  9;  August,  c. 
Faust,  xii.  c.  10 ;  Hieron.  Ep.  62.  etc. 

8.  Lib.  ii.  c.  28.  57 ;  lib.  iii.  c.  10 ;  lib.  v.  c.  19. 

9.  Lib.  vii.  c.  25;  lib.  viii.  c.  12-15. 

2  5.  Of  the  Times  of  Celebration,  p.  424. 

1.  Serm.  8.  in  Ps.  118. 

2.  Ep.  118.  ad  Jan.  c.  5-7. 

3.  Ad  Uxor.  lib.  ii.  c.  4. 

4.  Amalarius.  De  Divin.  Offic.  lib.  iv.  c.  30. 

0.  Canones  Apo.st. :  Hieronymus  contra  Vigil.int. 

c.  4.  7  ;  Innocent.  III.  de  Myster.  Miss.  lib.  ii. 
c.  21. 

6.  Ad  Nation,  lib.  i.  c.  13. 

7.  Apol.  i.  r.  67. 

8.  Eccl.  Hist.  lib.  5.  c.  22. 

^  6.  Oftlie  Place  of  Celebration:  p.  426. 

1.  Conoil.  Laodio.  c.  58. 

2.  Concil.  Epaon.  c.  26. 


3.  De  Schismat.  Donat.  lib.  vi.  c.  1  et  .'eq. 

4.  Victor,  de  Persec.  Vandal,  lib.  i. ;  I.'idor.  Pelns. 

lib.  i.  ep.  123 ;  Pallat.  Hist.  Lans.  Theod.  i.  31. 

5.  Theod.  Eccl.  Hist.  v.  c.  18. 

g7.  Of  the  Ministers  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  p.  427. 

1.  Apol.  i.  c.  65.  p.  220. 

2.  Ep.  ad  Smyrna. 

3.  Lib.  viii.  c."  13. 

4.  Catech.  My.stag.  cat.  5;  Pseudo  Dionys.  Areop. 

De  Hier.  Eccl.  c.  8. 

5.  Gregor.  M.  ep.  lib.  viii.  ep.  35 ;  Surii.  Vit.  S.  S. 

A.  D.  26;  Mart.  c.  33. 

6.  Diatr.de  Synod.  Epist.  Synod.  Hlyr.  S.;  Petr. 

de  Maria  Dissertat.  Sel.  torn.  iv.  p.  336.  4.  ed. 
Bamberg. 

7.  Riddle's  Chronology,  p.  143-4. 179-80. 

8.  Constit.  Apost.  lib.  viii.  13 :  Concil.  Tolet.  i.  c. 

14 ;  Ambrosius,  De  OfiSc.  lib.  i.  c.  41 ;  Hieron. 
ad  Evasr.  ep.  85. 

9.  Concil.  Arelat.  c.  15 ;  Concil.  Nic.  c.  18 ;  Hieron. 

Dialog,  contra Lucif. Epist.  85 ;  August.  QufESt. 
V.  et  N.  T.  c.  46. 

10.  Liturgia  S.  Ba.»il  ii.  by  Renaudot ;  Liturg.  Orient. 

torn.  i.  part  i.  p.  26 ;  torn.  ii.  p.  1.  47 ;  Gavanti. 
Thesaur.  torn.  i.  p.  136 ;  August,  ep.  118.  ad 
Januar.  c.  vi. ;  Socrat.  h.  e.  lib.  v.  c.  21. 

11.  Duranti.  de  Kit.  Cath.  lib.  ii.  c.  28 ;  Cyril.  Ca- 

tech. Mystag.  V.  g  2;  Const.  Apost.  lib.  vii.  c. 
11. 

g  8.  Of  the  Communicants,  p.  430. 

1.  Bk.  viii.  c.  11.  1-2. 

2.  Canones  Apost.  c.  x.  p.  443.  ed.  Cotel.  Comp. 

can.  7;  Concil.  Antioch.  c.  2. 

3.  Horn.  3.  in  Ep.   ad    Eph.  Caesarius.   Arelat. 

Serm.  5. 

4.  Concil.  Agath.  c.  44:  Concil.  Aurelian,  i.  c.  28. 

5.  Cyp.  ep.  64.  p.  158.  161 ;  ed.  Brem;  De  Lapsis.  p. 

132.  ed.  Brem.:  Constit.  Apost.  lib.  viii.  c.  12. 
13;  Dionys.  Areop.  de  Ilierarch.  Eccl.  c.  7. 
pi. 

6.  August,  ep.  32  ad  Bonif  Epist.  106 ;  Contra  duas 

Epist.  Pelag.  lib.  i.  c.  22:  Serm.  8.  De  Verb. 
.A.iost. ;  Comp.  Bingham,  bk.  xv.  c.  4.^7. 

7.  Al.  .itourdza,  Considerat.  sur  la  Doctrine  et 

I'Esprit  de  I'Eglise  Orthodoxe,  1816. 

8.  Chrysost.  Horn.  40  in  Cor. ;  Concil.  Carthag.  iii. 

c.  6  ;  Antlssidor.  c.  12;  TruU.  c.  83;  Cod.  Afri- 
can, c.  IS. 

9.  Cvp.  Eph.  5;  Greg.  Xaz.  Orat.  19.  gll;  Philast. 

Hist.  Eccl.  lib.  u.  c.  3. 

10.  Tertull.  ad  Uxor.  lib.  ii.  c.  5;  Concil.  Carthag. 

iii.  c.  41 ;  August.  Epist.  118.  ad  Januar.  c.  5. 
6 ;  Pa.schas.  Katbert.  de  Corpore  et  Sanguine 
Domini,  c.  20. 

11.  Concil.  Antissidor.  c.  36.  42. 

12.  C«.sar.  Arletan.  Serm.  152.  al.  229. 

13.  Horn.  14.  in  Ep.  ad  Ephes. 

14.  Horn.  21.  ad  Pop.  Antioch. 

15.  Constit.  Apost.  lib.  viii.  c.  12. 

16.  CotLstit.  Apost.  lib.  viii.  c.  12 :  lib.  ii.  57 ;  August. 

de  Serm.  Dcm.  in  Monte,  lib.  ii.c.  5;  Basil  M. 
de  Spiritu  Sancto,  c.  27. 

17.  August,  pp.  191.  ad  J.in.  c.  15. 

18.  Consi.it.  Apost.  viii.  c.  13. 

19.  Concil.  Laodic.  c.  19.  c.  44;  Trull,  c.  69;  Cyp. 

ep.  52.  68.  72. 

20.  Pseudo  Ambros.  de  Sacram.  lib.  iv.  c.  5:  .\ii- 

gu.'t.  contra  Faust,  lib.  xii.  c.  10:  Serm.  U-* 
Aerb.  Apost.  c.  29;  Euseb.  h.  e.  7.  9;  Comp- 
6.43. 

21.  Const.  Apost.  lib.  viii.  c.  14.  15. 

22.  Basnage,  I'Hi.storie  de  I'Eglisse,  lib.  xvii.  c.  13; 

J.  F.  Cottji.  Supplem.  ad  Jo.  Gerhard.  Loc. 
Theol.  torn.  x.  459  et  seq.  p.  453. 

?9.  Of  the  Elements,  p.  435. 

1.  Bnchart.  Hieros.  part  i.  lib.  iii.  c.  12;  Buxtort. 

Dissert,  de  Cii-na  Domini.  Thes.  20. 

2.  Cyp.  ep.  63.  ad  Csccileum  de  Sacramento  Dom. 
CalicLs;  .August,  de  Dcct.  Christi.  lib.  iv.  c.  21. 


612 


INDEX    UF    AUTHOKITIES. 


3.  Iren.  adv.  Haeres.  lib.  iv.  c.  57 ;  Concil.  Carthag.  | 

3.  c.  24. 

4.  Bellarmin.  de  Sacram.  Euchar.  lib.  iv.  c.  10;  ' 

Concil.  Bracar.  3.  (al.  i)  i.  c.  i ;  CoucU.  Tribur. 
c.  19;  Concil.  Trull.  2.  c.  32. 

5.  Jac.  Goari.  Eucholog.  Gr.  ad  Missam.  Chrysost. 

n.  167  ;  Arcudii,  Concord,  lib.  iii.  c.  39  ;  Thom. 
Aquin.  Summa.  part  iii.  queest.  S3,  art.  6 ; 
Bona,  Rer.  Liturg.  lib.  ii.  c.  9.  §  4. 

2 11.  Of  the  Distribution  of  the  Elements,  p.  439. 

1.  Concil.  Laodic.  c.  19. 

2.  Tertull.  de  Spectac.  c.  25;  Eu.seb.  h.  e.  6.  43; 

Cyril.  Hieros.  Cateeh.  Mystag.  5.  §  18 ;  Am- 
bros.  de  Sacram.  lib.  iv.  c.  5 ;  De  Init.  c.  9 ; 
Augu.'st.  contra  Faust,  lib.  xii.  c.  10. 

3.  Bona,  Rer.  Lit.  lib.  ii.  c.  17. 

4.  Muratorii,  Antiq.  Ital.  Med.  .^evi.  torn.  iv.  p. 

178. 

5.  Tertull.  de  Orat.  o.  14;  Ad  Uxor.  ii.  c.  5;  Cyp. 

de  Lap.",  c.  7:  Basil  M.  ep.  289;  Hieron.  ep. 
50;  Concil.  C»saraugust.  c.  3;  Concil.  Tolet. 
I.e.  14;  Tolct.  11.  c.  11. 

g  12.  0/  the  Accompanying  Rites,  p.  441. 

1.  Lib.  viii.  c.  13.  Hieron.  ep.  28;  CyrU.  Hieros. 

Cateeh.  Mystag.  5.  g  17. 

2.  Hieron.  ep.  28.  jul  Lucin. ;  Tertull.  de  Jcjun.  c. 

13 ;  August.  Tract,  in  I's.  133 ;  Cotel.  ad  Const. 
Apost.  8.  c.  13 ;  Chrysost.  in  Ps.  144.  torn.  iii. 
p.  516. 

3.  Petr.  MUller,  De  Osculo  Sancto.  Jen.  1675. 1701. 

4;  De  Osculis  Christianorum  Tet.  Dissert,  in 
Tob.  Pfanneri  Observat.  Eccles.  torn.  ii.  diss. 
3;  J.  Gottfr.  Lange,  Vom  Friedens-Kuss  der 
alten  Christen.  Leipz.  1747.  4. 

4.  Apost.  Constit.  viii.  c.  11 ;  Origen.  Comment,  in 

Ep.  ad  Rom.  lib.  x.  c.  33;  Tertull.  ad  Uxor, 
lib.  ii.  c.  4;  Clemens.  Alex.  Psedag.  lib.  iii.  c. 
Ill :  Athenagoras,  Legat.  c.  32 ;  Amalarii,  De 
Eccl.  Offic.  lib.  iii.  p.  37. 

5.  Dc  i^pir.  S.  ad  Amphil.  c.  27. 

6.  Di'men.'str.  quod  Christis.  sit.  Deus.  c.  9. 

7.  Tract.  118.  in  Joan. 

8.  Lib.  viii.  c.  12. 

g  13.  Of  Vie  Agapoe,  p.  443. 

Disput.  de  Agapis;  C.  S.  Schurtzfleisch,  (J.  F. 
Crcitlov.)  De  Veter.  Agaparum  ritu ;  J.  A. 
Muratori,  De  Agapis  .Sublatis,  in  Anecdot. 
Grnc;  J.  H.  Bohnieri,  De  Coitionib.  Christia 
noriim  ad  Capiendum  Cibuui,  in  Dis.sertatt. 
.Juris  Ecclesiast.  Antiquiss. ;  Quistorp,  De 
Agapis  N'ascentis  Ecclcsite:  J.  Marlin,  De 
Agapis  A'ctt.  Christian.:  G.  Schlegel  De  Aga- 
pis ittatc  Apostolorum;  J.  Th.  Fr.  Drescher, 
De  Voter.  Christ.  Agapis  Comment. 

1.  Justin  Mar.  Apol.  1.  c.  C7;  Hieron.  Comment. 

iu  1  Cor.  xi. ;  Chrysost.  Ilom.  27  in  1  Cor. 

2.  Clim.  Alex.  Pad    fib.  ii.  c.  1  ;  August,  ep.  64; 

contra  Kaust.  lib.  xx.  c.  21;  Confess,  lib.  vi. 
c.  2;  Chrysost.  Horn.  27.  in  1  Cor.  11;  Greg. 
Naz.  Pracept.  ad  Virgin. 

3.  August,  ep.  04.  ad  Aurel.     Concil.  Laod.  cir. 

A.  I).  3C4.  c.  28 ;  Concil.  Carthag.  A.  D.  397 ; 
Concil.  Aurel.  ii.  c.  12;  Concil.  Trull,  c.  74. 

4.  Keander.  Hist.  vol.  i.  p.  325-6. 

5.  Justin  Jlar.  Apol.ii. ;  see  also  1  Cor.  xii. 

C.  Cyp.  up.  lie  Spectac. ;  Tertull.  de  Coron.  c.  3; 
t^ocrat.  Hist.  Eccl.  lib.  v.  c.  22. 

7.  Justin  Mar.  Apol.  ii.  Origen.  in  Ep.  ad  Bom. 

16.16. 

8.  Clem.  Alex.  Pajdagog.  ii.  1.  2. 
"J.  Tertull.  Apol.  c.  39. 

10.  Ju-tin  ."Mar.  Apol.  ii.  c.  97. 

11.  <'\  p.  (le  Lapsis. 

12.  Cliry-ost.  ad  1  Cor.  xi.  Horn.  54.  and  Horn.  22. 

on  the  textOportct  H.Trcses  e.s.se. 
1.^   Acts  .\x.  7:  TcrtuU.  ad  Uxor.  lib.  ii.;  Cyp.  de 

'■ral.  Domini. 
14.  CiMK  il.  .\urclian.  ii.  A.  D.  535;  Concil  Trull.  A.  D. 

Oj2. 


15.  Theodoret.  Hist.  Eccl.  lib.  iii.  c.  15;   Evang. 

Verit.  viii.  p.  633-4.  ed.  Schuttz. 

16.  Neander's    Hist.   Torrey's    Trans,    vol.   ii.  p. 

326.  ^ 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

OF  CHURCH  DISCIPUNE  AND  PENAUCE. 

gl.  Of  the  Discipline  of  the  Primitive  Church, 
p.  461. 

1.  Apost.  and  Prim.  Ch.  e.  v.  p.  87-123. 

2.  Clement.  Epist.  c.  64;  Comp.  c.  57. 

3.  Comp.  Cyp.  Epist.  49. 

4.  Euseb.  Hist.  Eccl.  v.  c.  16.  18. 

5.  Cyp.  Epist.  4.  al.  62. 

6.  Euseb.  Hist.  Eccl.  lib.  v.  c.  16 ;  Comp.  Euseb. 

Hist.  Eccl.  lib.  v.  c.  18. 

7.  Epist.  59.  Cornelia  Comp.  Epist.  4.  al.  62.  ad  Pom- 

pon. 

8.  Cyp.  Epi.st.  64.  59. 

9.  Denkwurdigkeiten,  i.  p.  50.  3d  ed. 

g  2.  Of  Penance,  p.  460. 

1.  Neander's  Hist.  i.  220.  Torrey's  Trans. 

2.  Epist.  10.  13.  25.  46.  48.  54.  etc. 

g  3.  OfJ,he  Subjects  of  Penance,  or  the  Offences  for 
which  it  was  Imposed,  p.  461. 

1.  Cyp.  Epi.st.  52.  31. 

2.  Cyp.  j;pist.  55.  67 ;  Pfanner.  Observat.  Eccl.  part 

i.  obs.  3. 

3.  August,  de  Bap.  contra  Donatist.  lib.  vii.  c.  2; 

Concil.  Arelat.  i.  c.  13. 

g  4.  Of  the  Different  Classes  of  PenitenU,  p.  46Z 

1.  Concil.  Ancyr.  c.  4-6.  9;  Concil.  Nic.  c.  11-14; 

Concil.  Laodic.  c.  2.  19. 

2.  Can.  75;  Concil.  Mc.  c.  IL  12. 

3.  Chr.  Beger.  p.  40. 

4.  Concil.  Laodic.  c.  19 ;  Concil.  Nic.  c.  11. 

5.  Concil.  iSic.  c.  11;  Concil.  Ancyr.  c.  4. 

g  5.  Of  the  Ditties  of  Penitents,  and  tlw.  JHscipline 
Imposed  upon  them,  or  the  different  kinds  or  De- 
grees of  Penance,  p.  464. 

1.  Ep.  xlvi.  p.  107 ;  Comp.  de  Lap.sis.  p.  325.  326. 

2.  Concil.  Tolet.  iii.  c.  12;  Concil.  Agath.  c.  15: 

Ambros.  ad  Frig.  Laps.  c.  8. 

3.  Sozomen,  h.  e.  lib.  vii.  c.  IG ;  Hieron.  in  Joel. 

c.  iii:  Ambros.de  Poenit.  lib.  iii.  c.  40;  Concil. 
Arelat.  c.  21. 

4.  Concil.  Carthag.  iv.  c.  82. 

5.  Concil.  Carthag.  iv.  c.  81. 

i  6.  Of  tlu  Keadmission  of  Penitents  into  the 
Clmrch,  p.  465. 

1.  Concil.  Nice.  12;  Ancyr.  c.  5;  Ilerd.c.5;  Chal- 

cod.  c.  16. 

2.  Chrysost.  Hom.  xiv.  in  2  Cor.  p.  644;  Concil 

Hliberit.  c.  3.  5.  14;   Albaspinsei.  Observat, 
lib.  ii.  c.  30. 

3.  Concil.  Nic.  c.  13;  Concil.  Carthag.  ii.  c.  3.  4 

iv.  c.  76-79;  Pertschen's  Vers,  eiuer  Kirchen- 
hist,  des  iv.  Jahr.  Th.  ii.  s.  322. 

4.  Concil.  Carthag.  iv.  c.  68;  Aurelian.  iii.  c.  6 

Agath.  c.  43;  Tolet.  i.  c.  2,  etc.;  Apost.  Can. 
c.  3  et  seq. 

5.  Concil.  Hliberit.  c.  53 ;  Arelat.  i.  c.  16. 17 ;  Nic 

c.  5 ;  Sardic.  c.  13. 

6.  Concil.  Cicsaraug.  c.  5:  Carthag.  ii.  c.  7. 

7.  Concil.  Tolet.  i.  c.  11 ;  Theodoret.  Hist.  Eccl.  lib. 

iv.  c.  9;  August,  contra  Petil.  lib.  iii.  c.  38. 

8.  Apost.  Constit.  lib.  ii.  c.  26.  August,  de  Bap. 

iii.  c.  16;  De  I'cccator.  Merit,  et  Rem.  lib.  ii. 
26. 

9.  Hieron.  Comment,  in  Matt.  xvi. ;  Cyril.  Alex. 

Joann.  20.  lib.  12. 
10.  Ba^il  M.  ep.  t3.  0pp.  torn.  iii.  p.  96. 


INDEX    OF    AUTHORITIES. 


613 


?7.  Of  Private  Penance,  p.  4GS. 

1.  Observat.  Eccl.  lib.  ii.  c.  26. 

2.  Basil  M.  in  Ps.  xxxvii.  8 ;  Chrysost.  Ilom.  31.  in 

Ep.  ad  Hebr. 

3.  Bingham,  Antiq.  bk.  xviii.  c.  3.  ^  11. 

4.  Schneckn's  Kirchengeschichte.  iv.  318-321. 

5.  Sozomen,  vii.  16. 

g  8.  0/"  tfie  Discipline  of  the  Clergy  and  the  Punish- 
ment of  Delinquents,  p.  472. 

1.  Cyp.  Ep.  28.  (al.  34.) 

2.  Concil.  Nic.  c.  8;  Tolet.  i.  c.  4 ;  Trull,  c.  20; 

Chalced.  c.  29. 

3.  August.  Ep.36. 

4.  Concil.  Tolet.  i.  c.  1.  3.  8;  Ilerdens.  c.  1.  5; 

Araufiac.  c.  24 :  Taurinens.  c.  S. 

5.  Socrates,  Hist.  Eocl.  lib.  vi.  c.  9:  Sozom.  h.  e. 

lib.  viii.  Synes.  Ep.;  Siegel.  Handbuch. Archteol. 
bk.  iii.  82. 

6.  Concil.  Agath.  c.  30.  41 ;  Epaon.  c.  15 ;  Matis- 

con.  c.  5. 

7.  Constit.  Apost.  27.  30.  51;  Concil.  Neccassar.  c. 

1 ;  Agath.  c.  8.  42. 

CHAPTER  XXni. 

OF  COUNCHS. 

g  1.  Of  the  Origin  of  Councils,  p.  475. 

1.  Hermann's  Grecian  Antiq.  p.  32. 

2.  Eccl.  Hist.  T.  c.  16.  23. 

3.  Cyp.  Epist.  75. 

4.  Kiddle,  Chron.  a.  d.  190;  Planck.  Gesell.  Ver- 

fass.  i.  449. 

1 2.  Of  the  Extent  of  their  Jurisdiction,  p.  479. 

1.  Euseb.  Tii.  27. 

2.  Euseb.  vii.  28. 

3.  Cyp.  Epist.  72. 

4.  Cyp.  Epist.  45. 

§4.  Of  the  Constituent  Members  of  these  Councils, 
p.  482. 

1.  Eccl.  V.  c.  16. 

2.  Euseb.  Eocl.  Hist.  7.  c.  30- 

3.  .Socrates,  Eccl.  Hist.  i.  c.  «. 

4.  Senteatise  Episc.  87 ;  De  Haeret.  Baptisma.  0pp. 

Cyp. 

5.  Labaei.  Coll.  Concil.  tom.  i.  790. 

6.  Euseb.  lib.  -pii.  c.  28  ;  Comp.  c.  43. 

7.  Euseb.  lib.  vii.  c.  28. 

8.  Cyp.  Ep.  75 ;  Comp.  Concil.  Tolet.  iv.  c.  23.  and 

Preface  i. 

9.  Gesellschaft.  Verfassung.  i.  95.  comp.  especially 

p.  376  et  seq. ;  Henke's  Magazine,  i.  165-8. 

g  5.  Q/"  the  Councils  under  the  Emperors,  p.  488. 

1  Tillemont,  Hist,  du  Concile  (Ecumenique  de 
Nicee,  in  his  Memoirs;  Natalis  Ale.^andri 
Diesertationes  de  Xiaeni  Concilii  Convoca- 
tione.  and  De  Pra?side  Nicoeni  Concilii;  in 
Thesaur.  Theol.  Tenet.  1762. 

2.  Euseb.  Tit.  Constant,  lib.  iii.  e  13. 

3.  Euseb.  c.  13. 

4.  Euseb.  Tit.  Constant,  lib.  iv.  42. 

5.  Euseb.  Tit.  Constant,  iii.  c.  17.  20. 

6.  Gesch.  Kanon.  Rechts.  ^  14. 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

OF   MARRIAGE. 

g  1.  Of  Christian  Marriage,  p.  493. 

1.  Socrat.  Hist.  Ecxl.  lib.  iv.  c.  26.  al.  27 ;  Staud- 

lin's  Gesch. der  Ehe.  100.114.  etc.;  Cod.  L.  L. 
lib.  V.  tit.  v.;  Dig.  lib.  i.  13.  1.  2. 

2.  TertuU.  Apolopr.  c.  6;  Deldol.c.  IG;  De  Corona 

Mil,  c.  13;  De  Pudie.  c.  4;  Optat.  Ambros. 
Epist.  24.  ep.  70;  Milev.  de  Pchism.  D(jnat.  1. 
16;  Clemens.  Alex.  Psedag.lib.  iii.  c.  11;  Au- 


gust. Epist.  234 ;  De  Fide  et  Oper.  c.  19 ;  De 
Civit.  Die.  lib.  xv.  c.  16. 

3.  Concil.  Nic.  c.  8;  Ancyra,  c  19;  Laoilic.  c.  1; 

Neociesar.  c.  3;  Constit.  Apost.  lib.  iii.  c.  2; 
Atheuag.  Leirat. ;  Theophil.  Art.  ad  Antol. 
lib.  iii. ;  Irenaeus,  adv.  Haer.  lib.  iii.  c.  19. 

4.  TertuU.  de  Monog.  c.  11 ;  ad  U,\or.  lib.  i.  c.  7 ; 

De  Pcenit.  c.  9;  Origen,  Horn.  17.  in  Luc; 
Ambros.  de  Olfic.  lib.  i.  c.  50;  Hieron.  ep.  2. 
11.  33. 

5.  Capitul.   Reg.  Fr.  lib.  vi.  c.  408;   vii.  c.  179; 

Capit.  11.  Karlom.  A.  D.  743.  c.  3.  c.  10.  xxxv. 
q.  6 ;  G.  W.  Biihmer,  Uelier  die  Ehe-Gesetze 
im  Zeitalter  Karl's  d.  Gr.  Gottingen,  1826.  8. 

6.  Wilhelm   Occum.   Tractatus   de  Jurisdictione 

Imperatoris  in  causis  matrimonalibus ;  Gol- 
da.'^tus.  torn.  ii.  p.  21-24. 

7.  Krit.  und  Systemat.  Darstellung  der  Terboten 

Grade  der  Verwandschaft;  Schwajrerschaft. 
Hanover,  1802,  bes.  s.  350-524;  t3omp.  Jo. 
Gerhard.  Loc.  Theol.  tom.  xv.  p.  332. 

8.  Tertull.  ad  Uxor.  lib.  ii.  c.  2-9 ;  De  Coron.  Mil. 

c.  13;  Cyp.  ad  Quirin.  lib.  iii.  c.  62;  Ambros. 
de  Abrahame,  lib.  i.  c.  9;  Ep.  lib.  ix.  ep.  70; 
De  Fide  et  Oper.  c.  xix.  Hieron.  in  Jovin.  lib. 
i.  c.  10. 

9.  Concil.  Chalced.  c.  14;  Arelat.  i.  e.  11;  Illibe- 

rit.  c.  15.  16.  17  ;  Aurelian.  ii.  c.  18  ;  Cod.  Jus- 
tin, lib.  i.  tit.  ix.  1.  6;  Cod.  Theodos.  lib.  iii. 
tit.  vii.  1.  2;  lib.  xvi.  tit.  viii.  1.  6. 

10.  Concil.  Laodic.  c.  10:  Ebendaa.  c.  31;    Agath. 

c.  67 ;  Chalced.  c.  14. 

11.  August.  Confess,  lib.  ix.  c.  9 ;  Gregor.  Turon. 

Hist.  Fr.  lib.  ii.  c.  28. 

§2.  Of  Divorce,  p.  495. 

1.  Hermae  Pastor,  lib.  ii.  Mandat.  iv. ;  Jo.  Gerhard, 

tom.  xvi.  p.  178.  79. 

2.  Bingham,  bk.  xxii.  e.   5;  Assemann's  Orient. 

Bibl.  im  Ausz.  s.  340.  5.  26. 

g  3.  Of  the  Celibacy  of  the  Clergy,  p.  495. 

1.  Concil.  TruU.  c.  13. 

2.  Eccl.  Hist.  V.  c.  22. 

3.  Socrates.  Eccl.  Hist.  i.  11;  Sozom.  Eccl.  Hist.  i. 

23. 

^■i.  Of  Marriage  Rites  and  Ceremonies,  p.  496. 

1.  Concil.  Lateran.  ii.  A.  D.  1139.  c.  51 .  iv.  A.  D.  1215. 

c.  12. 

2.  Tertull.  de  Coron.  Mil.  c.  13;  De  Tirg.  Teland. 

c.  11. 

3.  Riddle's  Christ.  Antiq.  b.  22.  c.  3.  4. 

g  5.  Remarks  upon  the  Rites  and  Ceremonies  of  the 
Ancient  Otturch,  p.  500. 

1.  Isidorus  Hispalensis,  De  Ecclesia^ticis  Officiis. 

hb.  ii.  c.  19. 

2.  Du  Cange,  Glossa  s.v.  Ana  Nuptialis ;  Martene. 

de  Antiq.  Eccl.  Rit.  part  ii.  p.  606-8:  Concil. 
Carthag.  iv.  c.  13;  Capitul.  Caroli.  M.  lib.  vii. 
c.  363;  Hildebrand.  de  Nuptiis.  vet.  Christian 
p.  86. 

3.  Apologet.  c.  6;  De  Idol.  c.  16.  vgl.  Plinius.  Hist. 

Nat.  xxxiii.  c.  1. 

4.  Papdag.  lib.  iii.  c.  11;  Comp.  Ambros.  ep.  34. 

5.  De  Eocl.  Off.  lib.  ii.  c.  19. 

6.  De  Corona  Milit.  c.  13-15. 

7.  Hildebrand.  deXupt.  p.  78;  Steinberg.  Athandl. 

von  den  Hochzeit-Kramseu.  1764.  4 ;  p.  17 
et  seq. 

8.  Hildebrand.  de  Nuptiis.  p.  76.  77.  Calvoer.  p.  106. 

9.  Chrysost.  Hom.  iv.  in  Ep.  in  Hebr.;  Nicephor. 

h.  e.  lib.  xviii.  c.  8. 

10.  Ambros.  Serm.  25 :  Chrysost.  Hom.  41.  in  Act. 

Apost.  Xicephor.  h.  e.  lib.  xviii.  c.  8. 

11.  Hom.  12.  in  Ep.  ad  Coloss.  0pp.  tom.  vi.  p.  247- 

62 ;  Hom.  48.  in  Gen.  p.  549  et  seq. ;  66.  p.  605 
et  seq. 

12.  Concil.  Laodic.  c.  53. 

13.  Concil.  Antissidor.  c.  34;  Agath.  c.  39;  Neocae- 

sar.  c.  7. 


614 


INDEX   OF   AUTHORITIES. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

OF  FUNERAL  RITES  AND  CEREMONIES. 

g  1.  0/tke  Treatment  of  the  Dead,  p.  504. 

1.  Dfi  Cura  Gerenda  pro  Jlortuis  ad  Paull  Num. 

0pp.  edit.  Bened.  Venet.  1731.  b.  torn.  vi.  p. 
616-532. 

2.  Juliani,  Inc.  Ep.  49.  ad  Arsac.  0pp.  ed.  Span- 

hem,  p.  429. 

3.  Jo.  Gerhard.  Loc.  Theol.  tom.  xrii.  p.  85.  86. 

4.  Cicero,  De  Legib.  lib.  ii.  c.  5S ;  Cod.  Theodos.  lib. 

ix.  tit.  xvii.  1.  6 ;  Concil.  Bracar.  c.  36. 

5.  Gregor.  Turen.  de  Gloria.  Confessor. 

6.  Chrysost.  Hom.  81. 

7.  Prudeutius  Peristeph.  Hymn.  11;  Hieron.  Com- 

mon t.  in  Matt.  23. 

8.  Gothofrcdi,  Observat.  in  Cod.  Theodos.  lib.  ix. 

tit.  57.  1.  5. 

9.  Eu.^eb.  h.  e.  lib.  TJi.  c.  22. 

10.  Franzen.  Antiq.  Funer.  1713.  8.  p.  96-111. 

g2.  Of  Affectum  for  the  Dying,  Tp.  507. 

1.  Theodoret.  h.  e.  lib.  i.  c.  18 ;  v.  c.  25 ;  Gregor. 

Nyss.  Ecom.  Ephrami;  August.  Confess,  ix. 
c.  11.  13. 

2.  Euseb.  h.  e.  lib.  iv.  c.  15 ;  Tiii.  c.  9 ;  Be  Tit. 

Con.stant.  M.  iv.  c.  61 ;  Gregor.  Nyss.  de  Vita 
Gregor.  Thaum.  p.  311. 

3.  Gregor.  Naz.  tom.  i.  p.  173;  Ba.sil  M.  ep.  84. 

4.  Ambros.  in  Ep.  ad  Thess.  c.  4 ;  Atliana.''.  A'it.  S. 

Anthon.;  Chrysost.  Ilom.  55.  in  Matt.  c.  16; 
Gregor.  M.  Homil.  38.  in  Evang. 

5.  Hildebrand,  De  Arte  Bene  Mor.  p.  230;  De  Pre- 

cib.  Vet.  c.  28. 

0.  Euseb.  h.  e.  vi.  c.  3;   Chrysost.  Hom.  i.;  De 

Patient.  Jobi. 

7.  Chrysost.  Horn.  i.  De  Patient.  Jobi.  etc. 

8.  Franzen.  Antiq.  Funer.  p.  72. 

9.  Clemen.  Alex.  Psedag.  3.  8:  Euseb.  h.  e.  lib.  ii. 

c.  22.  16;  De  A'it.  Constant,  iv.  c.  66. 

10.  Reeves.  Apol.  p.  349. 

11.  Ambros.  Orat.  in  Obit.  Theodos. 

g  3.  Of  Funeral  Solemnities,  p.  508. 

1.  Greg.  Naz.  Orat.  20.  p.  371. 

2.  Gregor.  Nyss.  Vit.  Macriu.  tom.  ii.  p.  201 ;  Theo- 

dor.  h.  e.  lib.  v.  c.  36. 

3.  Clem.  Alex.  Psedag.  lib.  ii.  c.  8. 

4.  Ambro.s.  de  Ob.  Valent.  c.  56 ;  Prudent.  Hymn. 

pro  exseq. 

5.  Chrysost.  Horn.  30.  De  Dormient.  tom.  v.  p.  380; 

Hierar.  Ep.  27 ;  Gregor.  Naz.  Orat.  10. 

6.  Apost.  Constit.  lib.  vi.  c.  30. 

7.  Chrysost.  Hom.  4.  in  Hebr. 

8.  Bk.  xxiii.  c.  3. 

9.  Concil.  Carthag.  iii.  c.  29;  Possid.  Vit.  August. 

c.  1,3. 

10.  Concil.  Carthag.  iii.  c.  6;  Trull,  c.  133. 

11.  Andr.  Quenstedt.  De  Sepult.  Vet.  p.  133. 

g  4.  Of  Mourners,  p.  510. 

1.  TertuU.  de  Patient,  c.  7;  Chrysost.  Horn.  32.  in 

Matt.;  61.  in  Johan.;  6.  in  Ep.  ad  Thes. ;  Hio- 
ron.  ep.  25.  ad  Paul. 

2.  Cvp.  Scrm.  de  Mortal;  Chrj-sost.  Hom.  69.  ad 

Pod. 

3.  Serm.  2.  De  Consolat.  Mort. 
1.  Qujest.  127.  in  Gen. 

I).  Euodii.  ep.  258.  inter  ep.  August. 

6.  Apost.  Constit.  lib.  viii.  c.  42. 

7.  Chrysost.  Horn.  47.  in  1  Ep.  ad  Cor. 

8.  Aug.  de  Moribus.  Eccles.  c.  154 ;  Ep.  64.  ad  Au- 

reiiam.  Bingham.  Antiq.  bk.  xxiii.  c.  3. 

g  5.  Of  the  Prayers  for  the  Dead,  p.  513. 

1.  Antiq.  p.  277-94. 

2.  Catech.  Mystag.  5.  n.  6. 

3.  Greg.  Naz.  Orat.  10. 

4.  Greir.  Naz.  in  Carm.  de  Rebus.  Suis. 

5.  Ambros.  de  Obitu  Themlo.sii :  DeObit  Valentin; 

De  Obitu  Fratris.  Ep.  8.  ad  Faust. 


6.  De  Bono  Mortis,  c.  4. 

7.  Epiphan.  Haeres.  75. 

S.  Lib.  iii.  Comment,  in  Galat.  c.  6. 

9.  Chrysost.  Hom.  3.  in  Phil.;  Conf.  Hom.  21. 
in  Act.:  Hom.  32  in  Matt.;  August.  Enchi- 
rid.  ad  Laurent,  c.  110;  Paulin.  ep.  19 ;  Atha- 
nas.  Qufest.  ad  Antioch.  ix.  .34;  Prudent.  Ca- 
themerin.  Carm.  5.  De  Cereo.  Paschali. 

§  6.  Of  the  Origin  of  the  Doctrine  of  Purgatory, 
p.  520. 

1.  Justin  Mar.  Dial.  c.  Fr.  g  5. 

2.  Irena<us.  v.  31.  p.  331.  (451.  Gr.) 

3.  Tertull.  de  Anima.  c.  58. 

4.  Clement,  al  I'.xd.  iii.  9.  toivard  the  end,  p.  282. 

5.  Origen.  contra  Cels.  v.  15;  Comp.  Qu.  Ex.  vt  4; 

Ps.  1 ;  Luke,  Hom.  iv. 

§  7.  Of  the  Worship  of  Saints  and  Angels,  p.  520. 

1.  Siegel.  vol.  ii.  p.  261. 

2.  Radulphus.  Tungrensis.  de  Canon.  Observat. 

Propos.  17.  p.  559. 

3.  Bellarmin.  de  Sanctorum  Beatitudine.  lib.  ii.  c. 

17;  Comp.  c.  3.  12.  lib.  i.  11-20;  Eman.  a. 
Schelstrati.  de  Disciplina  Arcani. 

4.  Bingham,  bk.  xiii.  c.  3;  Concil.  Trident.  Sess. 

25.  p.  231.  part  iii.  221-361;  Augsburg.  Con- 
fess, art.  9.  p.  42;  art.  21.  Apolog.  art.  9; 
Schmalkald.  art.  1.  2 ;  Jo.  Dalian,  de  Cultu. 
Relig.  lib.  iii.  c.  25;  Stillingtleet's  Defence  of 
the  Discourse  of  Idol.  part.  i.  c.  i.  lib.  Carolin. 
Caroli.  >I.  De  Impis.  Imaginum  Cutre.  lib.  iv- 

5.  Cunningham's  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  173-4.  282-7. 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

OF  THE  FESTIVALS   OF  THE   CHURCH. 

?  2.  Of  tlie  Christian  Sabbath,  p.  527. 

1.  Bib.  Sacra.  Aug.  1844. 

2.  Dial.  c.  Tryph.  p.  :34. 

3.  Ep.  St.  Barab.  c.  15. 

4.  Stuart  on  the  Apocalypse,  vol.  ii.  p.  40. 

5.  Ad  Magnis.  e.  9. 

g  3.  Of  the  Sacred  Seasons  of  the  Ancient  Church, 
p.  536. 

1.  Clemens  Alex.  Strom.  7.  c.  7.  427;   Origen. 

contra  Cels.  8.  c.  21-23;  Hieron.  Comment,  in 
Gal.  4;  August.ep.  118.  ad  Jan.  contra  Adrin. 
c.  16. 

2.  Socrates.  Eccl.  Hist.  c.  22. 

3.  Can.  Apost.  c.70.  72:  Concil.  Laodie.  e.  37.  39; 

Concil.  Trull,  c.  81;  Illiber.  c.  49.  50;  Cod 
Theodos.  16.  tit.  v.  vi.  ix.  tit.  vi.  1.  6. 

g  4.  Of  the  Corrupt  Origin  and  Influence  of  tJie 
Festivals,  p.  642. 

1.  Comp.  Bib.  Sacra.  Nov.  1847. 

2.  Gregor.  M.  Reg.  9.  ep.  71 :  Theodoret.  de  Mart. 

3.  Taylor's  Ancient  Christianity. 

g  5.  0/"  the  Chronology  of  the  Calendar,  p.  543. 

1.  G.  Hamberger,  De  Epochas  Christianas  Ortu  et 

Auctore;  J.  Guil.  Jani  Historia  Acrae  Dionys. 

2.  Jo.  Chr.  Fischer  de  Anno.  Ilebr.  Gust.  Scm- 

melii  de  Anno.  Hebr.  Ecclcsiastico  atque  Ci- 
vil.: Josephus  Antiq.  i.  c.  S.  iii.  c.  10.  §5; 
Ana.«tasiup  in  Meiirsii  Var.  Div. 

3.  Leonis  AUati  de  Hebdomad.  Gr.  p.  1464. 

4.  Baumannde  Calendis  Januarii ;  Concil.  Antisi- 

dor.  c.  1;  Turon.  xi.  c.  17.  23;  Tolet.  iv.  c.  10. 
TruUan.  c.  62. 

g  6.  Of  Specific  Festivals  and  Feasts  of  the  CImrchy 
p.  645. 

1.  Irenirus.  Frapfment.  de  Paschat.  p.  342. 

2.  Tertull.  de  Coron.Mil.  c.  3. 

3.  Opp.  ii.  p.  384. 


IXDEX    OF    AUTHORITIES. 


61^ 


4.  Strom,  i.  S49.  406. 

5.  Ep.  118.  119;  Serm.  380. 

6.  Chryso.st.  Horn.  24.  33;  Cas.«ian.  Oollat.  x.  c.  2; 

Apost.  Constit.  lib.  v.  c.  13;  vii.  c.  3;  Krabbe, 
liber  Ursprung  der  Apost.  Constit.  1829.  s. 
163  et  seq.  228-232. 

7.  Combefisii  Nov.  Auctar.  Bibl.  Patr.  torn.  i.  p. 

3U1. 

8.  Gavanti  Thcsaur.  torn.  ii.  p.  24-26. 

9.  Angel.  Rouba,  De  Prasseutationis ;  Nicephor. 

Hist.  17.  c.  28. 

10.  Binterim,  v.  bd.  i.  Th.  s.  354-356;  Concil.  Tolet. 

A.  D.  659.  c.  1 ;  Trull.  692.  e.  52. 

11.  Concil.  Basil.  A.  D.  1441. 

12.  Xieephor.  Hist.  17.  c.  IS;  Concil.  Mogmit.  a.  d. 

813.  c.  32. 

13.  Binterim,  a.  a.  0.  S.  450.  455. 

14.  Controv.  torn.  ii.  lib.  c  16:  Binterim,  s.  516. 

15.  Serm.  in  C>T5.  Mart.  p.  129. 

16.  Gregor.  Xaz.  Orat.  22.  De  JIaccab.  torn.  i.  p.  397 ; 

August.  Serm.  de  Divers,  s.  300.  tom.  v.  p. 
1221. 

17.  Schrockh's  Christl.  Kirehegesch.  Th.  is.  8.  154- 

232;  Neander,  K.  Gesch.  ii.  b.  s.  712. 

18.  Apost.  Constit.  viii.  c.  33. 

19.  Sacramentar.  Leonis  et  Galesii. 

20.  Micrologus,  c.  55 ;  Durandus,  7. 10. 

21.  Concil.  Tolos.  a.  d.  1229.  c.  26. 

22.  Alcuinus,  de  Div.  Offic.  p.  87. 

23.  Karl's  d.  Gr.  Capitul.  u.  a.  d.  805.  c.  17. 

24.  August.  Serm.  in  Nat.  Dom. 

25.  Concil.  Agath.  c.  21 ;  Binterim,  s.  380. 

26.  Socrat.  Keel.  Uist.  v.  c.  22. 

27.  Comp.  Doctr.  de  Fide. 

28.  Concil.  Toledo,  can.  9. 

29.  Baronius,  Anual.  ad.  an.  1013. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

OF   THE   SACRED  SEAS0X3  OF  THE  PmUTANS. 

1.  Prince's  Chronology. 

2.  News  from  New  England,  3d.  ser.  Tol.  iii.  p.  79. 

of  Mass.  Hist.  Coll. 

3.  Letter  from  Hon.  Ayilliam  Staples. 

4.  Trumbull's  Hist,  of  Connecticut,  vol.  i.  97. 

5.  Letter  from  Prof  James  L.  Kingsley. 

6.  New  Haven  Colony  Laws,  p.  38. 

7.  Hutchin.son"s  Collection  of  Papers,  p.  111-112. 

8.  Belknap's  New  Hampshire,  vol.  i.  p.  77. 

9.  Farmer's  Belknap,  p.  88. 

10.  Letter  from  Hon.  Charles  K.  Williams. 

11.  M'inslow's  Relation,  in  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  first 

Serm.  vol.  viii.  p.  275. 

12.  MS.  Plymouth  Colony  Records. 

13.  Letter  from  Charles  Gott  to  Gov.  Bradford. 

14.  Mass.  Archives  Ecclesiastical,  vol.  i.  p.  17. 

15.  Mass.  Archives  Ecclesiastical,  vol.  ii.  p.  57. 

16.  Mass.  Laws  Revised,  1649,  Cambridge,  p.  25. 

17.  Hutchinson's  Hist.  Mass.  3d.  ed.  vol.  ii.  p.  223. 

18.  Douglass'  Hist,  of  America,  vol.  i.  p.  495. 

19.  Letter  from  Hon.  Thomas  Day. 

20.  "        "        "     William  Staples. 

21.  "        "    Josiah  Stephens,  Jr.,  Esq.,  Secre- 

tary of  State,  New  Hampshire. 

22.  "        "    Hon.  Charles  K.  Williams. 

23.  Plymouth  Col.  Laws. 

24.  Laws  of  Mass.  ed.  1660. 

25.  Hutchinson's  Collection  of  Papers. 

26.  New  Haven  Laws,  p.  38. 

27.  Laws  of  Connecticut,  1796.  p.  83. 

28.  Letter  from  Josiah  Stephens,  Jr. 

29.  Extracts  from  Conn.  Records,  by  Hon.  T.  Day. 

30.  Laws  of  Virginia,  p.  4. 


INDEX  OF  COUNCILS. 


Agathense  a.  506. 
Ancyranum  a.  314. 
Andegavense  a.  453. 
Antiochenum  a.  341, 
Arausicanum  I.  a.  441. 
II.  a.  529, 
Arelatense  I.  a.  314. 

II.  a.  443  (451  s,  453.) 
IV.  (III.)  a.  524. 

V.  a.  554, 
Arvernense  I.  a.  535. 

II.  a.  549. 
Augustodunense  a.  670. 
Aurelianen.ae  I.  a.  511. 
II.  a.  533. 

III.  a.  538. 

IV.  a.  541. 
V.  a.  549. 

Autissiodorense  a.  578  (-590.) 

Barcinonense  I.  a.  540. 

II.  a.  599. 
Berghamstedense  a.  696. 
Bracarensel.  (II.)  a.  563. 

II.  (III.)  a.  572. 
III.  (IV.)  a.  675. 

Oabilonense  a.  649  (664.) 
Caesaraugustanum  I.  a.  381. 
II.  a.  592. 
III.  a.  691. 
Carpentoratens«  a.  527. 
Carthaginense  I.  a.  348. 
II.  a.  390. 

III.  a.  397. 

IV.  a.  398. 
Carth.  V.-VII. 

Carthaginense  a.  419  s.  Codex  Eccl.Afric. 
616 


Chalcedonense  a.  451. 
Claromontanum  v.  Arvernense. 
Constantinopolitanum  (oec.  II.)  a.  381. 
Constantinopolitanum   (cec.  V.-VI.)   a. 
692. 

Egarense  a.  614. 
Eliberitanum  a.  305. 
Emeritense  a.  666. 
Epaonense  a.  517. 
Ephesinum  a.  431. 
Erfordiense  v.  Herudfordense. 

Gallicanum  incerti  loci  c.  a.  616. 
Gangrense  a.  362  (-370.) 
Gerundense  a.  517, 

Herudfordense  a.  673. 
Hipponense  a.  393. 
Hispalense  I.  a.  590. 
II.  a.  618. 

Eerdense  a.  523. 

Laodicenum  a.  320  (-372.) 
Lugdunense  I.  a.  517. 
II.  a.  567. 
ni.  a.  583. 

Martini  capitula  a.  572. 
Matisconense  I.  a.  581. 
II.  a.  585. 
Milevitanum  a.  402. 

Narbonense  a.  589. 
NeocEesariense  a.  S14. 
Kicaenum  a.  325. 


INDEX   OF   COUNCILS. 


617 


Oscense  a.  598. 

Palmare  v.  Romanum  IV. 
Parisiense  III.  a.  557. 
V.  a.  615. 
Patricii  a.  456. 

a.  incert. 


Quinisextum    v. 
a.  692. 


Constantinopolitanum 


Regense  a.  439. 
Remense  a.  625  (-630.) 
Romanum  a.  384  (-398.) 

a.  465. 

I.  a.  499. 

III.  (IV.)  a.  501. 

IV.  (III.)  a.  502. 
Rotomagense  a.  650. 

Sardicense  a.  347. 

Tarraconense  a.  516. 
Taurinense  a.  401. 
Tauritanum  v.  Turonicum. 
Teleptense  a.  418. 


Toletanum  I.  a.  398. 
II.  a.  531. 

III,  a.  589. 
a.  597. 

IV.  a.  633. 
V.  a.  636. 

VI.  a.  638. 

VII.  a.  646. 

VIII.  a.  653. 

IX.  a.  655. 

X.  a.  656. 

XI.  a.  675. 

XII.  a.  681. 

XIII.  a.  683. 

XIV.  a.  684. 
XV.  a.  688. 

XVI.  a.  693. 
XVII.  a.  694. 
Trullanum   y.  Constantinopolitanum  a. 

692. 
Turonicum  I.  a.  460. 
II.  a.  567. 

Valentinum  a.  374. 
Valletanum  a.  524. 
Vasense  I.  a.  442. 
II.  a.  529. 
Veneticum  a.  465. 


CHRONOLOGICAL   INDEX. 


Our  Sa\aour  born  four  years  before  the  vulgar  era,  and  in  the  year  4709  of  the 
Julian  Period — Crucified  A.  D.  34. 


A.D. 


Roman  Emperors. 


Bishops,  Eccl.  Officers,  and  Writers. 


Augustus,  d.  14. 

20 

Tiberius,  d.  37. 

30 

Caligula,  d.  48. 

40 

Claudius,  d.  54. 

50 

Nero,  d.  68. 

60 

Galba,  d.  69. 

Peter  and  Paul,  martyrs  at  Rome. 

70 

Vespasian,  d.  79. 
Titus,  d.  81. 

80 

Shepherd  of  Hermas. 

Domitian,  d.  96. 

Clement,  bishop  of  Rome. 

90 

Nerva,  d.  98. 
Trajan,  d.  117. 

100 

Ignatius,  bishop  of  Antioch,  d.  116. 

110 

Hadrian,  d.  138. 

Papias,  bishop  of  Hierapolis  in  Phrygia. 

120 

Justin  Martyr,  d.  165. 

130 

Antoninus  Pius,  d.  161. 

The  Gnostics  Marcion  and  Basilides. 
Cornelius,  bishop  of  Antioch. 

140 

Polycarp,  bishop  of  Smyrna,  d.  167. 

150 

Montanus — The  Montanists. 
Anicet,  bishop  of  Rome. 
Hegesippus,  ecclesiastical  historian. 
Celsus,  against  the  Christian  religion. 

160 

Soter,  bishop  of  Rome. 

Marcus  Aurelius,  philosopher,  d. 

Claudius  Apollinarius,  bp.  of  Hierapolis. 

180. 

Melito,  bishop  of  Sardis. 
Bardesanes,  the  Gnostic. 

170 

Eleutherus,  Roman  bishop. 
Dionysius,  bishop  of  Corinth. 
Theophilus,  bishop  of  Antioch. 
177.  IreniBus,  bishop  of  Lyons,  d.  203. 

180 

Commodus,  d.  192. 

Pantgenus,  catechist  in  Alexandria. 
TertuUian  at  Carthage. 

618 


CHRONOLOGICAL   INDEX.  619 


Historical  Events. 


50.  Presbyters,  (rtpfajSDTfpoi^f  rtioxonoi,)  an  order  for  the  management  of  church 

affairs. — Baptism  by  immersion. — Confession  of  belief  made  at  baptism. 
60.  Deacons. — Deaconesses. — Meetings  of  Christians  in  private  houses. — Daily 
meetings  for  divine   service. — Daily  instruction  by  prayer,   singing,   and 
reading  of  the  Old  Testament. — Exclusion  of  unworthy  members  from  the 
church. — Love-feast  connected  with  the  communion. 
70.  Common  care  for  the  poor. — Contributions  to  other  churches. — Church  of- 
ficers carry  on  their  former  occupations. — The  Ebionites  use  unleavened 
bread  in  the  supper. — Choice  to  church  offices  usually  by  church  officers  and 
the  churches. 
80.  Particular  days  selected  for  the  worship  of  God. — The  keeping  of  Sunday. — 
Consecration  to  church  offices  by  the  laying  on  of  hands. — The  celebration 
of  the  .Jewish  sabbath  by  the  Jewish  Christians  continued. — The  yearly 
feasts  of  the  Jews  (passover  and  pentecost)  continue  among  the  Jewish 
Christians. — One  of  the  presbyters  presides  in  the  college  of  presbyters. 
90.  Country  churches  with  their  own  officers. 

100.  Reading  of  the  New  Testament  Scriptures  in  the  churches. 

110.  The  communion  connected  with  the  meetings  for  divine  service,  particularly 
with  those  on  Sunday. — Catechumens. — Preparation  for  baptism  by  fasting 
and  prayer. — Growing  importance  of  the  president  in  the  college  of  pres- 
byters. 

120.  The  celebration  of  marriages  brovight  into  connection  with  the  church. — 
Heathen  Christians  begin  to  celebrate  the  yearly  feasts,  but  with  altered 
views. — Voluntary  offerings  (rtpoafopat)  at  the  celebration  of  the  commu- 
nion.    Traces  of  a  separation  of  divine  service  into  two  parts. 

130.  In  divine  service  the  Scriptures  are  explained  and  applied  by  the  minister. — 
Then  follows  a  simple  celebration  of  the  supper. — The  deacons  carry  the 
elements  to  the  absent  members. 

140.  The  Scriptures  and  church  fathers  are  read  in  divine  service. — Epistolary 
correspondence  between  churches  (formatte). — Formula  of  baptism  as 
generally  prevalent  mentioned  in  Justin  Martyr. 

150.  During  the  persecutions  the  Christians  hold  their  meetings  in  retired  places. 
— Laying  on  of  hands  in  baptism. — Difference  about  the  celebration  of  the 
passover  between  the  oriental  and  occidental  churches. — Infant  baptism. — 
Those  that  have  been  regenerated  are  incorporated  into  the  body  of  the 
church  by  baptism. 

160.  First  appearance  of  buildings  appropriated  to  public  worship. — Polycarp  has 
a  conference  with  Anicetus  on  the  disagreement  respecting  the  passover. 
— Images  and  pictures  in  the  houses  of  Christians. — Weekly  or  monthly 
collections  in  the  meetings  for  public  worship,  for  the  poor  and  the  sick. — 
Special  fasts  for  the  benefit  of  those  in  distress. — The  use  of  the  sign  of 
the  cross  in  all  the  actions  and  events  of  life. — Transfer  of  the  ordinances 
of  the  Jewish  Sabbath  to  Sunday. 

170,  Catechists. — Contest  about  the  passover  in  Asia  Minor.— ^Deaconesses,  who 
are  widows  above  sixty  years  old,  receive  the  usual  ordination. — In  the 
Lord's  supper,  the  common  bread,  and  wine  mingled  with  water,  were  used. 
— Images  of  Christ  among  the  heretics. — The  deaconesses  are  consulted  in 
the  celebration  of  marriage.  The  bride  and  bridegroom  partake  of  the 
Lord's  supper  with  each  other. — Abrenuntiatio  at  baptism  and  trine  im- 
mersion.— More  definite  form  given  to  the  confessions  made  at  baptism. — 
Easter-eve  and  Whitsuntide  favourite  times  for  administering  baptism  in 
the  whole  church. — Celebration  of  Easter-night  by  vigils. — Festival  of 
fifteen  days  from  Easter  to  Whitsuntide. — Catholic  epistle  of  Dionysius  of 
Corinth. 

180,  The  Cliristian  custom  of  burying  the  dead.  Church  festival  in  commemora- 
tion of  the  dead  immediately  after  death  and  on  its  anniversaries. — Among 
the  Catholics  the  division  of  the  form  of  worsiiip  into  two  parts  is  the 
universal  custom. — Tertullian  opposed  to  infant  baptism.— The  heretics  on 
their  entrance  into  the  Catholic  church  are,  in  Asia  Minor  and  North 
Africa,  ags>-n  baptized  ;  in  Rome,  they  are  treated  as  penitents. — In  the 
oriental  church  divine  service  on  the  sabbath,  and  no  fasts. 


620 

A.B. 


CHRONOLOGICAL    INDEX 

Roman  Emperors. 


Bishops,  Eccl.  Officers,  and  Writers. 


180 

190 

Pertinax,  d.  193. 

Victor,  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  202. 
Clemens,  catechist  in  Alexandria. 
Caius,  presbyter  in  Rome. 

Septimius  Severus,  d.  211. 

Polycrates,  bishop  of  Ephesus. 

200 

Zephyrinus,  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  218. 
203.  Origen,  catechist  in  Alexandria. 

210 

Caracalla,  d.  217. 

Demetrius,  bp.  of  Alexandria,  d.  232. 

Macrimus,  d.  218. 

220 

Heliogabalus,  d.  222. 

Alexander  Severus,  d.  285. 

228.  Origen,  ordained  presbyter  at  Cae- 
sarea. 

230 

Hippolitus,  bishop. 

Origen  flees  to  Ccesarea  in  Palestine. 

Maximus  the  Thracian,  d.  238. 

233.  Heraclus,  bishop  of  Alexandria. 
Julius  Africanus. 

240 

Gordianus  III.  d.  244. 

Dionysius,    head    of    the    catechetical 

riiilip  the  Arabian,  d.  249. 

school  in  Alexandria. 

Decius  Trajanus,  d.  251. 

Minucius  Felix,  a  lawyer  in  Rome. 
244.  Gregory  Thaumaturgus,  bishop  of 

Neo-CiEsarea,  d.  270. 
Dionysius,  bishop  of  Alexandria,  d.  265. 
248.  Cyprian,  bp.  of  Carthage,  d.  258. 

250 

Fabian,  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  251. 

Trebonianus  Gallus  I.  d.  253. 

Cornelius,  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  252. 
Novatian. 

Gallus  Volusianus,  d.  253. 

Lucius,  bishop  of  Rome. 

Stephanus,  bishop  of  Rome,  253-257. 

Valerian,  d.  260. 

Firmilianus,  bishop  of  Csesarea  in  Cap- 
padocia,  d.  269. 

254.  Origen  d. 

Sixtus  II.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  258. 

260 

Gallienus,  d.  268. 

Dionysius,  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  270. 

Sabellius. 

Paul  of  Samosata,  bishop  of  Antioch, 

Claudius  Gothicus,  d.  270. 

265-269. 

270 

Aurelianus,  d.  275. 

Commodianus. 

Felix,  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  275. 

Tacitus,  d.  276. 

Mani,  d.  277. 

Aurelius  Probus,  d.  282. 

Eutychianus,  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  283. 
Methodius,  bishop  of  Tyre. 

CHRONOLOGICAL   INDEX.  621 


Historical  Events. 


180.  In  the  Romish  church  and  other  places  of  the  West,  fasts  on  the  §abbath. — 
Attempts  to  determine  the  day  of  Christ's  birth.  Perhaps  a  celebration 
of  it  in  Egypt  ( ? ) — In  the  churches  an  altar  and  pulpit  (pulpitum,  sug- 
gestus.) — The  ofiBce  of  readers.  The  performance  of  particular  penances 
by  the  penitents. 

190.  Images  of  Christ  among  the  heathen. — Symbolical  rites  in  baptism. — Anoint- 
ing after  baptism. — Use  of  milk  and  honey. — Kiss  of  peace. — The  laying 
on  of  hands  as  a  concluding  act,  regarded  as  particularly  important. — 
Contest  between  the  Christians  of  Asia  Minor  and  of  Rome  respecting  the 
celebration  of  the  passover. — 197.  Victor  of  Rome  withdraws  from  the 
fellowship  of  the  Christians  of  Asia  Minor. — The  college  of  the  presbyters 
still  exists  in  subordinate  connection  with  the  bishop. 

200.  Public  discussions  upon  the  baptism  of  heretics  in  North  Africa. — Communion 
in  private  houses  in  North  Africa. — The  birthday  of  the  martyrs  celebrated. 
— A  house  of  public  worship  in  Edessa. 

210.  Introduction  of  Old  Testament  ideas  of  a  particular  priesthood  into  the 
Christian  church. — The  clergy,  as  a  body,  called  xT^rjpoi;,  x'Kr^pixoi,,  ordo,  in 
distinction  from  Vaexaoi,  plchs.  laid. — The  catechumens  divided  into  classes 
by  Origen. 

220.  Choice  of  bishop  by  the  provincial  bishops  in  connection  with  the  adjacent 
churches. — The  symbol  of  baptism,  the  rite  of  baptism,  the  Lord's  prayer, 
and  some  church-songs  kept  concealed  from  the  catechumens. 

230.  Origen  gave  theological  instruction  in  Cassarea  in  Palestine. — Hippolytus 
writes  upon  the  disagreement  of  the  East  and  West  in  respect  to  sabbatical 
fasts,  and  the  contest  about  the  passover. — Composed  a  canon  paschalis. — 
Opposers  of  infant  baptism  in  Egypt. — Candidates  for  baptism  exorcised. 
Consecration  of  the  Avater. — Houses  of  public  worship  become  more  fre- 
quent.— The  clergj'  are  not  permitted  to  become  guardians,  or  to  engage  in 
any  worldly  business. — The  churches  provide  for  the  support  of  their  clergy. 
Comparison  of  the  Christian  clergy  with  the  Jewish  priests.  Episcopus  = 
Summus  sacerdos,  Presbyteri^Sacerdotes,  Diaconi  or  Clerici  (generally) 
=  Levit8e. 

240.  Infant  communion  in  Africa,  afterward  also  in  the  East. — Clinic  baptism. 
— The  laying  of  hands  on  the  newly  baptized  begins  to  be  regarded  as  the 
appropriate  act  of  none  but  the  bishop. — The  communion  is  extended  to 
the  sick  and  dying. — Frequent  and  large  church  edifices. — Provincial  synods 
common  in  Africa  and  proconsular  Asia.  The  whole  body  of  the  clergy 
and  the  people  participate  in  them. — Contests  of  the  bishops  and  presbyters 
in  Rome  and  Africa. — Subdeacons.  Acolyths.  Exorcists.  Ostiarii. — 
Doctores  audentium  in  Africa. — Cyprian  consults  with  the  presbyters  upon 
the  affairs  of  the  church.  Sometimes  the  advice  of  the  whole  church  is 
asked. 

250.  Easter-sabbath  a  common  fast-day  in  the  church. — Libelli  pacis  numerously 
distributed  by  the  confessors. — The  people  take  part  in  the  elections  to  the 
church  ofEces,  particularly  in  the  election  of  bishops  and  presbyters. — The 
bishop  nominates  the  lower  clergy. — Pope,  title  of  illustrious  bishops. — 
Synods  in  respect  to  penitents  in  Asia  Minor. — Triumph  of  the  Episcopal 
over  the  Presbyterial  system. — Gregory  Thaumaturgus  permits  banquets 
to  be  introduced  into  the  festivals  in  honour  of  the  martyrs. — 252.  Infant 
baptism  at  the  Council  of  Carthage  declared  to  be  necessary.  Anointing 
at  baptism  required  by  Cyprian. — 25-3.  Stephen  of  Rome  witlidraws  fellow- 
ship from  the  Christians  of  Asia  Minor  on  account  of  the  baptism  of  here- 
tics.— Two  councils  in  North  Africa  confirm  the  old  African  principles  upon 
the  subject  of  the  baptism  of  heretics;  on  this  account  Stephen  excommu- 
nicates the  North  Africans. — The  African  synod,  in  the  autumn  of  25(5, 
declare  in  favour  of  the  customs  of  the  African  church. 

260.  The  practice  of  cheering  the  preacher  during  the  delivery  of  his  sei'mon. — 
The  Lord's  supper  has  become  more  complicated  and  splendid. 

270.  Fixed  formularies  for  the  administration  of  this  rite  are  formed. — Cata- 
logues of  the  members  of  the  church  and  of  Christians  that  have  died  are 
kept. 


622 


CHRONOLOGICAL    INDEX. 


A.D. 

Roman  Emperors. 

Bishops,  Ecd.  Officers,  and  Writers. 

280 

— r 

Pierius  and  Theognostus  in  Alexandria. 

Aurelius  Carus,  regent  with  Ca- 

rinus,  d.  283. 

Cains,  bishop  of  Pvome,  d.  296. 

Numerianus,  d.  284. 

Diocletian  with  Maximian, 

from 

286  to   305,  regents  foi 

the 

emperors  Galerius   and 

Con- 

Pamphilius,  Pres.  in  Caesarea. 

290 

stantine  Chlorus. 

Marcellinus,  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  304. 
Lucian  and  Dorotheus,  Pres.  in  Antioch. 

300 

306.  Constantius  Chlorus,  d 

Peter,  bishop  of  Alexandria,  d.  311. 
Marcellus,  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  309. 

Constantine,  Maxentius,  Maximi- 

Arnobius,  orator  in  Sicca. 

anus,  Galerius,  Severus, 

and 

Maximin,  rulers. 

Eusebius,  bishop  of  Rome,  311. 

307.  Severus  d.  succeeded  by  Li- 

ciuius. 

Melchiades,  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  314. 

310 

Maximian,  d. 

311.  Galerius,  d. 

Lactantius. 

312.  Maxentius,  d. 

Alexander,  bishop  of  Alexandria. 

313.  Maximinus,  d. 

Sylvester,  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  335. 

320 

Arius  in  Alexandria,  d.  336. 

Lucinius,  d.  324. 

Eusebius,  bishop  of  Caesarea  in  Pales- 
tine, d.  340. 

Constantine  sole  emperor,  d. 

337. 

Eusebius,  bishop  of  Nicoraedia. 
Eustathius,  bishop  of  Antioch. 
Alexander,  bishop  of  Constantinople. 
Athanasius,  bp.  of  Alexandria,  d.  373. 

330 

Constantine  II.  d.  340. 

Juvencus. 

Constantius,  d.  3G1. 

Marcus,  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  336. 

Constans,  d.  350. 

Julius  I.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  352. 
Macarius,  Sen.  et  Jun. 

340 

Julius  Firm.  Maternus. 
Gregorius,  bishop  of  Alexandria. 
342.  Macedonius,  bishop  of  Constanti- 
nople. 
Eusebius,  bishop  of  Emesa,  d.  360. 
Leontius,  bishop  of  Antioch. 
Hilarius,  bishop  of  Pictavium,  d.  368. 

350 

Liberius,  bishop  of  Rome,  352-55  and 

68-66. 
Felix,  bishop  of  Rome,  355-58. 
Cyrill,  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  d.  386. 
Zeno,  bishop  of  Verona. 
Hilary,  Dea.  Luciferit. 

CHRONOLOGICAL   INDEX.  623 


nistorical  Events. 


280.   Infant,  baptism  common  among  the  Persian  Christians. 

290.  Pamphilus  establishes  a  theological  school  in  CjBsarea. — The  church  year 
begins  with  Easter  festival. — Attempt  to  introduce  images  into  the  churches. 

300.  Peculiar  dress  of  the  clergy. — Beginning  of  sacred  hermeneutics. — The 
beginnings  of  the  school  at  Antioch. — 305.  The  Council  of  Elvira  forbids 
images  in  churches. — The  splendid  church  in  Nicoraedia  destroyed. — The 
council  at  Elvira  enjoins  sabbatical  fasts,  censures  the  irregularities  in  the 
keeping  of  vigils,  and  limits  the  festival  of  Whitsuntide  to  one  day.— In  the 
Romish  church  the  beginning  of  an  eighty-four  years'  Easter  cycle. — The 
council  at  Elvira  determines  the  duration  of  the  catechumenate. — The 
practice  of  sending  consecrated  bread  as  a  sign  of  church  fellowship. — The 
subterranean  vaults  of  Rome  (catacombs)  used  for  Christian  burial-places. 
— Christian  emblems,  pictures,  carving  on  the  coffins,  and  funeral-lamps  in 
the  niches  of  the  walls. 

310.  The  council  at  Aries  gives  laws  respecting  the  baptism  of  heretics. — Churches 
are  solemnly  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  God. — The  order  of  rural  bishops 
in  most  places  suppressed. — Piegular  division  of  the  penitents  into  classes. 
— Easter  cycle  of  nineteen  years;  perhaps  established  by  Eusebius  of 
Cassarea. — Church  in  Tyre  built  by  Paulinus. 

320.  Establishment  of  the  canonical  age  for  bishops  and  of  seven  as  the  number 
of  deacons. — Exclusion  of  such  as  had  received  clinic  baptism  from  the 
rank  of  clergy. — (Ecumenical  synods. — Laws  against  taking  those  who  have 
been  penitents  and  neophytes  into  church  offices. — Fixed  regulations  re- 
specting the  number  and  time  of  the  provincial  synods. — Altars  mostly  of 
■vvood. — Constantine  and  his  mother  very  active  in  building  churches  in  Asia 
and  Europe. — The  church  of  St.  Sophia  built. — Several  basilicse  are  granted 
to  the  Christians. — 321.  (In  March  and  June)  decrees  of  Constantine  in 
respect  to  the  observance  of  Sunday.  His  orders  respecting  the  army. 
Law  for  the  religious  observance  of  Friday. — 32.5.  The  Nicene  Council 
ordains  a  uniform  celebration  of  the  passover  for  the  churches,  and  com- 
mits to  the  Alexandrians  the  calculation  of  Easter. — Celebration  of  a  festi- 
val of  the  Ascension. — Four  classes  of  catechumens. — Arius,  a  writer  of 
sacred  songs. — In  the  public  worship,  particular  prayers  for  catechumens, 
energumens,  and  penitents. 

330.  Archpresbyters.  Archdeacons.  Favourite  division  of  churches  into  three 
parts — ante-temple,  nave,  and  bema  or  sanctuary. — At  the  feast  of  Epiphany 
the  celebration  of  the  passover  is  announced.  The  oriental  eighth  of  Whit- 
suntide a  general  martyr  festival. — Supplications  for  the  repose  of  the 
souls  of  the  dead. — The  pretended  discovery  of  the  cross  in  the  Holy  Land 
promoted  the  superstition  about  the  use  of  the  sign  of  the  cross. 

340.  Bishops  and  emperors  exert  an  important  influence  upon  church  elections. — 
341.  Decision  upon  the  rights  of  provincial  synods.  New  restrictions  upon 
the  country  bishops. — 344.  Decision  upon  the  passage  of  the  bishop  through 
the  different  grades  of  the  clergy.  The  installation  of  country  bishops 
prohibited. — Images  in  many  oriental  churches. — 341.  Decision  in  Antioch 
upon  the  celebration  of  the  passover. — Festival  of  the  Maccabees  in  Syria. 
— Anniversary  festival  in  commemoration  of  the  dedication  of  churches. — 
Celebration  of  the  festival  of  the  Birth  of  Christ  in  Rome  (on  the  25th  of 
December.) — The  ceremonies  before  and  at  baptism  have  become  compli- 
cated. Anointing  before  and  after  baptism.  The  changing  of  the  name 
at  baptism  is  practised.  The  delaying  of  baptism  a  somewhat  general  fault, 
particularly  of  the  oriental  churches. 

350.  Church  singers.  In  the  East  the  emperors  are  allowed  to  go  into  the  bema. 
— .^Erius  urges  to  a  reformation  of  life  in  the  church,  and  is  particularly  oji- 
posed  to  distinction  of  rank  in  the  church. — In  Gangra,  Sunday  fasts  pro- 
hibited.— The  heathen  calends  of  January  kept  among  the  Christians  as  a 
fast-day. — Responsive  singing  introduced  by  the  monks  into  the  church  of 
Antioch. — Hilarius  of  Pictavium  a  writer  of  hymns. — Liturgies  are  writ- 
ten (?)  Preparatory  exorcism  on  the  days  previous  to  baptism  liy  Cyril 
of  Jerusalem. — ^Erius  attacked  the  false  notion  of  the  efficacy  of  prayers 
for  the  dead. 


624  CHRONOLOaiCAL    INDEX. 

A.  D.  Roman  Emperors. 


Bishops,  Eccl.  Officers,  and  Writers. 


360 

■ 
.ffirius,  presb.  in  Sebaste. 

361.  Constantius,  d. 

Ephraem  the  Syrian,  dea.  of  Edessa,  d. 

Julian  the  Apostate,  d.  363. 

378. 

Jovian,  d.  364. 

Hieronymus  Stridon,  d.  420. 

Valentinian  I.  in  the  West,  d.  375. 

Rufinus  of  Aquileia,  d.  410. 

Valens  in  the  East,  d.  378. 

Epiphanius,  bishop  of  Constantia,d.  403. 
Damasus,  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  384. 

370 

Optatus,  bishop  of  Milevi. 

Basil,  bishop  of  Ccesarea  in  Cappadocia, 

d.  379. 
Gregory,  bishop  of  Nyssa,  d.  after  394. 
Martin,  bishop  of  Tours,  d.  after  400. 

Gratian,  d.  383. 

Amphilochius,    bishop    of    Iconium,    d. 

Valentinian  II.  d.  392. 

after  394. 

Theodosius  in  the  East. 

Diodorus,  bp.  of  Tarsus,  d.  about  390. 
Ambrose,  bishop  of  Milan,  d.  397. 
Philastrius,  bishop  of  Brixia. 
Gregory  Nazienzen,  bishop  of  Constan- 
tinople, d.  391. 

380 

Didymus,  president  of  the  catechetical 
school  at  Alexandria,  d.  395. 

Jovian,  monk  in  Rome. 

Apollinaris,  bishop  of  Laodicea. 

Siricius,  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  398. 

Theophilus,  bp.  of  Alexandria,  d.  412. 

Johannes  Chrysostom.  386.  Pres.  in 
Antioch.  398.  Bishop  of  Constan- 
tinople, d.  407. 

Asterius,  bishop  of  Amasia. 

Severianus,  bishop  of  Gabala,  d.  after 
408. 

Augustine,  bishop  of  Hippo,  d.  430. 

390 

Theodorus,  bp  of  Mopsvestia,  d.  429. 

392.  Theodosius  sole  emperor,  d. 

Palladius  the  Younger,   bishop   of  As- 

395. 

pona,  d.  before  431. 
Severus  Endelechius. 
Gaudentius,  bishop  of  Brixia. 
Anastasius  I.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  402. 
Sulpitius  Severus,  presb.  d.  420. 

CHRONOLOGICAL   INDEX.  625 


Historical  Events. 


350.  A  special  burial  service. — Solemnization  of  funerals.  Aoyoi  imta^coi,  par- 
ticularly in  the  East. 

360.  Itinerant  presbyters  appointed  in  the  place  of  country  bishops. — Theological 
school  at  Edessa. — The  teaching  of  heathen  literature  in  Christian  schools 
forbidden  by  Julian.  He  establishes  a  Christian  institution  afterward 
among  the  heathen. — The  oiEce  of  oeconomus  (steward  of  the  church.) — 
Benevolent  institutions  of  every  kind  proceeding  from  the  church,  in  the 
cities  and  in  the  country,  particularly  in  the  East. — Western  churches  be- 
gin to  lose  their  importance. — Altars  built  of  stone. — Church  laws  for  the 
celebration  of  Sunday,  the  sabbath  and  the  quadrigesima. — Julian  cele- 
brates Epiphany  in  Vienna.  Martyr-festivals,  with  vigils,  very  frequent. 
Dies  stationum  (stationary  days)  continue  to  be  kept  in  Egypt,  Asia  Minor, 
Constantinople,  and  in  other  places. — Imperial  pardons  granted  at  Easter. 
— Council  of  Laodicea  forbids  the  singing  of  apocryphal  psalms  in  tlie 
churches  and  the  holding  of  love-feasts  in  the  churches. — Basilius,  a  pro- 
moter of  responsive  singing  in  the  churches. — Ephraem  composes  churcli 
hymns. — The  practice  of  carrying  consecrated  bread  as  though  it  possessed 
magical  powers. — The  composition  of  little  doxologies  by  the  Anti-Arians 
is  opposed  in  Cappadocia. — The  office  of  copiatre. — The  practice  of  crown- 
ing newly-mariied  people  with  wreaths,  of  vailing  the  bride,  etc  retained. 
The  Council  of  Laodicea  forbids  improper  usages  at  weddings  and  tlie  cele- 
bration of  marriage  in  the  time  of  the  quadrigesimal  fasts. 

370.  Heathen  temples  are  converted  into  Christian  churches. — During  the  Great 
Week  in  Cappadocia  daily  morning  and  evening  service. — A  local  festival  in 
Alexandria  in  commemoration  of  the  earthquakes. — Epiphany  the  time  for 
baptism  in  the  East. — Basil  of  C^sarea  a  zealous  liturgist. — Ambrose  trans- 
fers responsive  singing  to  the  churches  of  the  West,  composes  hymns  for 
the  church,  and  does  away  the  love-feasts. — The  chapels  of  the  martyrs  are 
used  for  burying-places  in  Cappadocia. — Christian  family-vaults. 

380.  Church  s zStxot. — Christian  poor-houses  and  hospitals  in  Italy. — The  office  of 
penitentiary  presbyter  abolished. — -The  Lateran  and  St.  Peter's  church  in 
Rome. — Epiphanius  opposed  to  having  images  in  clmrches. — Baptisteries  in 
or  near  the  church. — 386.  Renewed  order  of  the  emperor  in  relation  to  the 
celebration  of  Sunday. — Disagreement  of  Rome  and  Alexandria  as  to  the 
celebration  of  Easter. — Different  practice  in  the  oriental  clmrches  in  re- 
spect to  sabbath  fasts.  The  Romish  church  warmly  defends  lier  own  usage 
in  respect  to  it. — 386.  The  festival  of  Christ's  birth  celebrated  in  Syria  on 
the  25th  of  December. — Decree  of  the  Anti-Priscillians  against  partaking 
of  the  Lord's  supper  oixt  of  the  church. — Complaints  against  theatrical 
singing  in  the  church. — 381.  Decree  of  the  (Ecumenical  Council  respecting 
those  that  rebaptized  heretics. — ISIore  fixed  regulations  respecting  church- 
reading. — Siricius  of  Rome  forbids  baptism  in  Epiphany. — Images  of  the 
cross  very  frequent. — Images  of  Christ  are  still  opposed. — In  tlie  Romish 
church,  even  in  espousals,  the  blessing  of  the  priest  was  necessary. — Theo- 
dosius  revived  the  Roman  law  that  burying-places  should  be  witliout  the 
city. 

390.  Missions  are  prompted  by  Chrysostom. — A  mission  institute  at  Constantinople 
for  the  Goths. — 398.  State  laws  respecting  the  choice  of  monks  to  clerical 
offices,  and  respecting  the  appointment  of  country  clergy. — Decrees  of  the 
Western  church  in  relation  to  the  trial  of  the  clergy. — 392  (and  389  ) 
Laws  of  the  empire  to  suspend  ordinary  business  eight  days  before  and 
eight  days  after  Easter. — 393.  Evening  communion  on  dies  viridium. — In 
Antioch,  on  Good  Friday,  meetings  for  Divine  service  in  the  churches  of 
the  martyrs. — The  Donatists  oppose  the  festival  of  Epiphany. — The  birth- 
day of  Christ  as  determined  at  Rome,  generally  adopted  in  the  West. — Tlie 
birth  of  John  Baptist  celebrated  on  the  24th  of  June.  Heathen  usages  in 
the  celebration  of  festivals. — 393.  The  reading  of  uncanonical  books,  salu- 
tation by  the  reader,  and  the  distribution  of  the  eucharist  to  the  dead  for- 
bidden.— The  bishops  alone  confer  confirmation.  In  Rome,  no  lieretic  may 
be  rebaptizetl. — Repasts  for  the  poor  take  the  place  of  tlie  old  love-feasts 
— The  custom  of  employing  mourning-women  is  introduced  into  the  church 

40 


626 


CHRO^;OLOGICAL    INDEX. 


A.D. 


Roman  Emperors. 


Bishops,  Eccl.  Officers,  and  Writers. 


400 


Division  of  the  Empire. 
Western  Rom.  Eastern  Rom. 


Empire. 

Honorius,   d. 
423. 


Empire. 

Arcadius,      d. 

408. 
Empress     Eu- 

docia. 


Theodosius  II. 
d.  450. 


Paulinus,  bishop  of  Nola,  d.  431. 
Innocent  I.  bisViop  of  Rome,  d.  417. 
Atticus  bishop  of  Constantinople. 
Prudentius. 


Vigilantius,  presb.  in  Barcelona. 
Victor  of  Antioch. 


410  Nilus  the  monk. 

Pelagius  and  Ctelestius. 
.Joannus  Cassianus,  d.  after  432. 
14.  Pulcheria      Cyril,  bishop  of  Alexandria,  d.  444. 
Augusta.  Isidorus  of  Pelusium,  d.  about  440. 

Zosiraus,  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  418. 
Boniface  I.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  422. 
Possidius,  bishop  of  Calama. 
Synesius,  bishop  of  Ptolemais. 
420  Philostorgius,  ecclesiastical  writer. 

Coelestinus  I.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  432. 
Valentinian  III.  Vincentius  of  Lirinum,  d.  before  440. 

d.  455.  Nestorius,  bishop  of  Constantinople,  d. 

about  440. 

Theodoret,  bp.  of  Cyrus  in  Syria,  d.  457. 

N.  B.  The  church  history  of  Socrates  extends  from  306  to  439,   (continued  by 

Evagrius  to  594;)  that  of  Sozomen  from  323  to  423;    that  of  Philostorgius, 

an  Arian  bishop,  from  300  to  425 ;  that  of  Theodoret  from  325  to  429 ;  that 

of  Evagrius,  continuator  of  Socrates  and  Theodoret,  from  431  to  594. 


430 


440 


450 


Ricimer, 
472. 


Pulcheria,     d. 

453. 
Marcian,    died 

457. 
457.  Leo  I.  the 

Thracian. 


John,  bishop  of  Antioch. 
Proclus,  bp.  of  Constantinople,  d.  446. 
Hilary,  bishop  of  Aries,  d.  449. 
Sixtus  III.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  440. 
Peter  Chrysologus,  bp.of  Ravemia,d.458. 
Barsumas,  bishop  of  Nisibis,  to  489. 
Ibas,  bishop  of  Edessa,  to  457. 
Leo  I.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  461. 
Salvianus,  presb.  in  Massilia. 
Socrates  the  historian. 
Sozomen  the  historian. 
Dioscurus,  bishop  of  Alexandria. 
Proterius,  bishop  of  Alexandria. 
Flavian,  bishop  of  Constantinople. 
Symeon  Stylites,  d.  460. 
Paschasinns,  bishop  of  Lilybseum. 
Maximus,  bishop  of  Turin. 
Mamertus,  bishop  of  Vienna. 
Gennadius,  bishop  of  Constantinople. 
Tiniotlicus  ^-Elurus.  bp.  of  Alexandria. 
Aruobius  the  younger. 
Hilary,  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  4G8. 


CHRONOLOGICAL   INDEX.  627 


Historical  Events. 


390.  Alms  are  distributed  in  memory  of  the  dead. — Images  are  allowed  in  the 
East, 


400.  407.  Defensors  of  the  church  established. — 408.  Laws  of  the  emperor  for 
the  establishment  of  episcopal  jurisdiction. — 409.  Laws  giving  the  bishops 
the  oversight  of  the  prisons. — Paulinus  is  active  in  building  churclaes  in 
Nola  and  Fundi. — 401.  Request  of  the  Africans  to  the  emperor  to  restrain 
public  amusements  on  Sunday. — Vigilantius  opposes  the  vigils. — Celebra- 
tion of  the  death  of  Theodosius  in  Constantinople. — Innocent  of  Rome  es- 
tablishes the  sabbatical  fast  by  a  law  of  the  church. — Celebration  of  the 
anniversary  of  the  ordination  of  bishops. — Family  communion  continues  in 
many  churches  of  the  East  and  AVest. — Practice  of  vicarious  baptism  among 
the  pseudo-Marcionites  in  Syria. — A  pretended  hymn  of  Christ  among  the 
Priscillianists. — The  burial  of  the  dead  the  common  custom. — Bishops  in- 
terred in  the  churches. — Feasts  at  the  graves  of  the  dead,  with  many  abuses 
accompanying. 

410.  416.  Office  of  the  parobolani  in  Constantinople. — 418.  Increase  of  the  para- 
bolani  to  600. — Paulinus  favours  the  use  of  images  in  churches  and  bap- 
tisteries, particularly  for  the  instruction  of  the  country  people. — In  the 
East  complaints  of  there  being  too  many  images  in  the  churches. — Repre- 
sentation of  the  sign  of  the  cross  in  churches. — Inscriptions  in  and  upon 
churches. — Contest  in  North  Africa  about  the  sabbatical  fast. — Cyril  im- 
jjroves  the  Easter-table  of  Theophilus. — Celebration  of  the  Festum  Stephani 
in  North  Africa;  (still  earlier  in  the  interior  of  Italy.) — In  the  oriental 
churches,  candles  are  lighted  while  the  Gospels  are  read. — Theodosius  II. 
diminishes  the  number  of  the  copiata3. 


420.  In  the  East  the  people  still  take  part  in  the  church  elections. — Votive  offerings 
in  the  churclies,  particularly  in  the  chapels  of  the  martyrs. — 425.  Theatri- 
cal exhibitions  on  Sunday  and  on  the  high  church  festivals  forbidden  by  the 
emperor. — In  Egypt,  a  separate  celebration  of  the  festival  of  Christ's  birth. 
— Celebration  of  the  feast  of  annunciation. 


430.  Office  of  the  Apocrisiarii. — The  celebration  of  the  Quadrigesimal  fasts  is 
still  different  in  different  ecclesiastical  provinces. — No  definite  laws  for  the 
keeping  of  fasts  yet  fixed. — Prostration  of  the  people  on  the  exhibition  of 
the  elements  of  the  supper  (?)  \ 

440.  441.  The  appointment  of  deaconesses  forbidden  in  the  West. — Crosses  upon 
the  altar. — Altars  richly  ornamented. — Councils  are  held  in  the  baptiste- 
ries.— Contentions  about  the  Easter  festival  of  the  year  444. — The  Romans 
take  the  side  of  the  Alexandrians. — Festum  cathedrae  Petri  in  the  Romish 
church. — Remains  of  heathen  customs  which  became  mingled  in  the  Roman 
celebration  of  Christ's  birth. — New  contest  about  the  calculation  of  Ea?ter. 
— Leo  of  Rome  yields  to  the  Alexandrians. — Infant  baptism  a  common 
church  ordinance. — The  Trisagion  Hymn  is  altered. 

450.  451.  The  office  of  ceconomus  established  by  law. — The  bishops  have  tlie 
spiritual  oversight  of  the  cloisters. — Church  Lectionarii  in  the  Gallic 
churches. 


628 


CHRONOLOGICAL    INDEX. 


A.n. 


Roman  Emperors. 


Bishops,  Eccl.  Ojficers,  and  Writers, 


460 


470 


480 


490 


500 


510 


520 


630 


640 


660 


5G0 


670 


680 


Antiiemius. 


474.   Leo.     XL 

475.  Romulus        soon  succeed- 
Augustus.  ed  by  his  fa- 
ther Zeno. 

The  Western  empire  is  divided 
into  several  new  states. 

476.  Odoaster, 
king  of  Italy 
and  Noricum. 


481.  Clovis 
d.  611. 


491. 


Anasta- 


sius    emperor 
until  518. 


518.  Justin    L 
to  627. 


520.    Atalaric, 

king   of   the     627.   Justinian 
Ostrogoths.         to  565. 


534.    Theodat, 

k.  of  Ostrog. 
536.  Vitiges,  k. 
of  Ostrog. 


Totila,  king  of     Empress    The- 
Ostrog.  odora. 


552.  Tejas,    k. 

of  Ostrog. 
550.     Chlotar, 

k.  of  France. 


565.  Justin  II. 
to  578. 
670.  Tiber  II. 


582.  Mauritius. 


Timotheus,  bishop  of  Alexandria. 
Simplicius,  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  483. 
Peter  the  fuller. 

Sidunius  Apollinaris,  bp.  of  Clermont. 
Faustus  of  Rhegium,  d.  after  490. 
Acacius,  bishop  of  Constantinople. 
Petrus  the  monk,  bishop  of  Alexandria. 
Victor,  bishop  of  Vita. 
Gennadius,  presb.  of  Masillon,  d.  af.  493. 
Vigilius,  bishop  of  Tapsus. 
Macedonius,  bishop  of  Constantinople. 
Felix  III.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  492. 
Flavian,  bishop  of  Antioch. 

Gelasius  I.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  496. 

Anastasius  II.  bishop  of  Piome,  d.  498. 

Avitus,  bishop  of  Vienna. 

Symmaclius,  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  514. 

Bcethius,  d.  525. 

Epiphanius,  the  historian  of  the  church. 

Theodorus,  historian  of  the  chtirch. 

Dionysisus  the  small. 

Cajsarius,  bishop  of  Aries,  d.  542. 

Hormisdas,  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  623. 

Philoxenus,  bishop  of  Hieapolis. 

Fulgentius,  bishop  of  Ruspe,  d.  633. 

Trocopius  of  Gaza. 

John  of  Cappadocia,  bishop  of  Constan- 
tinople, d.  520. 

Epiphanius,  bishop  of  Constantinople. 

John  1.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  526. 

Felix  IV.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  530. 

Boniface  II.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  632. 

John  II.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  535. 

Agapet  I.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  536. 

Antliimus,  bishop  of  Constantinople 

Silverius,  bishop  of  Rome. 

Vigilius,  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  555. 

Fulgentius,  dea.  at  Carthage,  d.  before 
551. 

Cosmas  Indicopleustes. 

Aurelius  Cassiodorus,  d.  after  562. 

Primasius,  bishop  of  Adrumetum. 

Facundus,  bp.  of  llermiane,  d.  about  670. 

Junilius,  African  bishop. 

Pelagius  I.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  560. 

Propius  of  Cffisarea. 

John  III.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  573. 

John  Philoponus,  d.  after  610. 

Joannes  Scholasticus,  bishop  of  Const, 
d.  578. 


Benedict  I.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  578. 
Pelagius  II.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  590. 
Evagrius,  the  historian. 
.Joannes  Jcjunator,  bishop  of  Const. 
Leander,  bishop  of  Hispalis. 
Gregory  I.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  604. 


CHRONOLOGICAL   INDEX.  629 


Historical  Events. 


460.  Canon  Paschalis  of  Victorius  Aquilanus  introduced  into  Rome  in  465. — Leo 
allows  penitents  the  privilege  of  private  confession  previous  to  their  being 
received  again  into  the  church. — 461.  Council  of  Tours  decrees  that  the 
bread  be  dipped  in  wine  in  the  communion  of  the  sick.  Burial-places  in 
churches,  particularly  in  those  of  the  martyrs,  are  considered  as  peculiarly 
holy. — 469.  The  edict  of  425  respecting  the  observance  of  Sunday  made 
more  strict.  • 

470.  Peter  Fullo  makes  an  addition  to  the  Trisagion. — The  North  African  church 
holds  strictly  to  a  particular  form  of  prayer. — Parents  sponsors  for  their 
own  children. — Rogation  days  instituted  at  Vienna. 

480.  489.  Destruction  of  the  theological  school  at  Edessa. — The  festival  of  Peter 
and  Paul  celebrated  at  Constantinople  with  new  splendour. — Gelasius  of 
Rome  active  in  behalf  of  liturgies. 

490.  A  special  ofiBce  instituted  in  Constantinople  for  enrolling  the  catechumens  in 
the  church  books. — Council  of  Agde  orders  that  on  Palm-Sunday  the  cate- 
chumens shall  publicly  repeat  the  creed. — Consecration  of  altars. 

500.  Romish  bishops  bear,  by  way  of  eminence,  the  title  of  pope. — Church  ordi- 
nance respecting  lay  communion. — The  division  of  divine  service  into  two 
parts  begins  gradually  to  disappear. — Legends  respecting  images  of  Christ 
not  made  with  hands. — Celebration  of  Christmas-Eve. — Ordinance  respect- 
ing the  celebration  of  Rogation  days  in  Gaul. 

510.  In  the  Gallic  and'  Romish  churches  frequent  participation  of  Christians  in 
the  heathen  celebration  of  New  Year. — Decree  of  the  Council  of  Gironne 
respecting  Rogations. — Easter-table  of  Dionysius  Exiguus. — In  the  Gallic 
and  Romish  church  the  ecclesiastical  year  begins  at  Christmas. — 517.  In 
the  West,  prohibitions  of  the  appointment  of  deaconesses  repeated. 

520.  The  Benedictines  have  the  charge  of  the  education  of  youth. — Hundred  dea- 
cons in  Constantinople. — 524.  Council  of  Valencia  passes  a  decree  in  rela- 
tion to  the  reading  of  the  Gospels. — The  Te  Dnim  appears  in  the  rule  of 
the  Benedictines. — 527.  The  calculation  of  Dionysius  respecting  Easter 
adopted  at  Rome. — Great  activity  in  building  churches  in  the  East,  par- 
ticularly in  Constantinople. — 529.  In  the  West,  a  decree  for  the  education 
of  the  clergy. — Church  order  in  respect  to  the  oversight  of  prisons  by  the 
bishops. — In  Palestine,  a  combined  celebration  of  the  baptism  and  birth  of 
Christ  at  Epiphany  festival,  continues. 

530.  Order  in  relation  to  the  city  church  in  Constantinople. — Rebuilding  of  the 
church  of  St.  Sophia. — 538.  Laws  for  the  celebration  of  Sunday  passed  at 
the  Synod  in  Orleans. — Prohibition  of  marriage  between  baptized  persons 
and  their  sponsors. 

540.  Order  of  the  emperor  respecting  the  installation  of  the  clergy,  and  the  evi- 
dence to  be  given  by  them  of  their  agreement  with  the  faith  of  the  church. 
— Consecration  of  the  sites  of  churches. — Canon  of  Victorius  continues  in 
Gaul. 

550.  Theological  school  at  Nisibis  flourishes. 

660.  Arch-subdeacons. — 562.  Dedication  of  the  church  of  St.  Sophia. — Institution 
of  a  three  days'  fast  in  the  Gallic  church  for  the  time  of  the  celebration  of 
the  festival  of  the  calends. — Prohibition  of  abuses  in  the  Festum  Cathedrae 
Petri. — The  council  of  Braga  forbids  tombs  in  the  inner  area  of  churches, 
and  the  use  of  the  burial-service  at  the  interment  of  suicides. 

570.  In  the  church  of  St.  Sophia,  a  vault  for  the  prince. — Council  of  Braga  for- 
bids the  practice  of  dipping  bread  in  wine  at  the  supper. — X  festum  circum- 
cmonis  on  the  first  day  of  .lanuary. — 572.  A  law  in  the  West  concerning 
the  visitation  of  the  districts  of  the  bishops. 

580.  585.  A  church  order  respecting  the  care  of  widows  and  orphans. — The  Coun- 
cil of  Mascon  enjoins  the  continuation  of  Easter  festival  to  the  pascha 
clausum. — The  formula  of  distribution  in  the  Romish  church  becomes  longer. 
— A  single  immersion  in  baptism  in  the  Spanish  church. 


630  CHKOXOLOGICAL    INDEX 

A.  D.  Roman  Emperors. 


Bishops,  Eccl.  Officers,  and  Writers. 


590 

602.  Pliocas. 

Augustinus,  in  Britain. 
Cyriacus,  bishop  of  Constantinople. 
Isidorus,  bishop  of  Hispalis,  d.  636. 
Sabinian,  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  606. 
Thomas,  bishop  of  Constantinople. 

610 

Chlotai 

•   II.  k. 

610.  Heraclius. 

Boniface  III.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  607. 

of  France. 

Boniface  IV.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  615. 

620 

Sergius,  bishop  of  Constantinople. 

630 

Constantine 

Deusdedit,  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  618. 
Boniface  V.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  625. 
Honorius  I.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  638. 
Sophronius,  bishop  of  Jerusalem. 
Pyrrhus,  bishop  of  Constantinople. 
Severinus,  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  640. 

640 

III. 
Heraclionas. 
Constans  II. 

John  IV.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  642. 
Theodore,  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  649. 
Martin  I.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  655. 
Eugenius  I.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  657. 

650 

Vitalian  I.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  672. 

655.  Clovis  II. 

Thomas,  bishop  of  Constantinople. 

656. 
III. 

Chlotar 

John,  bishop  of  Constantinople. 

6G0 

Theodore,  bishop  of  Canterbury. 

668.    Constan- 

Constantine, bishop  of  Constantinople. 

tine  IV. 

Adeodatus,  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  676. 
Donus  I.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  678. 

670 

Agatho,  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  682. 

680 

Pepin. 

685.   Justinian 

Leo  II.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  683. 
Benedict  II.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  685. 

690 

11. 

695.  Leontius. 

John  V.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  686. 
Sonon,  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  687. 
Sergius  I.  bishop  of  Rome,  d.  701. 

700 

The  venerable  Bade   d.  735. 

CHRONOLOGICAL   INDEX.  631 


Historical  Events. 


580.  The  Council  of  Toledo  requires  the  recitation  of  the  creed  in  the  liturgy  of 
the  supper. — The  calculation  of  Easter  according  to  Dionysius  adopted  in 
Spain. — The  Romish  quadrigesima=36  days. 

590.  The  Romish  church  active  in  missions. — Gregory  allows  to  the  Anglo-Saxons 
the  celebration  of  festivals  with  banquets,  and  establishes  the  litania  septi- 
formis. — The  Alexandrian  calculation  of  Easter  found  in  Gaul. — Contentions 
of  Augustin  with  the  ancient  Britons  about  their  reckoning  of  Easter. — 
Gregory  I.  improves  the  church  singing,  establishes  a  school  for  singers, 
gives  a  new  form  to  the  liturgy  of  the  supper,  is  opposed  to  the  worship  of 
images,  but  not  to  their  use  in  the  churches. 

600.  The  Roman  Pantheon  becomes  a  Christian  church. — Continuation  of  the 
Easter-table  of  Dionysius  Exiguus.  Leander  and  Isidor  jictive  for  the 
liturgy  in  the  Spanish  church. 

610.  Feast  of  All  Saints  in  the  Romish  church. 

620.  Bells  are  found  in  the  West. — Festum  apparitionis  St.  Michaelis  in  Rome. — 
Monks  and  clergy  not  permitted  to  become  sponsors. 

630.  First  appearance  of  the  bishop's  Baculus  and  Annulus. — Council  ot  Toledo 
enjoins  fasts  on  the  day  of  Christ's  death ;  prescribes  concerning  the  con- 
secration of  wax  candles  for  Easter. — Prescription  of  the  Council  of  Toledo 
respecting  church  hymns. — The  oriental  church  teachers  seek  to  justify 
scientifically  the  worship  of  images. 

040.  Deaconesses  continue  in  the  oriental  church. — Feast  of  the  transfiguration 
of  Christ  in  the  oriental  church. 

650.  656.  Festiim  annuntiatioyiis  on  the  25th  of  March  instituted  in  Toledo. — Re- 
mains of  the  old  custom  of  the  rtpo5(j)opttt  in  the  supper  in  the  Greek  church. 

670.  Heathen  customs  mingle  themselves  in  the  festivals  of  the  Virgin. — Unlea- 
vened bread  commonly  used  in  the  supper.       " 

690.  692.  Council  of  TruUan  forbids  the  reception  of  emoluments  for  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  sacraments. — Council  of  TruUan  against  symbolical 
representations  of  Christ,  and  against  crosses  upon  the  floor  of  churches. 
— Council  of  TruUan  requires  the  keeping  of  the  sabbath  as  a  fast ;  brings 
to  remembrance  the  after-celebration  of  Easter ;  forbids  the  missa  praesanc- 
tificat  on  the  day  of  the  annunciation  to  Mary ;  condemns  the  remains  of 
the  heathen  celebration  of  the  calends,  and  the  customs  of  St.  John's  day ; 
gives  orders  upon  the  spiritual  relation  between  the  baptized  person  and 
the  sponsors;  upon  the  ^iroupyia  -tuv  rtpojjyiaffftsj'uvj'and  confirms  the  de- 
cision of  381  respecting  heretics. 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Abba,  abbas;  'A/?,5a,  d/?/?aj 132 

'Afiarov 238,243 

Abgar,  Abgarus 665 

Ability  in  prayer 309 

Abraxas 100 

Absolute  bishops It4 

Absolution 308,  413,  470 

Abuses  of  sacrament 441 

Acolyths,  acolythists,  acolytes 127,184 

AkUoi 102 

Advent 648 

Advocate 138 

"AivTov 238 

iEdituus 187 

Affection  for  the  dying 507 

Agapte 220,  423,  443-6,  447 

'Xyafioi 115 

^Ayhtr) 413,  414 

Age  of  festivals 643  ] 

Age  for  ordination 208 

"Ayioi 101 

'AxEc/iaXoi 144 

'A<«(//TO( 116 

'AffoXouSof 184 

'A<cpo(o/<»jcoi 121,  430 

Alexandria,  plague  of , 75 

Ales  diei  nuntius 337 

Alexander  Severus 89 

AUocutio 348 

All  Souls' day 551 

All  Saints'  day 551 

Almsgiving 75 

Alms  in  marriage , 563 

Alphabet,  Armenian 657 

Altar  of  church 239,  243,  245 

Ambo 242,  246,  345 

Ambrose 329 

"       on  music 77 

"       hymns 335 

Amen,  meaning 344 

Amusements  of  Christians 79,  79,  87 

'  AvaX'opnrai 115 

'  AvaKajiTiTnpia 254 

AvOLKTOpoV 243 

Ancient  creeds 291 

"      hymns 333,337 

Ancillae 71 

Anchorets 114 

Andrew's,  St.,  day 551 


PAGE 

Angels,  guardian 131 

"       of  the  church 131 

Angels,  worship  of 131 

'AiKpiSivpa 258 

Annunciation,  festival  of 544,  549 

Anointing  in  baptism 271,  369,  402 

Antilegomena 339 

Antioeh,  church  at 74 

"       Christians  at 102 

Antiquity  of  creeds 291 

Antonius 34 

ATTiaroi 109 

Apocalypse 339 

Apocrissiarii 189 

Apparel,  sacramental 432 

ATTO&prjra Ill 

Appellations  of  Christians 101 

Applause  of  preachers 365 

ApoUonius 80 

Apostles "131 

"      constitutions 279 

"      creeds 299 

"      days 660 

Apostolici,  monks 116 

"  Anoralafxtvoi 116 

Apostates 287 

Apostles,  canons  of 48 

Apostolical  succession 131 

'  AnooToXoi 131 

Apostolical  tradition 377 

'  AnoaroXdov 232 

Arbitrary  forms  of  prayer 289 

Archbishops 142 

Archpresbyters 161 

Archdeacons 174,  177 

"ApXOiTES  iKK\n(SlC)V 133 

Arethusa 77 

Armenian  church 665 

Armenian  doctrines 559 

"          sacraments 559 

"          forms  of  worship 661 

"          marriages,  funerals 662 

Arrabones,  arrhas 499 

Arrangement  of  churches 237 

'Apprira Ill 

Arsacius 99 

Ascetics 114 

Ascension  day 547 

Ash-Wednesday 546 

633 


634 


GENERAL   INDEX. 


AuKrjTai 115 

Assumption  of  Mary 549 

Astrologers 86 

Athenagoras 53,83 

Atheists,  so  called 107 

"Adeoi 107 

"ArfXrarEpoi 121 

Attentions  to  the  sick 75 

Attendamus 344 

Attitude  in  prayer 305 

"      in  preaching 354 

"      of  audience 354 

Augustin  at  table 57 

"         hospitality 69 

"         on  clergy 108-9 

"         conversion 120 

"         on  bishops 134,150 

"        on  music 333 

"        on  psalmody 334 

"         on  infant  baptism 377 

"         on  mourning 511 

"         on  prayers  for  the  dead 516 

"         on  Christmas 548 

Austerities  of  Christians 79 

Authorities  for  Christian  Sabbath 528 

Aula  baptismatis 394 

Banquets 444 

Baptismal  formulary 99 

"         regeneration 368 

"        names  of 374 

Baptism,  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  on 110 

"         consequence  of. 110 

"         ofchildren 120 

"        catechumens 117 

"         clinic 124 

"         blood 124 

"         necessity  of 124 

"        substitute  for 124 

"         minister  of 135,391 

"         instituted 362 

"        not  a  secret  rite 363 

"         administered 363,360 

"         primitive 366 

"         infant 364,  375,  559 

"        household 386 

"         compulsory 388 

"        terms  of 392 

"        place  of 393 

"         form  of 398 

"         attending  rites 399 

"         limitations  of 387 

"         Armenian 559 

"        Nestorian 574 

Bairri^Ci) 373 

BaTrrio^a 373 

Ban-rio-^ds- 373 

Baptisteries 393 

Bo7r7<(rri7pior 394 

BflTrrci) 373 

Baptized,  names  of 109 

Barnabas,  Epistle  of 47 

Bartholomew's,  St.,  day 551 

Basil  on  prayer 316 

"  fortitude  of 54 

"  study  of  Bible 57 

"  early  prayer 67 

"         bishops 132 


Basnage '. 121 

Bathing-houses 254 

Bells 254 

"    tolling  of. 508 

"    superstitious  ringing 256 

Bema 238 

BrlpLU 246 

Benevolence  of  Christians...  72,  74,  90,  121 

Beveridge 121 

Bernaldus  on  bishops 153 

Bernard  on  ornaments  of  churches 261 

Bestiarii 186 

liiadavaroi 107 

Bible,  divisions  of 343 

Bingham  on  secret  discipline 283 

"        on  clergy  and  laity 94 

"        on  catechumens 121 

Birthday  of  martyrs  and  saints 504 

Births,  monstrous 388 

Biwrofol 102 

Bishops 48-9,  92,  108,  128,  113,  130 

"      authority,  duty  of... 122-3,  133,  95-6 
"      distinguished  from  presbyters...     97 

"      origin  of 129 

"      names,  titles 130-33 

"      succession  of 131 

"      vicarious  ofiices 132 

"      primitive  oflBce 134 

"      power  of. 127,  135 

"  "      reduced 139,146 

"      throne  of 243 

"      preaching  of 350 

"      confirmation  by 410 

"      absolute 144 

"      inferior,  titular 139 

"      suffragan 139 

"      country 140 

"      independence,  degeneracy  of....  229 

Bispellones 186 

Bithynia 34 

Blessed,  blessed  of  God 133 

KoffTOi 116 

Bound,  Rev.  Dr.,  on  Christian  Sabbath  632 

"       his  books  suppressed 534 

Burial-places 505 

Burials,  hasty 506 

"       in  churches 525 

Burton  on  prayers  for  the  dead 519 

Bystanders 463 

Caesarius,  singular  will  of. 74 

Caius  on  psalmody 328 

Calendar,  chronology  of 543 

Caligae 223 

Campanatores,  campanarii 187 

Canales 449 

Candles  in  churches 246,  345 

Candlemas 549 

Cannae 449 

CanneUe 242,  246 

Canon  of  New  Testament 340 

Canons  of  apostles 48 

"       of  councils 475 

Canonical  age  of  presbyters 159 

"        of  deacons 170 

Canonical  singers 182 

Canonici  regulares 116 

Cantatores 331 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


635 


Cantor 183 

Capellanus 1S7,  189,  193 

Carmen  Christi 37 

Carmen  dieere 314,  327 

Carnival 540,546 

Castelli 143 

Caste,  sacerdotal  (see  clergy) 98 

Catacombs  of  Christians 525 

Catechetical  instructions 118,  302,  399 

"  "  of  bishops 134 

Catechists 193 

Catechumens 110,  111 

"  origin 118 

"  dress,  names 119 

"  age 120 

"  admittance 122 

"  instruction,  discipline. ...123-4 

Cathedrals,  Gothic 243 

Cathedra  velata 243 

Catholic  spirit  of  prayer 317 

"        applied  to  the  church 104 

Catholieos 557 

Celibacy 114,-493,  495 

Cemeteries 523 

Census  capitum 218 

Cessantes 139 

Ceremonials  in  religion 366 

'Kzijia^Ojizvoi 125 

'S.upoTonzw,  meaning  of 112 

'K.npai,  defined 102 

Change  of  names  in  baptism 407 

Chant 242,  243,  426 

Chants  of  Christians 73 

"      in  prayer 319 

"      of  Scriptures 344 

"      of  Gospel 246 

Chapels 194 

Chaplains 194 

Chaplets  in  marriage 502 

Chapters  of  Bible 342 

Character  of  primitive  Christians.   42,  51,  84 

Charity,  kiss  of 446 

Charlemagne  on  bishop's  dutj' 134 

Children  of  unbelievers 389 

Choir  in  church 331 

Choral  singing 329 

Christianity  early  propagated 37,  46 

XpiOTiai/ot 102 

Christians,  prayerfulness 305 

"  songs  of 328 

"  origin  of  name 102 

"  other  names 104-7 

"         paradoxes  of 42 

"  baptism 363 

"  burial  denied 12.3-4 

Christmas 538,  542,  548 

Chrism 369,  371,  402,  403 

Christ  worshipped 328 

"       divinity  of 40,  99,  108,  104 

"       at  the  Lord's  Sapper 419 

Christians,  aversion  to  altar 243 

Chrismarium 410 

Chronology  of  calendar 543 

Chrysargyrum 218 

Chrysostom   on   regeneration    in   bap- 
tism   368,  376 

Chrysostom  on  music 331 

"  on  the  Scriptures 57 


Chrysostom  against  applause  in  church  355 

"  on  the  Sabbath 530 

"  at  meals 67 

"  hospitality  of 69 

"  mother  of. 77 

"  on  sermons 356 

"  lament   of    pagans   at    his 

conversion 78,  90 

"  on  prayer  for  the  dead 515 

"  account     of    Lucian,     the 

martyr 103 

"  on  bishops 102,184 

"  on  church  as  a  refuge 257 

XfJ/ICTn'ffffOTTOI 140,  157 

Church  and  state  in  marriage 49.3,  496 

Church  peculiarities  and  constitution  91,  113 

"      origin  of 94 

"      independence  of 95 

"      early  officers  of 95-6,  125 

"      organization 97 

"      change  of  constitution 97 

"      sacerdotal  caste  in 98 

"      increase  of  officers 98,125 

"      doctrines  of 99 

"      catholic  first  applied 104 

"      on  the  spirit  of  early  Christians     56 

"      at  Antioch,  charity  of 74 

"      at  Rome,  "         74 

"      at  Constantinople,  officers  of.....     74 

"      names  and  sects  in 104 

"      membership,  how  termed 116 

"      officers  chosen 112 

"      office  abolished 117 

"      officers  discharged 117 

"      discipline 113,136,451 

"      worship  administered 136 

"      Armenian 555 

"      Nestoriiin 578,  564 

"      patronage 202 

"      history  of 232 

"      a  place  of  refuge 232 

"      utensils 266 

Gibus  Dei,  angelorum,  etc 416 

Cidaris 223 

Cimeliarch 187  8 

Circumcision,  feast  of &39 

Clapping  in  sermon 355 

Clay  in  baptism 371 

Clement  of  Alexandria 59 

"      on  prayer 59 

"      devotions  at  meals 57 

"      on  the  clergy 108 

"      on  catechumens 118 

"      on  bishops 152 

"      hymns  of 334 

Clement  of  Rome 47,  77 

"      on  hospitality 69 

"      authority  of  the  church 113 

"      apostolical  succession 18] 

"      to  Corinthians 453 

Clerical  costumes .1 221 

"    letters 220 

"     prerogatives 215 

Clerici  seculares 115,  167 

Clergy 95,  94,  98,  102 

"      assumptions  over  the  laity....  98,113 

"      as  a  distinct  order 107 

"     meaning  defined 108-9 


636 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Clergy  choice  of. 112 

"      disciplinary  power 113 

"      in  order  of  monks 115 

"      secular  and  regular 115 

"      discipline  of 117,472-4 

"      succession  of 126 

"      orders  of 125-7 

"      ambition  of. 129 

"      ordination  of 1.35 

"      Armenian 658 

Coetibus  antelucanis 422 

C'oflttns  for  the  dead 508 

Columba 2,32 

Comedies 79 

Commentatio  literarum 339 

Communion  (see  Lord's  supper)....  430,  463 

Community  of  goods 40 

Communicants  names  of. 110 

Coenobites,  origin  of 114—16 

Coena  sacra 412 

Conception,  feast  of 549 

Concilia,  conciliabula 232 

Confessarii 166 

Confession  of  faith 303 

"         condition  of  church-member- 
ship   400 

Confirmation 134,  370,  408 

"         by  presbyters 410 

"         Nestorian 575 

Confcederata  disciplina 454 

Congregational  singing 329 

Consanguinity  in  marriage 494 

Consecration  of  baptismal  water 369 

"          of  sacramental  ele- 
ments  134,  423,  426,  438 

Consignatorium 410 

Consistentes 463 

Constantine  on  the  Sabbath 531 

"         on  councils 488-9 

Constantensis  on  bishops 153 

Constitutions  and    canons  of  the   apos- 
tles    489 

Constitutions  on  duty  of  bishops 136 

"  on  sermons 349 

Constitution  of  church 95-7,  103 

Consules 138 

Contributions,  weekly 72,  74 

Conventus  antelueanos 37 

Conversation  of  Christians 70 

Converts  (see  Catechumen) 118-24 

Convivium  dominieum 413 

Comparative  summary  of  liturgies 290 

Corde  natus  ex  parentis 337 

Cornelius  to  Fabius 127 

Corpse,  viewing  of 607 

Corpus  Christi 232 

Corinthians,  hospitality  of 69 

Councils,  origin 475 

"       president  of 481 

"       members  of. 482 

Council  of  Antioch 484 

"        Elvira 483 

"        Illiberis 485 

"       Nice 481 

"       Africa 486 

"        Toledo 484 

"        Constantinople 401 

"       Greeks 475 


Country  bishops 140 

Covenant  in  baptism 401 

Covering  the  head  in  baptism 371 

Creeds  of  Ireuseus 293 

"         TertuUian 295 

"         Origen 295 

"         Apostolical  Constitutions 297 

"    Apostles' 297 

"     Nicene 297 

Crispus,  baptism  of 386 

Criton 41 

Cross,  sign  of 372,  402,  411,  44.3 

"     in  marriage  and  funerals  107,  122,  608 

Crowning  in  marriage 498,  501 

Crucitixion,  tradition  of 39 

Crypta; 236 

Cnldei 116 

Gustos,  custodes,  custor 187 

Cypress  in  funerals 508 

Cyprian ; 56 

"       prayerfulness  of 68 

"       hospitality  of 69 

"       charity  of 73 

"       theatre 87 

"       on  priesthood 98,113 

"      on  readers,  acolytes 127 

"       on  apostolical  succession 131-2 

"       called  papa,  pope 132 

"       on  bishop 134 

"       on  discipline 455 

"       prayers  for  dead 514 

"       on  infant  baptism 378,409 

"       on  the  Lord's  supper..  372,  403,  409 

"       on  penance 461 

Cyril  on  prayers  for  dead 614 

"     on  exorcism 399 

"    on  baptism 110 

"    on  catechumens 206 

Daily  communion 425 

Daily  devotions 67 

Dalmatia 223 

Days  of  religious  worship 37 

"     of  the  week,  names  of. 545 

Dead,  treatment  of 504,  507,  623 

"     burial 505 

"     wailing  for 507 

"     mourning  for 511 

"     anniversaries  of 512 

"     prayers  for 513 

Deaf  and  dumb  baptized 388 

Deacons 96-7,  127,  133,  163 

"      duties  of 168 

Deaconesses 117,  171-3 

Decalogue 303 

Decani 186 

Decian  persecution 469 

Declension  in  preaching 360 

Dedication  of  Nestorian  churches 578 

Acrj^oi/jcr)!' 322 

Degeneracy  of  bishops 229 

Degrees  of  penance 464 

AfiTi'a  xoma.. 444 

S[im/a  noiKiXa 40 

Delinquent  clergy  punished 472 

Demoniacs 124-5 

"         baptized 38S 

Devotional  exercises  of  the  family G7 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


63T 


PAGE 

Diaconium  magnum 250 

Aiadoxoi  Toif  dTroaroXion 131 

AiaKOviaira 102,  171 

Aiu/com,  dioKoAa 102,  127,  163,  171 

Ata  ffiaiirrj; 442 

Ai(!u<r/caXoi 102,  127 

Bice,  games  of  hazard 80 

Dies  natalis,  death  of  a  Christian 504 

Dies  ira3,  dies  ilia 337 

Dies  Dominus,  solis,  etc 529 

"    ueophytorum 541 

"   lunte,  muta 544 

Aivvi/  0sav  li^i'ftj/ 328 

Dioclesian 88 

Diognatus,  epistle  to 

Dion  Cassius  on  early  Christians 

Dionysius,  the  younger 

Dionysius  on  duties  of  bishops 

Di7rru\;a  ^wyrtoi' 

Disciple 

Disciplina  arcani 276, 

"  patientise,  penance 

Discipline,  secret 

"  church 113,  133,  135-6, 

"  of  the  clergy 

"  of  penitents 

Distinction  of  bishop  and  presbyter 

Distribution  of  the  elements 

Diviners 

Divinity  of  Christ 37,  99,  100, 

Division  of  the  priesthood 

"       of  sermons 

Dogmatics  of  Christians 

Dove  of  the  altar 

Dominus,  meaning  of 

Doors  of  churches 

Dorner  on  divinity  of  Christ 

Dowery  in  espousals 

Doxologies 67,  100, 

Dress  of  primitive  Christians 

Durand  on  tolling  beUs 

Duties  of  bishops 48, 

"      of  widows 

"     of  penitents 

Dying,  affection  for 

Dypticha 


Early  Christians 

"      notions  of 

"      charity  of 

(See  primitive  Christians.) 
Early  propagation  of  Christianity, 

Ears,  opening  in  baptism , 

Easter,  origin  of , 

"      meaning  of 

"      observance  of 

East,  facing  to  in  the  grave 

"  "         of  churches ■. 

"  "         in  prayer 

Ecce  jam  noctis  tenuatur  umbra 

Ecclesiasticaj 

Ecclesiasticos  vivos 

Ecclesiastical  orders 

Ecclesiastics 

Education  of  children 

Efforts  for  the  spread  of  Christianity.. 

"EyKparcii 

'iiyovusi'ot 


41 

34 

50 
136 
119 
101 
110 
461 
276 
451 
472 
264 
128 
439 

86 
313 
128 
356 
104 
244 

99 
258 
106 
500 
313 

80 
257 
133 

49 
264 
507 
522 

46 
37 
73 


37,  46 
..  370 
..  537 
..  641 
..  545 
..  500 
..  287 
...  323 
..  337 
...  221 
...  162 
..  102 
..  104 
..  64 
77 
115 
102 


PAGR 

Els,  fi*,  '"■';  '■*  ofOjxa 399 

F.-cxXr,oLa,  >i 102,  109 

F.KXcKTOi 102,  116 

E.TiVvoTrof 96,  102,  127 

"El/ fK- TpiMJ/,  Trinity 41 

'Ei-Tpiu,  of  the  Trinity 41 

Elders 92,  95-6,  148 

"     duties 154 

"     orders  of 160 

"     ruling 161,350 

Elect 110 

Electi 123 

Elections 195 

"       by  lot 165 

"       by  vote  of  the  church 195 

"       by  Divine  authority 201 

Elements  (see  Lord's  supper) 422,  439 

Elevation  of  the  host 439 

EAJti/'  m  TO  nXciov 110 

Emmilia,  mother  of  Basil 77 

Energumens 124,  206 

Entertainment  of  strangers 69,  70 

'ETap\/af 143 

Epiphanius  on  Christianity 103 

Epiphany 538,  548 

Em<7KO7T0i 96,102,  127 

Episcopacy 91 

"      '    rise  of 98,  129 

"  progress  of 107,113 

Episcopus  episcoporum 133 

Epistle  of  Barnabas 47 

"      of  Clement 47 

"      of  Polycarp 47 

"      to  Diognetus 41 

Epistolae,  commendatorias,  dimissorise..  221 

Espousals,  rites  of 497 

"  Nestorian 677 

'Ho-"Xa<Trai 115 

"KvlSoXvi 260 

'E(Tnacrt({  Koivai 444 

Eucharist 414,  417 

"       administration 422 

"       ministers  of 427 

"       mode  of  receiving  it 435 

"EiXoyi'a 414,  431 

Eusebius,  history  cited..  58,  75,  84,  108,  127 

Eutychus  on  bishops 153 

Examination  for  ordination 209 

"Efap\oj 143 

Excommunication 413 

Exedraj 251 

Exarchs 144 

'E(o/iioXdyj)(7i{ 460 

Exorcism  in  baptism 369,  399 

Exorcist 124,  127,  128,  191 

Extent  of  jurisdiction  of  clergy 479 

Extraordinary  orders  of  clergy 479 

Facing  to  east  in  prayer 237,  326 

Faith,  confession  of 400 

"     of  early  Christians 37,  53,  87 

Faithful 109 

"     rights  and  privileges 110 

"     sei-vice  of Ill 

Family  relations  of  Christians 63 

"       devotions 67 

Families  baptized , 386 

Famine 75 


638 


GENERAL   INDEX. 


PAGE 

Easts  of  the  church 552 

"     ofPuritans 580 

"     mode  of  appointment 585 

"     penalties  of  neglect 590 

"     stated  observation 592 

"     where  observed 596 

"     appointed  by  Congress 596 

Fathers,  apostolical,  works  of 47 

"        on  infant  baptism 377 

Feet,  washing  of 372 

Festivals  of  church  voluntary 636 

"         reasons  for  them 580 

"         originally  few 537 

"         grand  divisions  of 538 

"         corrupt  origin  of 542 

"         movable 545 

"         Armenian 561 

"         sacramental 426 

Fide,  jussores,  doctores 404 

Firmilian 486 

Firmness  in  trials,  of  Christians 60 

First  fruits 228 

"     of  the  week  the  Christian  Sabbath  528 

Fistulas  eucharistae 449 

Flabellum 168 

Flentes 462 

Flower-strewing  in  festivals 508 

"  "         upon  the  grave 508 

Foederatam  disciplinam 454 

Form  of  churches 236 

"     of  absolution 481 

"     of  government  in  Greece 478 

Forms  of  prayer,  origin  of. 312 

"      unauthorized  in  SS 311 

"      unknown  to  primitive  Christians  307 
Formalities  unauthorized  in  baptism....  367 

Formula  of  baptism 367 

Fossores  fossariorum 186 

Fraternities 114 

Friday,  name  of 545 

"      Good 540,  546 

"      fast  of 553 

Fuller  on  the  Christian  Sabbath....  535,  638 

Fulget  crucis  mysterium 337 

Funerals,  time  of 506 

"         processions  of 608 

"        hymns 609 

"         prayers 509 

"         orations 609 

"         Armenian 562 

"        Nestorian 562 

Galileans,  applied  to  Christians 102,  106 

Games  of  hazard 80 

Garlands  for  the  dead 508 

German  authors  on  baptism 375 

Genuflectentes 463 

Gieseler  on  worshipping  saints 621 

Gifts,  spiritual 92 

'•     in  marriage 499 

Gladiators 85,  115 

tiloria  in  excelsis 334 

Glory  in  the  highest 322 

Gnostics,  applied  to  Christians 104 

(jiiiinithors,  godmothers 404 

Go.id  Friday 646 

Gorgouia,  benevolence  of 74 

Gospel,  preaching  of 92 


Gospels,  reading  of ;.  345 

"       chanted 246 

Gothic  architecture,  when  introduced...  234 

"      towers 254 

Government   of  the  church  (see  disci- 
pline.) 

Grace  of  sacraments 409 

Gradual  formation  of  liturgies 288 

Grave-yard,  name  of 605 

Gratian  on  bishops 164 

Graves  of  martyrs 245 

Great  Sabbath 541,  647 

Greeks,  applied  to  Christians 106 

"       import  of  the  appellation 106 

Greek  church,  oflBcers  of 127 

Gregory  of  Nyssa,  on  the  mysteries  of 

Christianity Ill 

Gregorian  chant 183 

Gregory  Nazianzen  on  revivals 492 

family  of 103 

"        benevolence  of 74 

"       mother  of 74 

"        regard  of,  for  true  Christians  ..  103 

"        as  bishop 134 

"        on  sermons.,.-. ;.  368 

"       on  infant  baptism 376 

"       on  councils 492 

Gregory,  Loosavorich 656 

Gregor3f's  hymns 337 

Gregory  the  Great 134 

"         on  festivals 542 

Grief  of  mourners 510 

Groomsman 501 

Guardian  angels 523 

Gyrovagi,  to  whom  applied 116 

Hallelujah 321 

Hands,  imposition  of 122,  369,  408,  411 

"      joining  in  espousals 498 

"      uplifted  in  prayer 306 

Head,  covered  in  baptism 371 

Heathen  forms  of  prayer 331 

Herder  on  ancient  hymns 331 

Heretics,  baptism  of. 363 

Heretics,  property  of 228 

Hermas,  Shepherd  of 47 

Hermits 114-5 

Hermeneutai 193 

Hiemantes 462 

Hetyerias 34 

Hilary  on  primitive  priesthood 94,  129 

Historical  evidence  of  covenant  between 

Christians 453 

History  of  churches 232 

Holy  Sabbath « 541 

Homilies 348 

Homilies  in  Eastern  church 369 

"        in  AVestern  church 360 

Honesty  of  Christians  as  citizens 84 

Honey  in  baptism 371,  402 

Hosanna 321 

Hospitality  of  primitive  Christians 68 

Hospitals  maintained  by  churches 254 

Host,  elevation  of 439 

Hour-glass 363 

Hymns  in  funerals 509 

"      ancient 333 

Hymn  to  Christ 314 


GENERAL   INDEX. 


639 


IxSt's,  fanciful  origin  of  the  word 

'lAojrai,  moaning  of  among  Christians... 

lepav  GToXiiu 

'IcparcTov 

'If  poiipy  I  a 

Ignatius  of  Antioch,  epistle  of 

"      is  named  Theophoros 

"      reason  thereof 

"      on  Lord's  supper 

Illuminati,  to  whom  applied 

Illumination  in  baptism 

Images,  in  churches 262, 

"      worship  of 

Immersion 365,  367,  373,  395, 

Immoral  refused  baptism 

Immunities  of  the  priesthood 

Imposition  of  hands 122,  369,  403, 

Incense,  and  sign  of  cross 

Independent  bishops 

Independence  of  the  churches 

Independence  of  bishops 

Indulgence 463, 

Indulgentia  paschalis 

Infant  baptism 

Inferior  order  of  the  clergy 

Inferior  bishops 

Initiated, the,(see  mysteries,)  meaning  of 

Innovation  in  sermon 

Instructions,  catechetical 

Insufflation  in  baptism 

Intercessors,  intercessores 

Interpreters 

Interventores 

Irenaeus 93,  1U5,  108, 

"      on  primitive  worship 

"      creed  of 

"      on  baptism 

'laoTiptiot,  meaning  and  application  of.... 

Ite  in  pace 

Itinerant  presbyters 


PAGE 

100 
102 
224 
238 
415 

47 
105 
105 
415 
110 
392 
347 
264 
559 
389 
217 
411 
443 
144 

95 
229 
466 
463 
374 
179 
139 
110 
357 
302 
370 
142 
193 
142 
151 
274 
293 
383 
101 
319 
141 


Jailer  baptized 386 

James's,  St.,  day 551 

Janitors,  janitores 127,  185 

Jerome  on  bishops  and  presbyters...  97,  129 

151,  160 
"       on  monks  and  monachism..  114,  117 

"       on  singing 182 

"        on  prayer  for  dead 518 

Jewish  names 406 

"      epithets  for  Christians 102 

"  synagogue.  Christian  worship  in  94 
"  titles  applied  to  Christians....  101-2 
"  worship  adopted  by  Christians..  94 
"  hatred  of  the  name  Christian...  102 
Jews,  Christians  a  reputedsect  of,  99, 103, 105 

.John's  baptism 362,  365 

John's,  St.,  day 539,  551 

.Josephus,  notice  of  early  Christians 34 

•Judas  at  Lord's  supper 419 

Julian  the  Apostate,  despises  but  imi- 
tates Christians 69 

Julfan's  encomium  of  Christians 89 

dying  exclamation 106 

Jure  divino,  ordination 156 

Jurisdiction  of  the  clergy 479 

Justin  Martyr,  firmness  of  under  trial...     69 
"      on  unity  and  love  of  Christians.  71-2 


Justin  on  their  weekly  contributions....  73 

"     on  their  character  as  citizens 85 

"     on  ofFerings  to  God 93 

"    on  the  duties  of  the  bishop..  133,  151 

"     on  Sabbath 528 

"     on  baptism 384 

"    on  Lord's  supper 421 

Justinian  on  elections 200 

Karrixoviicvoi,  (see  catechumens) 119,  430 

D'pnp 101 

Keldei,  monks,  class  of 116 

KnpnyiiQ 348 

King,  Chancellor,  on  extempore  prayer  308 

Kiss  of  charity 372,  403,  441-2 

"    in  espousals 499 

KX^pof 108 

KXav  apron 444 

Ivneelers 462 

ICneeling  in  prayer 324 

KoiiiJirfipta 506 

Koii,cona 112,  413 

KoX,.,,/3.-,V 394 

Kurbana,  Nestorian 575 

Krabbe  on  the  constitutions  and  canons 

of  the  apostles 49 

Kpimra'L 236 

KvptaKfi,  ri 529,  545 

Kipic,  iXcrjaoii 322 

KOpiof 99 

Lady-day 549 

Laity,  (see  clergy,  ascetics) 93,  98,  102, 

107,  114 

"      Bingham  upon  the 94 

"      rights  and  authority  of 113,  123 

"      members  of  councils 4^3 

"      distinguished  from  the  clergy 107 

"      exclusion  from  altar 244 

"      baptize 391 

Aao;,  0,  to  whom  applied 101 

Aaoj  Tov  Oeov,  to  whom  applied 102 

Laud,  archbishop,  hatred  of  Puritans  535-83 

Laurentius 74 

Lawyers  not  ordained 287 

Law  and  prophets 338 

Laws  of  marriage 493 

Lay  baptism 391 

Laying  on  of  hands 369,  408,  411 

Legion,  thundering 84 

Legitime  prohibit! 134 

AciTOVpyia 415 

Length  of  sermons 354 

"  "      complained  of 355 

Lent 546 

Leo  the  Great 134 

Levitica  dignitas,  ministerium 167 

Lex  tingendi 398 

Jjibanius,  instructor  of  Chrysostom 90 

Liberality  of  early  Christians 3!) 

"  ofGratian 22ts 

Limitations  of  baptism 388 

Liturgy  of  the  Apostolical  Constitution,  289 

Liturgies 284 

"      unknown  to  primitive  churches  284 
"      gradual  formation  of. 28» 


640 


GENERAL   INDEX. 


Liturgies,  traditions  concerning 287 

"       silence  of  ancients  respecting..  285 

Liturgical  worship 312,  318 

Adyof,  sermon 348 

Lord's  supper  (see  sacrament) 37,  412 

"  "      names  of. 415 

"     elements  in  what  implied  by 99 

"    consecration  of  the  elements 135 

"     ministers  of 427 

"     terms  of 424 

Lord's  day 528,  529,  531 

"     prayer 304,308,319 

Louis  I.  on  duty  of  bishops 134 

AOVTilOf 374 

Love-feasts 37,  70 

Love  of  primitive  Christians  to  one  an- 
other      71 

Lucian  the  Martyr,  account  of 103 

Lucian  on  Lord's  supper 420 

Lucian  of  Samosata  a  skeptic  and  scof- 
fer  , 28 

"      testimony    of,    respecting    early 

Christians 38 

"      the  Philopatris  of 40-1 

Luke's,  St.,  day 551 

Luther^s  efforts  for  simplicity  of  wor- 
ship   459 

Lux  ecce  surgit 337 

Lydia,  baptism  of. 386 

Maccabees,  festival  of 550 

Magicians,  Christians 106 

Maldonatus 121 

Manna  celestis 416 

Mansionarii 185,  188 

Mant,  bishop,  hymns  of 336 

Mark,  St.,  feast  of 551 

Marriage  relations 63 

"       regulated  by  bishops 136 

"       laws  of 493 

"        second 493 

"       prohibited,  mixed 494 

"        rites  of. 495,497,501 

"       second  and  third 499 

"        Armenian 562 

"        Nestorian 676 

Miiprrpcf 404 

Martyrs'  graves 245 

"        monuments 245 

"        worship  of. 520 

"        festivals 542 

Martyr,  Justin,  on  reading  Scriptures...  349 

"         "         on  infant  baptism 384 

"         "         on  the  Sabbath 528 

"         "         Lord's  supper 421 

"         "         duties 'of  bishops...  133,  151 

"         "         offering  to  God 93 

"         "         charitable  offerings 73 

"         "         piety  of  Christians 71-2 

Martyrdom,  views  of. 124 

Marv,  Virgin,  festival  of 549 

Mass 465 

Master 101 

Mainrfii 102 

Matrieulnrii 187 

Matiini 404 

Matrhias,  feast  of 651 

Ma.unday  Thursday 546 


PAOB 

Maximianus 84 

May  games,  poles 535 

Meaning  of  symbols 292 

Medius 165 

Members  of  councils 482 

Meiivrtuci/oi 110 

Meairrji 155 

Metatum 218 

MtTCXei"  Tov  Te\etov 110 

Mrjripcs 404 

Metropolitans 142 

Michael,  St.,  feast  of 551 

Military  service  of  Christians 83,  87 

Milk  in  baptism 402 

r\n:72 4u 

Ministers  of  baptism 390 

"        of  confirmation 410 

"        fixed  settlement  of. 211 

Ministras 171 

Minucius,  Felix,  on  Christians 79 

Missa  catechumenorum..   110,  180,  185,  415 

"      fidelium 111,323,416 

Mixing  wine  with  water  in  sacrament...  438 

Mode  of  baptism 395 

Mohammedan  names 406 

Monaehi  laici 115 

"      regulares,  seculares 116 

Movaxoi,  iiOvaC,oiiTC; 115 

Monasteries 116 

IMoiaffrripioi/ 232 

Money  for  church  buildings 235 

Monica,  mother  of  Augustin 77,  120 

Monitor  in  prayer 305 

Monks 115-16,  132 

Monophysites 659 

Montanists 475 

Morning  meetings 37 

Morris-dances 535 

Moses,  books  of,  divisions 338 

Mosheim  on  canon  of  apostles 49 

"       on  early  synods 491 

"        on  secret  discipline 278 

Mother  of  God 565 

Mourners 462 

Mourning  discarded 511 

"  continuance  of 512 

Mvffraytoyia 415 

Mnorai,  nvarayoiyriToi 110 

Mvarfipia HI 

Mvarfipiov 374,  414 

'SlvaTTipioao'pia 119 

Mutual  love  of  Christians 68 

Mysteries 100,  110-11 

Mystical  words 100 

Names,  various,  of  Christians, (see  Jews; 
church.  Christian  ;  primitive  Chris- 
tians)     101,  105-7 

Names  in  baptism 413 

"      and  titles  of  bishops 130 

"      of  Lord's  supper 413 

"      of  sacramental  bread 437 

Nave  of  church 242,  246 

Nazarenes,  applied  to  Christians...  102,  106 
Nazianzen,  family  of,  boundless  Chris- 
tian benevolence  of 74 

"  motherof , 77 


GENERAL   INDEX. 


641 


PAGE 

Nazianzen,  Gregory,  his  regard  for  the 

term  Christian 103 

Neaiider  upon  the  canons  of  the  apostles     49 

"       p<araphra.se  of  1  Cor.  xii 92 

"       on  the  clergy  and  laity 94,  98 

"      on  presbyters  and  deacons  ...  96-7 

"       on  the  clergy 109,125 

"      on  secret  discipline 277 

"       on  confession  of  faith 457 

Nftn/capioi 186 

Neophytes,  novices 206 

Nf  jTopoi,  term  applied  to  Christians 107 

ISc'/jTtpai 102 

Nestorian  church 564,  670 

"         number 567 

"        language 567 

"        Scriptures 569 

"         manuscripts 569 

"         doctrines 571 

"         fasts,  festivals 572 

"        sacrifices 57.3 

Nestorians 128 

New  Hampshire,  fasts  and  thanksgiv- 
ings in 585 

New  lights,  term  applied  to  Christians..  102 

Nicene  creed 297 

Nonna,  mother  of  Gregory  Nazianzen ..     77 
Notarii 188 

Nonipiof 188 

Novelli,novissimi,  etc.  applied  to  Chris- 
tians    107 

Number  and  diversity  of  liturgies 289 

Nuraidia,  Christian  captives  in 73 

Nunneries 116 

Nuns,  origin  of  term 117 

Oaths 35,  S3,  86 

'*■    ancient  Christian,  how  taken 100 

"     military 84,86,457 

Oblatio 414,  416 

Occasional  prayers 156 

Occupations,  unlawful 86 

"  theatrical  abandoned 87 

Octave  of  Easter 547 

Offences  for  which  penance  was  imposed  461 

Oiferings,  what  alone  proper 93 

"        on  the  altar 244 

Officers    of    church   not    belonging   to 

clergy 187 

Offices  in  the  church  (see  clergy)..  95-8,  125 

"       ordinary 127 

"       division  and  classes  in  diflferent 

churches 127 

"      consecration  of 135 

Official  duties  of  presbyters 154 

OIkoi  PaaiXetot 253 

Ol>iOi>6iiOi 188 

Oil  in  baptism 369,  371,  402 

Operatic  sacra 415 

Opus  operatura 370 

Orandi  disciplina 461 

Onler,  ecclesiastic 102 

Ordinary    officers    of    the    apostolical 

church 127 

Ordination  of  the  clergy 135 

"  origin  of 205 

"  qualifications  for 206 

"  disqualifications 206 


PAGE 

Ordination  of  women 206 

"  administration  of 211 

Organs 254 

''      use  of  in  worship 257 

Origen 104 

"   upon  prayer 59 

"        "   for  the  dead 513 

"   creed  of 295 

"      against  Celsus 53 

"      customs  of  at  table 57 

"      on    the    propagation  of    Chris- 
tianity      77 

"      on  mysteries  of  Christianity Ill 

"      on  worship  of  Christ 316 

"      infant  baptism 378 

"      on  catechumens 113 

"      on  secret  discipline 280 

"      on  church  discpline 455 

Origin  of  term  Christian 102 

"      of  sponsors 405 

Ornaments  of  Christian 80 

Ornaments  of  the  church 260 

Oroomiah  climate 566 

Ostiarii 127,  185 

"Oaji  Siiani; 272,  309 

'^Hvaaat 444 

Outer  court  of  church 250 

"     buildings     "    257 

Overseers 127,  130,  169,  322 

PacificfB  literse 221 

Pagans  on  Lord's  supper 420 

Pagilares 449 

Ylai^i,  baptized 385 

Painted  glass 260 

Palatii  custos 189 

Palatini 177 

Pallium 106 

"      jugale 502 

Pange,  lingua,  gloriosi 337 

Panis  Dei,  vitse,  celestis,  supersubstan- 

tialis 417 

Panis  benedictus 124 

Parvuli 377,  381 

Pastores  primarii 160 

Pastophoria 253 

HaTCpcg 404 

Patience  of  Christians 54 

Patrini 404 

Pastores,  bishops 132,  164 

"  "        how     regarded   after 

death  of  apostles...  130 

Pall-bearers 508 

Palms  in  funerals 608 

Palm-Sunday 540 

Papa,  Uainra,  pope 132 

Papal  system 146 

Parabolani 106,  186 

TlapaPoXot 106 

Paradoxes,  Christian 41 

Parafrenarii 187 

Patientia3  disciplina 461 

Patriarch 132,  144 

Patrons,  protectors 190 

Paul  of  Samosata 483 

Paulus,  anchoret 114 

Pavement  of  churches 259 

Peace  be  with  you 322 


41 


642 


GENERAL   INDEX. 


PAGE 

Peculiarities  of  Christian  system 91 

Penance 451,  460 

"        different  kinds 464 

"       private 468 

"       voluntary 464 

"       greater,  less 325 

Penitentiarii 156 

Penitents 117,  206 

"         what 462 

"         treatment  of 136,464,467 

Peregrinus  of  Lucian 38,  49 

llcptlloXaiof 223 

Pericopae 346 

IhpioicvTai 141 

Peschito,  Testament 569 

Pestilence,  famine,  Christians  in 75 

'bapnaKOu  d^aifaaia^ 417 

Philanthropy  of  Christians 72 

Philip,  feast  of 550 

Philo  on  Christians 34 

Philopatris 40 

^uiTi-jOncroi 110 

4>a5ncrf<a 392 

^cOTiarfipiOi' 392 

't>oJTiaiio; 392 

Pictures  in  church 346 

Piety  of  Christians 61 

Pillarists 116 

Piscina 396 

niaTCvaavTCi 102,  109 

n«TTO.- 102,  109 

Place  of  worship 37 

Plague  of  Alexandria 75 

Planck's  Constitution  of  the  Church 118 

"        on  councils 487 

Plautinse 107 

nXi)pO,-    rWV   TTIfTTbil' 101 

Pliuy  the  younger 34,  46 

Pliny  to  Trajan 34,  84 

Plymouth  colony,  fasts  and  thanksgiv- 
ings   582 

Poenitentia  legitima,  plena  justa 466 

rio(f.£./£S 102,  127 

Tloiiivion 101 

Polycarp  on  prayer 310 

"       on  bishops 151 

"       on  worship  of  Christ 316 

Pontifices  maximi 132 

Portable  altars 249 

Porticus,  portico 250 

"  "     of  churches 236 

Position  of  preacher 353 

"  worshippers 248 

Powder-plot  commemorated 582 

Praepositi 130,  485 

Prsesides,  pra;sidentes 131 

Pravata,  immodica  superstitio 40 

Prayer,  extempore 305 

"        spirit  of 311 

"        de  pectore 307 

"       filial  spirit  of 316 

"        simplicity  of 317 

"       hours  of 58 

"       at  meals,  etc 46,59 

"       family 67 

"       at  ordination 213 

Prayerfulness  of  Christians 40 

Preaching  by  bishops,  elders,  deacons..  351 


PAGE 

Preaching,  extempore 356 

Preparation  for  preaching 356 

"  for  baptism 365 

"  of  communicants 432 

npcafivTcpa 151 

npeafivTCfm 102,127,  130 

Presbyter 92,  161 

"         duties,  authority  of. 95-6,  127 

"        distinguished  from  bishop....     97 

"         origin  thereof 129,  148 

"         different  orders 160 

Presbyteri  docentes 162 

Presbyterium 160 

Presenting  the  elements 424 

Presents  at  baptism 403 

President  of  councils 481 

Priesthood  of  Christians 91 

"  mediating 4C9 

"  privileges  of 217-19 

"  punishment  of 472 

"  of  primitive  Christians 91 

Primates 143 

Primitive  Christians  : 

benevolence  of. 40,  72 

philanthropy 72-3,  87 

hospitality 64,  73 

unity 40,  71 

patience 40,  54 

sacred  books 40 

community  of  goods 40 

religious  life 51 

faith 53,  87 

reverence  for  the  Bible 56,  58,  99 

steadfast  profession 60 

trials 34,60,  63 

in  fiimily 63 

mutual  love 71 

fiimily  group,  ancient 67 

treatment  of  the  fallen 72 

loyalty  to  the  state 81-2 

military  service 84 

lawful  occupations 86 

on  oaths 87 

encomiums  from  enemies 87 

priesthood 91 

spiritual  gifts 92 

rapid  increase 37,  46,  61,  77 

equality 101 

various  names 104-5 

worship 270 

discipline 451 

Primo  dierum  omnium 337 

Princeps  sacerdotum 133 

Proclamation  for  fast  and  thanksgivings  686 

npi5£''poi 131 

npowT-'i,  preacher...  102,  133,  135,  350,  428 

npoi(rrajj£i'0( 130 

Propatris,  promatris 404 

Prophesying 349 

npoaX<~)ftti' 344 

Proselyte  baptism 362,  356 

n/jO(7'/>f(>o/jai 309 

Tipooipopd 414 

np6iir.'\a 250 

ripoffftXaroi'rtj 462 

ripocn/iijiTjCTfif 169 

Prostration  in  prayer 325 

Prostratores 463 


GENERAL   INDEX. 


643 


PAQE 

TlparcvovTt; 143 

Proteus,  peregrinus 38 

Proton  pseudon 457 

Providential  omissions 367 

Prudentius'  hymns 337 

Puritans,  fasts  and  tiianksgivings 580 

"        reject  episcopal  forms 681 

"        keep  no  holy  day  but  Lord's 

day 582-3,  589 

"         fasts  and  thanksgiving  in  New 

England  States 584 

"        mode  of  appointment 585 

"        modern  mode 588-9 

"        penalties  for  neglect 590 

"        expounders  of  the  law  of  the 

Sabbath 526,  532 

"        strict  observance  of  Sabbath...  534 

Sabbath,  Christian,  the  only  sacred  day  626 
"  Jewish  and  Christian...  527,  530-1 
"         Christian,  first  day  of  the  week  528 

"  "         the  Lord's  day 629 

"  "         law  of,  first  taught..  532 

"  "         rapid  spread  of  the 

doctrine 533 

"  "        hostility  to  it 534 

"  "        legalized  desecration 

of  it 636 

"                "        results  of  the  dis- 
cussion   535-6 

"        Great,  so  called 647 

Sacelli 188 

"    regii 194 

Sacrament,  time  of 424 

"  place  of 426 

"  ministers  of 135,428 

"  communicants  at 430 

"  abuses  of 441 

"         Nestorian 573 

"  "         psalms 441 

"  "        wine 437 

Sacramental  utensils 448 

"  table 244 

"  bread 429,436 

Sacramentum 464 

"  c-atechumenorum 123 

"  plenum 363 

"  panis 417 

"  altaris 416 

Sacrarum  custos 187 

Sacred  books  of  Christians 40 

"      psalmody  in  family 68 

«      robe  of  bishop 224 

"      table 239 

"      places,  veneration  for 265 

Sacrifices  of  the  heathen 86-7,  93 

Sacrista,  sacristanus 187 

Saints,  worship  of 620 

"      day 549 

Sale  of  indulgences 465 

Salt  in  baptism 402 

Salva  festa  dies 337 

Salvete  flores  martyrum 337 

Sanctus,  account  of 103 

Sanctuary  or  bema 238 

Sandalia,  sandals  of  bishop 223 

Sarmentitii 106 

Satisfacere,  satisfactio 461 


Scenic  exhibitions 79 

Schisms 49 

Scriptures,  in  the  family 37 

"  at  meals 57 

"  in  religious  worship 338 

"  modern  divisions 343 

"  manner  of  reading 342 

Seasons,  sacred,  origin  of 526 

Secret  societies 34,  70 

"     discipline  of  the  church 276 

Sects,  religious,  arise 104 

Secular  power 176  • 

"      patronage 203 

Selections  from  the  Scriptures 340 

Semaxii 106 

Seniores,  seniores  plebis 162,  485 

Sermons  in  worship 348 

"        frequency  of 352 

"        construction  of. 356 

"         subjects 366 

Sexton,  oflSce  of 608 

Shepherd  of  Hermas 48 

Sibylists 106 

Sick,  attention  to 75 

Siegel  on  councils 487 

Sign  of  cross 372,  402,  411,  443 

Signum  crucis 411 

Silence  of  history  on  liturgies 223,  285 

Simplician  and  Victorinus 61 

Singers 182,  247 

Singing  at  table 67 

Singing  schools 331 

Siricius  first  called  pope 132 

Site  of  churches 236 

Ewuoc/itiXofcioi/ 243 

iKr/vri,  church,  so  called 232 

Slaves  not  ordained 207 

Smith,  J.  Pye,  on  hymns 333 

Social  life  of  Christians 68,  81 

Socrates  on  festivals 357 

Solitares 116 

Soothsayers 86 

Yofiau 38 

Sozomen  on  private  penance 470 

Spiritual  gifts 92 

Spittle  in  baptism 402 

Sponsalia 499 

Sportaj,  sportelliB,  sportul» 226 

Xnovialoi 116 

Sprinkling  in  baptism 396 

Stabat  mater  dolorosa 337 

Standing  in  prayer 322,  434 

"       in  reading  the  Gospels 345 

"       in  hearing  sermons 354 

Stantes  laici 484 

Stadtholders 132 

State,  power  of,  in  marriage 494 

Stationarii 177 

Stato  die  of  Pliny 628 

TravpoXaTpoi 107 

Stephanus,  baptism  of. 386 

Stephen's  day 639 

Stewards 108 

Stillingfleet  on  presbyters 168 

Sroai 161 

j:To\f, 223 

TrvXirai 116 

Sub-deacons 127 


644 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


PAGE 

Subjects  of  sermons 358 

"         of  penance 461 

Subordinate  servants 179,  186 

Substrati 463 

Sudarium 223 

Suffragan  bishops 139 

Suggestum  lectorum 246 

Suieer 121 

Suicides 124 

XiJAXfiTovpyoi 156 

Summi,  sacerdotes 131-2 

Siuimiary  of  liturgies 290 

^vfxTTOata 444 

Sun,  worshippers  of. 107 

Hvva^ii 415 

Sunday  revels 536 

Ymoinat 116 

Superior  bishops 142 

Superiors,  bishops 151 

Superintendents 127,  130 

Superstitions  relating  to  bells 250 

Suspension  of  clergy 473 

"          of  bishops 142 

Sureties  in  baptism 403 

Sursum  corda 322 

Symbols 303 

Synagogue,  pattern  for  the  church 94 

Syncelli 189 

Syndici 190 

Synods 475 

Synod  of  Rome 480 

System,  Christian,  peculiarities  of....  91,  99 

Table  of  martyrs 245 

"      of  the  Lord 244,413 

Tacitus  on  early  Christians 34,  103 

Taking  the  vail 502 

Taylor  on  baptism 387 

TeXtii,  TcXsi&uiietiot 110 

T£>.eiTTepoi 121 

TeXcrri  TcXeniv 110,  414 

TcXerfiv 38 

Temple  of  the  Lord 244 

Ti'if  cipfii't)v 442 

Tfji/  ^aviiatTThv  aoipiav 40 

Tertullian,  citations  from..45,  46,  52,  54,  59 
63, 68, 70,  71,73, 81, 83, 86, 86,  87 
93,   107,  118,  120,  127,  132,  613 

"      on  infant  baptism 380 

«      on  Pliny's  letter 327 

"      on  reading  the  Scriptures 338 

"      on  sermons 349 

"      on  time  of  prayer 318,326 

"      on  time  for  baptism 392 

"      on  primitive  worship 274 

"      on  discipline 455 

"      on  councils 476-7 

"      on  penance 461 

Testament,  New,  divisions  of 341 

"  parts  read  in  worship  341 

"  mode  of  division 342 

"  "     of  reference 342 

Thanksgiving  of  Puritans 580 

"  in     Massachusetts     and 

"  Connecticut 594-5 

"  mode  of  appointment....   585 

"  penalties  of  neglect. 590 

"  provincial  observance....  592 


PAGE 

Thanksgiving,  appointment  in  the  New 

England  States 596 

"            by  Congress 596 

"            general  observance  of....  593 

Theatre 79,  87 

Theodoret  on  prayers  for  the  dead 517 

"         on  bishops 162 

Theodosiua'  knowledge  of  the  Bible 67 

Theophilus  of  Antioch 66 

Theophori 105 

QtOTOKOi 565 

Therapeutics 114 

Thesaurii 183 

Thomas's,  St.,  day 651 

Three  divisions  of  the  church 233 

Thursday,  name  of 545 

Qvaia 413 

ODCTiaOTljpiOC 41  4 

Tiara  or  mitre 223 

Tibicines  sacri 169 

Time  of  the  agapas 445 

Tintinnabula 264 

Tithes 226 

TirXo 232,  606 

Titular  bishops 139 

Tituli 232,  606 

Toletum,  second  council 128 

"       fourth,      "      described 484 

Torches,  marriage 662 

"        at  funerals 508 

"        in  baptism 373 

Towers,  organs,  bells 254 

Tractatus 248 

Traditions  on  liturgies 387 

Tragedies 79 

Trajan  to  Pliny 34 

Transubstantiation 429,  660 

TpuJTc^a  Kvpiov 413 

Treasures  of  the  church 74 

Trent,  Council  of 127 

"     on  duties  of  bishops 134 

Trials  of  Christians 34 

Trine  immersion 367,  396 

Trinity  Sunday 547 

Trinity  taught  by  the  fathers 313 

"      in  prayer 313 

"       baptism  in  the  name  of 364 

"      known  to  Lucian 41 

«       held  by  Christians 99 

«      Corner  on 100 

Vacui  vacantes 139 

Vailing  the  bride 498,  502 

Vail  of  sanctuary 243 

Valens,  familiarity  with  Scriptures 58 

Validity  of  marriage 496 

Vartabeds 558 

Veneration  for  sacred  places 255 

Veni,  Creator  Spiritus 337 

Veni,  Sancte  Spiritus 337 

Vespillones ^ 186 

Vestibule 250 

VexULa  regis  prodeunt 337 

Viaticum 417 

Vicarius  baptism 388 

Vice-episcopi 140 

Vicegerents  of  Christ  and  of  God 132 

Victor  of  Rome 72 


GENEEAL   INDEX. 


645 


PAGE 

Victorinus,  account  of 61 

publicly     professes     Chris- 
tianity   61 

Viduae  viduaatis 171 

Views  of  death 504 

Vigils,  origin  of. 507 

Virgin  Mary,  worship  of 523 

•''                festivals  in  honour  of. 549 

Virgins  of  the  church 114 

Visitation  festival 549 

Visitors 141 

Visitores  ecclesiarum 141 

Vitta  nuptialis 502 

Vows,  baptismal 401 

'Xicop  dWSrptov  364 

Unbaptized,  the 109 

Unbelievers,  marriage  with 63 

Unction  in  baptism 369,  402 

"       in  confirmation 411 

Union  and  love  of  primitive  Christians 

toward  one  another 71 

Unity  and  Trinity 313 

Unleavened  bread,  sacramental....  429,  436 

Unusual  forms  of  election 201 

'rirnpCTat 102,  167 

Use  of  painted  glass 268 

Utensils,  sacramental 448 

Wailinge  for  dead 507,  511 

Walls  and  pavement  of  churches 259 

Water,  baptismal 369,395 

Water-clock 353 

Weddings,  Nestorian 578 

Wednesday,  name  of. 545 


PAGB 

Weeks,  names  of 244 

Week-days,  names  of 545 

Weekly  contributions 73 

Weepers  or  mourners 465 

White  robes  in  baptism 373,  403 

White-Sunday 547 

Whitsun  ales 535 

Whitsunday 541,  548 

Widows,  duties  of 49 

"        poor,  support  of. 74 

Wife,  second 495 

Windows  of  churches 260 

Wines,  purchase  of 577 

Wine  of  Lord's  supper 419,  437 

AVitnesses  in  baptism 403 

Women,  firmness  of  in  persecution 61 

"       influence  of 77,90 

"       in  monastic  life 116 

"       nuns,  origin  of  term 117 

"        forbidden  to  teach 352 

Works  of  the  apostolic  fathers 47 

Worship,  religious 

"       under  whose  superintendence  136 

"       Nestorian 573 

"       Armenian 561 

"       of  saints,  martyrs,  angels 520 

"       liturgical,  origin  of 312 

"       of  Christ 316 

"       Christian  and  heathen 306 

Year,  ecclesiastical 543 

"     ecclesiastical  and  civil 544 

HDt 414 


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Prophecy,  as  exhibited  by  Keith  and  others ;  with  descriptions  of  the  present  state 

of  countries  and  places  mentioned  in  the   Sacred   Writings. 

ILLUSTRATED  BY  NUMEROUS  LANDSCAPE  ENGRAVINGS, 

FKOM     SKETCHES    TAKEN    ON     THE    SPOT. 

Edited  by  Rev.  George  Bush, 

Professor  of  Fiebrew  and  Oriental  Literature  in  the  New  York  City  University. 

The  importance  of  this  work  must  be  obvious,  and,  being  altogether  illustrative,  without  reference 
to  doctrines,  or  other  points  in  which  Christians  differ,  it  is  hoped  it  will  meet  with  favour  from  all 
who  love  the  sacred  volume,  and  that  it  will  be  sufficiently  interesting  and  attractive  to  recommend 
itself,  not  only  to  professed  Christians  of  all  denominations,  but  also  to  the  general  reader.  The 
arrangement  of  the  texts  illustrated  with  the  notes,  in  the  order  of  the  chapters  and  verses  of  the 
authorized  version  of  the  Bible,  will  render  it  convenient  for  reference  to  particular  passages; 
while  the  copious  Index  at  the  end  will  at  once  enable  the  reader  to  turn  to  every  subject  discussed 
in  the  volume. 

Thi3  volume  is  not  designed  to  take  the  place  nf  Commentaries,  but  is  a  distinct  department  of  biblical 
instruction,  and  nuip  be  used  as  a  companion  to  the  Comprehensive  or  any  other  Commentary,  or  the 
Holy  Bible. 

THE  ENGRAVINGS 

in  this  volume,  it  is  believed,  will  form  no  small  part  of  its  attractions.  No  pains  have  been  spared 
to  procure  such  as  should  embellish  the  work,  and,  at  the  same  time,  illustrate  the  text.  Objec- 
tions that  have  been  made  to  the  pictures  commonly  introduced  into  the  Bible,  aa  being  mere  crea- 
tions of  fancy  and  the  imagination,  often  unlike  nature,  and  frequently  conveying  false  impressions, 
cannot  be  urged  against  the  pictorial  illustrations  of  this  volume.  Here  the  fine  arts  are  made 
subservient  to  utility,  the  landscape  views  being,  without  an  exception,  matter-of-fact  vietns  of  places 
mentioned  in  Scripture,  as  they  appear  at  the  present  day ;  thus  in  many  instances  exhibiting,  in  the 
most  forcible  maimer,  to  the  eye,  the  strict  and  literal  fulfilment  of  the  remarkable  prophecies ;  "  the 
present  ruined  and  desolate  condition  of  the  cities  of  Babylon,  Nineveh,  Selah,  ic,  and  the  coun- 
tries of  Edom  and  Egypt,  are  astonishing  examples,  and  so  completely  exemplify,  in  the  most 
minute  particulars,  every  thing  which  was  foretold  of  them  in  the  height  of  their  prosperity,  that 
no  better  description  can  now  be  given  of  them  than  a  simple  quotation  from  a  chapter  and  verse 
of  the  Bible  written  nearly  two  or  three  thousand  years  ago."  The  publishers  are  enabled  to  select 
from  several  collections  lately  published  in  London,  the  proprietor  of  one  of  which  says  that  "  seve- 
ral distinguished  travellers  have  afforded  him  the  use  of  nearly  Tnree  Hundred  Original  Sketches" 
of  Scripture  places,  made  upon  the  spot.  "The  land  of  Palestine,  it  is  well  known,  abounds  in 
scenes  of  the  most  picturesque  beauty.  Syria  comprehends  the  snowy  heights  of  Lebanon,  and  the 
majestic  ruins  of  Tadmor  and  Baalbec." 
The  above  work  can  be  had  in  various  styles  of  binding. 

Price  from  $1  50  to  $5  00. 

THE  ILLUSTRATED  CONCORDANCE, 

In  one  volume,  royal  8vo. 

A  new,  full,  and  complete  Concordance ;  illustrated  with  monumental,  traditional,  and  oriental 
engravings,  founded  on  Butterworth's,  with  Cruden's  definitions ;  forming,  it  is  believed,  on  many 
accounts,  a  more  valuable  work  than  either  Butterworth,  Cruden,  or  any  other  similar  book  in  the 
language. 

The  value  of  a  Concordance  is  now  generally  understood  ;  and  those  who  have  used  one,  con- 
sider it  indispensable  in  connection  with  the  Bible.  Some  of  the  many  advantages  the  Illustrated 
Concordance  has  over  all  the  others,  are,  that  it  contains  near  two  hundred  appropriate  engravmgs  : 
it  is  printed  on  tine  white  paper,  with  beantiful  large  type. 

Price  One  Dollar. 


LIPPINCdTT,  GRAMBO  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 
LIPPINCOTT'S  EDITION  OF 

BAGSTER'S  COMPREHENSIVE  BIBLE. 

In  order  to  develope  the  peculiar  nature  of  the  Comprehensive  Bible,  it  will  only  be  necessary 
to  embrace  its  more  prominent  features. 

1st.  The  SACRED  TEXT  is  that  of  the  Authorized  Version,  and  is  printed  from  the  edition  cor- 
rected and  improved  by  Dr.  Blaney,  which,  from  its  accuracy,  is  considered  the  standard  edition. 

2d.  The  VARIOUS  READINGS  are  faithfully  printed  from  the  edition  of  Dr.  Blaney,  inclusive 
of  the  translation  of  the  proper  names,  without  the  addition  or  diminution  of  one. 

3d.  In  the  CHRONOLOGY,  great  care  has  been  taken  to  fix  the  date  of  the  particular  transac- 
tions, which  has  seldom  been  done  with  any  degree  of  exactness  in  any  former  edition  of  the  Bible. 

4th.  The  NOTES  are  exclusively  pliilological  and  explanatory,  and  are  not  tinctured  with  senti- 
ments of  any  sect  or  party.  They  are  selected  from  the  most  eminent  Biblical  critics  and  com- 
mentators. 

It  is  hoped  that  this  edition  of  the  Holy  Bible  vrill  be  found  to  contain  the  essence  of  Biblical 
research  and  criticism,  that  lies  dispersed  through  an  immense  number  of  volumes. 

Such  is  the  nature  and  design  of  this  edition  of  the  Sacred  Volume,  which,  from  the  various 
objects  it  embraces,  the  freedom  of  its  pages  from  all  sectarian  peculiarities,  and  the  beauty,  plain- 
ness, and  correctness  of  the  typography,  that  it  cannot  fail  of  proving  acceptable  and  useful  to 
Christians  of  every  denomination. 

In  addition  to  the  usual  references  to  parallel  passages,  which  are  quite  full  and  numerous,  the 
student  has  all  the  marginal  readings,  together  with  a  rich  selection  of  Philological,  Critical,  Histo- 
rical, Geographical,  and  other  valuable  notes  and  remarks,  which  explain  and  illustrate  tlie  sacred 
text.  Besides  the  general  introduction,  containing  valuable  essays  on  the  genuineness,  authenticity, 
and  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  other  topics  of  interest,  there  are  introductory  and  con- 
cluding remarks  to  each  book— a  table  of  the  contents  of  the  Bible,  by  which  the  different  portions 
are  so  arranged  as  to  read  in  an  historical  order. 

Arranged  at  the  top  of  each  page  is  the  period  in  which  the  prominent  events  of  sacred  history 
took  place.  The  calculations  are  made  for  the-year  of  the  world  before  and  after  Christ,  Julian 
Period,  the  year  of  the  Olympiad,  the  year  of  the  building  of  Rome,  and  other  notations  of  time. 
At  the  close  is  inserted  a  Chronological  Index  of  the  Bible,  according  to  the  computation  of  Arch- 
bishop Ussher.  Also,  a  full  and  valuable  index  of  the  sulriects  contained  in  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments, with  a  careful  analysis  and  arrangement  of  texts  under  their  appropriate  subjects. 

Mr.  Greenfield,  the  editor  of  this  work,  and  for  some  time  previous  to  his  death  the  superintend- 
ent of  the  editorial  department  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  was  a  most  extraordinary 
man.  In  editing  the  Comprehensive  Bible,  his  varied  and  extensive  learning  was  called  into  suc- 
cessful exercise,  and  appears  in  happy  combination  with  sincere  piety  and  a  sound  judgment.  The 
Editor  of  the  Christian  Observer,  alluding  to  this  work,  in  an  obituary  notice  of  its  author,  speaks 
of  it  as  a  work  of  "  prodigious  labour  and  research,  at  once  exhibiting  his  varied  talents  and  pro- 
found erudition." 


LIPPINCOTT'S  EDITION  OF 

THE  OXFORD  QUARTO  BIBLE. 

The  Publishers  have  spared  neither  care  nor  expense  in  their  edition  of  the  Bible ;  it  is  printed 
on  the  finest  white  vellum  paper,  with  large  and  beautiful  type,  and  bound  in  the  most  substantial 
and  splendid  manner,  in  the  following  styles :  Velvet,  with  richly  gilt  ornaments ;  Turkey  super 
extra,  with  gilt  clasps ;  and  in  numerous  others,  to  smt  the  taste  of  the  most  fastidious. 

OPINIONS   OF  THE   PRESS. 

"  In  our  opinion,  the  Christian  public  generally  will  feel  under  great  obligations  to  the  publishers 
of  this  work  for  the  beautiful  taste,  arrangement,  and  delicate  neatness  with  which  they  have  got 
it  out.  The  intrinsic  merit  of  the  Bilile  recommends  itself;  it  needs  no  tinsel  ornament  to  adorn 
its  sacred  pages.  In  this  edition  every  superfluous  ornament  has  been  avoided,  and  we  have  pre- 
sented us  a  perfectly  chaste  specimen  of  the  Bible,  without  note  or  comment.  It  appears  to  be  just 
what  is  needed  in  every  family — '  the  wisophislicaled  word  of  God.' 

"The  size  is  quarto,  printed  with  beautiful  type,  on  white,  sized  vellum  paper,  of  the  finest  texture 
and  most  beautiful  surface.  The  publishers  seem  to  have  been  solicitous  to  make  a  perfectly 
unique  book,  and  they  have  accomplished  the  object  very  successfully.  We  trust  that  a  liberal 
community  will  afford  them  ample  remuneration  for  all  the  expense  and  outlay  they  have  necessa- 
rily incurred  in  Its  publication.     It  is  a  standard  Bible. 

'•  The  publishers  are  Jlessrs.  Lippiucott,  Grambo  6i  Co.,  No.  14  North  Fourth  street,  Philadel- 
phia." —  Baptist  Record. 

"A  beautiful  quarto  edition  of  the  Bible,  by  L.,  G.  <fe  Co.  Nothing  can  exceed  the  tvpe  in  clear- 
.less  and  beauty;  the  paper  is  of  the  finest  texture,  and  the  whole  execullon  Is  exceedingly  neat. 
No  illustrations  or  ornamental  type  are  used.  'I'hose  who  prefer  a  Bible  executed  in  perfect  sim- 
plicity, yet  elegance  of  style,  without  adornment,  will  probably  never  fmd  one  more  to  their  taste." 
—  M.  Magazine. 


LIPPINCOTT,  GRAMBO  &  CO.'S  PUBLKATIONS. 
LIPPINCOTT'S  EDITIONS  OF 

THE   HOLY   BIBLE. 

SIX  DIFFERENT  SIZES. 

Printed  in  the  best  manner,  with  beautiful  type,  on  the  finest  sized  paper,  and  bound  in  the  most 
»plendid  and  substantial  styles.  Warranted  to  be  correct,  and  equal  to  the  best  English  editions,  at 
muf^h  less  price.  To  be  had  with  or  without  plates ;  the  publishers  having  supplied  themselves  with 
over  fifty  steel  engravings,  by  the  first  artists. 

Baxter's  Comprehensive  Bible, 

Royal  quarto,  containing  the  various  readings  and  marginal  notes ;  disquisitions  on  the  genuineness, 
authenticity,  and  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Scriptures ;  introductory  and  concluding  remarks  to  each 
tMHjk ;  philological  and  explanatory  notes  ;  table  of  contents,  arranged  in  historical  order;  a  rhro- 
nolngical  index,  and  various  other  matter;  forming  a  suitable  book  for  the  study  of  clergymen. 
Sabbath-school  teachers,  and  students. 

In  neat  plain  binding,  from  $4  00  to  $5  00.  — In  Turkey  morocco,  extra,  gilt  edges,  from  $8  00  to 
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mmatioos,  1 15  00  to  «2.i  00. 

The  Oxford  Quarto  Bible, 

Without  note  or  comment,  universally  admitted  to  be  the  most  beautiful  Bible  extant. 
In  neat  plain  binding,  from  $4  00  to  15  00.  —  In  Turkey  morocco,  extra,  gilt  edges,  18  00  to  $12  00. 
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with  gilt  ornaments,  $5  00  to  $10  00. 

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The  Oxford  18mo.,  or  Pew  Bible, 

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Agate  32mo.  Bible, 

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A  liberal  discount  made  to  Booksellers  and  Agents  by  the  Publishers. 

ENCYCLOP/EDIA  OF  RELIGIOUS  KNOWLEDGE; 

OR,  DICTIONARY  OF  THE  BIBLE,  THEOLOGY,  RELIGIOUS  BIOGRAPHY,  ALL  RELIGIONS, 
ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY,  AND  MISSIONS. 
Designed  as  a  complete  Book  of  Reference  on  all  Religious  Subjects,  and  Companion  to  the  Bible ; 
forming  a  cheap  and  compact  Library  of  Religious  Knowledge.  Edited  by  Rev  J.  Newton  Brown. 
Illustrated  by  wood-cuts,  maps,  and  engravings  on  copper  and  steeL  In  one  volume,  royal  Svo. 
Price,  $4  00. 

6 


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The  Errors  of  Modern  Infidelity  Illustrated  and  Refuted. 

BY  S.  IVI.  SCHIVIUCKER,  A.  Tift. 

In  one  volume,  12mo. ;  cloth.     Just  published. 

Wp  cannot  but  reeard  this  work,  in  whatever  light  we  view  it  in  reference  to  its  design,  as  one 
ofThl  most°mL"'erlT?.roducti.,ns  of' the  age,  and  B' ted  t"  uproot  oiie  of  ^J^^-^-^f^^^y^f.^sown 

and  wS?d  down  to  the  tribunal  of  human  reason,  for  condemnation  and  annilulation.-m  Sptclalor. 


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€^t  Chrgq  nf  Slmerira: 

CONSISTING    OF 

ANECDOTES  ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  THE  CHARACTER  OF  MINISTERS  OF  RELI- 
GION IN  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

BY   JOSEPH   BELCHER,   D.D., 
Editor  of  "The  Complete  Works  of  Andrew  Fuller,"  "Robert  Hall,"  &C. 

"  This  very  interestine  and  instructive  collection  of  pleasine  and  solemn  remembrances  of  many 
pious  men,  illustrates  the  character  of  the  day  in  which  they  lived,  and  defines  the  men  more 
clearly  than  very  elaborate  essays."  —  Baltimore  American. 

"  We  regard  the  collection  as  highly  mteresting,  and  judiciously  made."  —  Presbyterian. 

JOSEPHUS'S  (FLAVIUS)  WORKS, 

FAMILY    EDITION. 
BY  THE  LATE  -WILLIAIVI  MKTHISTON,  A.  V/l. 

FROM  THE  LAST  LONDON  EDITION,  COMPLETE. 

One  volume,  beautifully  illustrated  with  Steel  Plates,  and  the  only  readable  edition 

published  in  this  country. 

As  a  matter  of  course,  every  family  in  our  country  has  a  copy  of  the  Holy  Bible ;  and  as  the  pre- 
fumption  is  that  the  greater  portion  often  consult  its  pajes,  we  take  the  liberty  of  saying  to  all  those 
that  do,  that  the  perusal  of  the  writings  of  Josephus  will  be  found  very  interesting  and  instructive. 

All  those  who  wish  to  possess  a  beautiful  and  correct  copy  of  this  valuable  work,  would  do  well 
to  purchase  this  edition.  It  is  for  sale  at  all  the  principal  bookstores  in  the  United  States,  and  by 
country  merchants  generally  in  the  Southern  and  Western  Slates. 

Also,  the  above  work  in  two  volumes. 


BURDER'S  VILLAGE  SERMONS; 

Or,  101  Plain  and  Short  Discourses  on  the  Principal  Doctrines  of  the  Gospel. 

INTENDED   FOR   THE    USE  OF   FAMILIES,  SUNDAY-SCHOOLS,  OR  COMPANIES  ASSE.M- 
BLED  FOR  RELIGIOUS  INSTRUCTION  IN  COUNTRY  VILLAGES. 
BY   GEORGE   BURDER. 
To  which  is  added  to  each  Sermon,  a  Short  Prayer,  with  some  General  Prayers  for  FamiUes, 
Schools,  <kc.,  at  the  end  of  the  work. 
COMPLETE     IN     ONE    VOLUME,    OCTAVO. 
These  sermons,  which  are  charactenzed  by  a  beautiful  simplicity,  the  entire  absence  of  contro- 
versy, and  a  true  evangelical  spirit,  have  gone  through  many  and  large  editions,  and  been  tran.slated 
into  several  of  the  continental  languages.    "  They  have  also  been  the  honoured  means  not  only  of 
converting  many  individuals,  but  also  of  introducing  the  Gospel  into  districts,  jmd  even  mto  parish 
churches,  where  before  it  was  comparatively  unknown." 
"  This  work  fully  deserves  the  immortality  it  has  attained." 

This  is  a  fine  library  edition  of  this  invaluable  work ;  and  when  we  say  that  it  should  be  found  in 
the  possession  of  every  family,  we  only  reiterate  the  sentiments  and  sincere  wishes  of  all  who  take 
a  deep  interest  m  the  eternal  welfare  of  mankind. 

FAMILY   PRAYERS   AND   HYMNS, 

ADAPTED  TO  FAMILY  WORSHIP, 

AND 

TABLES  FOR  THE  REGULAR  READING  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES. 

By  Rev.  S.  C.  Winchester,  A.  M., 

Lata  Pastor  of  the  Sixth  Presbyterian  Church,  Philadelphia;   and  the  Presljyterian  Church  at 
Natchez,  Miss. 

One  volume,   I2mo. 


LIPPINCOTT,  GRAMBO  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 

SPLENDID  LIBRARY  EDITIONS. 


ILLUSTRATED  STANDARD  POETS. 

ELEGANTLY   PRINTED,  ON   FINE   PAPER,  AND    UNIFORM   IN   SIZE   AND 

STVLE. 


The  following  Editions  of  Standard  British  Poets  are  illustrated  with  numerous  Steel 
Engravings,  and  may  be  had  in  all  varieties  of  binding. 

BYRON'S  WORKS. 

COMPLETE   IN    ONE   VOLUME,    OCTAVO. 

INCLUDING  ALL  HIS  SUPPRESSED  AND  ATTRIBUTED  POEMS;  WITH  SIX  BEAUTIFUL 
ENGRAVINGS. 
This  edition  has  been  carefully  compared  with  the  recent  London  edition  of  Mr.  Murray,  and 
made  complete  by  the  addition  of  more  than  fifty  pages  of  poems  heretofore  unpublished  in  Eng- 
land. Among  these  there  are  a  number  that  have  never  appeared  in  any  Amencan  edition;  and 
the  publishers  believe  they  are  warranted  in  saying  that  this  is  /At  most  complete  edition  of  Ixird 
Byron's  Poetical  Works  ever  published  in  the  United  States. 


E  I^OFfinil  IBorb  of  ffirn.  fkmmB, 

Complete  in  one  volume,  octavo ;  with  seven  beautiful  Engravings. 

This  is  a  new  and  complete  edition,  with  a  splendid  engraved  likeness  of  Mrs.  Hemans.  on  steel, 
and  contains  all  the  Poems  in  the  last  iiOndon  and  American  editions.  With  a  Critical  Preface  by 
Mr.  Thatcher,  of  Boston. 

"As  no  work  in  the  English  language  can  be  commended  with  more  confidence,  it  will  argue  bad 
taste  in  a  female  in  this  country  to  be  without  a  complete  edition  of  the  writings  of  one  who  was 
an  honour  to  her  sex  and  to  humanity,  and  whose  productions,  from  first  to  last,  contain  no  syllable 
calculated  to  call  a  blush  to  the  cheek  of  modesty  and  virtue.  There  is,  moreover,  in  Mrs.  Hemans's 
poetr)',  a  moral  purity  and  a  religious  feeling  which  commend  it,  in  an  especial  manner,  to  the  dis- 
criminating reader.  No  parent  or  guardian  will  be  under  the  necessity  of  imposing  restnctions 
with  regard  to  the  free  perusal  of  every  production  emanating  from  this  gifted  woman.  There 
breathes  throughout  the  whole  a  most  eminent  exemption  from  impropriety  of  thought  or  diction ; 
and  there  is  at  times  a  pensiveness  of  tone,  a  winning  sadness  in  her  more  serious  compositions, 
which  tells  of  a  soul  which  has  been  lifted  from  the  contemplation  o'  terrestrial  things,  to  divine 
commumngs  with  beings  of  a  purer  world." 


MILTON,  YOUNG,  GRAY,  BEATTIE,  AND  COLLINS'S 
POETICAL  WORKS. 

COMPLETE    IN    ONE    VOLUME,   OCTAVO. 
WITH   SIX   BEAUTIFUL   ENGRAVINGS. 


COMPLETE    IN    ONE    VOLUME,  OCTAVO. 

Including  two  hundred  and  fifty  Letters,  and  sundry  Poems  of  Cowper,  never  before  published  in 

this  country ;  and  of  Tliomsim  a  new  and  interesting  Memoir,  and  upwards  of  twenty 

new  Poems,  for  the  first  time  printed  from  his  own  Manuscripts,  taken  from 

a  late  Edition  of  the  Aldine  Poets,  now  publishing  in  Lfindon. 
WITH  SEVEN  BEAUTIFUL  ENGRAVINGS. 
The  distinguished  Professor  Silliman,  speaking  of  this  edition,  observes:  "I  am  as  much  gratified 
oy  ihe  elegance  and  fine  tasle  of  your  edition,  as  by  the  noble  tribute  of  genius  and  moral  excel- 
lence winch  these  delightful  authors  have  left  for  all  future  generations  ;  and  Cowper,  especially, 
is  not  less  conspicuous  as  a  true  Christian,  moralist  and  teacher,  than  as  a  poet  of  great  power  and 
exquisite  taste." 

9 


LIPPINCOTT,  GRAMBO  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 

THE  POETICAL  WORKS  OF  ROGERS,  CAMPBELL,  MONTGOMERY, 
LAMB,  AND  KIRKE  WHITE. 

COMPLETE   IJJ    ONE   VOLUME,    OCTAVO. 
WITH    SIX    BEAUTIFUL    ENGRAVINGS. 

The  beauty,  correctness,  and  convenience  of  this  favourite  edition  of  these  standiird  authors  are 
so  well  known,  that  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add  a  word  in  its  favour.  It  is  only  necessary  to  say, 
that  the  publishers  have  now  issued  an  illustrated  edition,  which  greatly  enhances  its  former  value. 
The  engravings  are  excellent  and  well  selected.    It  is  the  best  library  edition  extant. 


CMBBE,  HEBER,  AND  POLLOK'S  POETICAL  WORKS. 

COMPLETE    IN    ONE    VOLUME,  OCTAVO. 

WITH   SIX   BEAUTIFUL   ENGRAVINGS. 

A  writer  in  the  Boston  Traveller  holds  the  following  language  with  reference  to  these  valuable 
editions: — 

"Mr.  Editor:  — I  wish,  without  any  idea  of  puffing,  to  say  a  word  or  two  upon  the  'Library  of 
English  Poets'  that  is  now  published  at  Philadelphia,  by  Lippincott,  Grambo  &  Co.  It  is  certainly, 
taking  into  consideration  the  elegant  anner  in  which  it  is  pnnted,  and  the  reasonable  price  at 
which  it  is  afforded  to  purchasers,  the  bt  it  edition  of  the  modem  British  Poets  that  has  ever  been 
published  in  this  country.  Each  volume  is  an  octavo  of  about  500  pages,  double  colunms,  stereo- 
typed, and  accompanied  with  fine  engravings  and  biographical  sketches ;  and  most  of  then  are 
reprinted  from  Galignam's  French  edition.  As  to  its  value,  we  need  only  mention  that  it  contains 
the  entire  works  of  Montgomery,  Gray.  Beattie,  Collins,  Byron,  Cowper,  Thomson,  Milton.  Young, 
Rogers,  Campbell,  Lamb,  Hemans,  Heber,  Kirke  White,  Crabbe,  the  Miscellaneous  Works  of  Gold 
smith,  and  other  masters  of  the  lyre.  The  publishers  are  doing  a  great  service  by  their  publication, 
and  their  volumes  are  almost  in  as  great  demand  as  the  fashionable  novels  of  the  day  ;  and  they 
deserve  to  be  so :  for  they  are  certainly  printed  in  a  style  superior  to  that  in  which  we  have  before 
had  the  works  of  the  English  Poets." 

No  library  can  be  considered  complete  without  a  copy  of  the  above  beautiful  and  cheap  editions 
of  the  English  Poets ;  and  persons  ordering  all  or  any  of  them,  will  please  say  Lippincott,  Grambo 
i  Co.'s  illustrated  editions. 


A    COMPLETE 

Dirtionari]  of  |Snrtical  (D^uotationB: 

COMPRISING   THE  MOST  EXCELLENT  AND  APPROPRIATE  PASSAGES  IN 
THE  OLD  BRITISH  POETS;  WITH  CHOICE  AND  COPIOUS  SELEC- 
TIONS  FROM  THE  BEST  MODERN  BRITISH  AND 
AMERICAN  POETS. 

EDITED   B7   SARAH   JOSEFHA   HAI.E. 

As  nightingales  do  upon  glow-worms  feed, 
So  poets  live  upon  the  living  light 
Of  Nature  and  of  Beauty. 

Bailey's  Festut. 

Beautifully  illustrated  with  Engravings.    In  one  super-royal  octavo  volume,  in  various 

bindings. 

The  publishers  extract,  from  the  many  highly  complimentary  notices  of  the  above  valuable  and 
beautiful  work,  the  following : 

"  We  have  at  last  a  volume  of  Poetical  Quotations  worthy  of  the  name.  It  contains  nearly  six 
hundred  octavo  paecs,  carefully  and  tastefully  selected  from  all  the  home  and  foreign  authors  of 
celebrity.  It  is  invaluable  to  a  writer,  while  to  the  ordinary  reader  it  presents  every  subject  at  a 
glance." —  Godey's  Lady's  Book. 

"  The  plan  or  idea  of  Mrs.  Hide's  work  is  felicitous.  It  is  one  for  which  her  fine  taste,  her  orderly 
habits  of  mind,  and  her  long  occupation  witijliterature.  has  given  her  peculiar  facilities ;  and  tho- 
rouL'hly  has  she  accompUshed  her  'ask  in  the'voik  before  us."  —  Sartavi's  Magazine. 

"  It  is  a  choice  collection  of  poe.lcal  extracts  from  every  English  and  American  author  worth 
perusing,  from  the  days  of  Chaucer  to  the  present  time."  —  Washmjton  Union. 

"  There  is  nothing  negative  about  this  work ;  it  is  positively  soofl."  —  Evening  Bullettn. 

10 


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